Poet Ponders the Digital

While I am a proponent of online education, some "market realities" are starting to concern me. Education is unlike most products in several ways, but it is still a service-based product. Let me first explore the traditional higher education markets, the rising "Big Box" market, and the current challenges. Then, I will explain how I see the future and why bookstores and computer shops offer some warnings. What is the traditional "market" for higher education? There are at least four major, and countless minor, markets. The following are the four major traditional higher educations markets: 1. The "nearby and affordable" model of most state colleges and universities. For most students, these institutions were chosen based on price and location. As with grocery stores, discount retailers, and other commoditized goods, price and location become the primary criteria for selection for a significant percentage of consumers. My wife and I comple...

At the university where I teach we are engaged in a debate familiar to online educators: which delivery methods will we embrace and why? When discussing online education it is important to clarify how the experience will be "delivered" to students and how well the delivery method complements the instructional styles of various instructors. I have a decided preference for courses that include either some face to face meetings or live "synchronous" communications between the instructor and students. My preferences as an instructor reflect my preferences as a student, but only when I consider the best instructors I had throughout my education. Online education can refer to any of the following: Distance learning via teleconferencing technologies hosted in a traditional classroom setting; Synchronous learning conducted by an instructor specifically for remote students only; Hybrid learning, in which students meet sometimes in classrooms and sometimes online; Co...