I tend to agree with the general argument of the article, and the article itself even states that there are some courses not suited to online training. However, I believe most undergraduate degrees could be done online. Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and even Electronics courses that require labs and special equipment are possible, because most of the lab materials and equipment really aren't that expensive. Even if a student has to spend $1,000 or so for an occasional class that requires equipping their own lab it would still be worth it, especially if the student is majoring in that particular field (e.g. an EE undergrad buying an oscilloscope).
There are also some pretty cheap alternatives to some of the traditionally expensive equipment. For example, take a look at this article on a spectrometer built out of a cellphone. A strong case can be made that a student actually learns more using this type of inexpensive equipment because many students tend to view a traditional spectroscope as a blackbox where some kind of magic occurs that only an engineer can understand, but when they build a simple one themselves they have a much firmer grasp of the underlying concepts.
There may come a point that specialized equipment is required. There may come a point where interaction with patients is required (e.g. for Nurses and PAs). There may come a point where interaction with students is required (e.g. for teachers). So what? It still isn't much different than the B&M environment. If you want to become a teacher, most states require that you earn your Bachelors and then complete a certain amount of hours teaching in a classroom. These classrooms hours aren't done at the B&M college. They are usually done in a grammar school. Same with Nurses and Physician Assistants (PA). They have requirements of a certain amount of hours working with patients, or even require a kind of mini-residency. Yet once again, this is done in a medical facility and not the B&M college.
All that is required for this paradigm shift (yeah, an 80s buzzword) is for just one of the elite colleges to start offering credit for their online courses, or even better, offering a full undergraduate degree. If Stanford, Harvard, or MIT started offering an online BA in Liberal Arts for free, or even for say $10,000 (or even $20,000+), then they would probably have over a hundred thousand students from all over the world signed up to earn that degree --- including me. It wouldn't have the prestige or contacts/networking of their on campus degree, but it would have some prestige (and how much is $10,000 times a hundred thousand?). At this kind of money, one or more of the elite universities is bound to do it.
At first online degrees will probably be limited to just a basic degree, like a BA in Liberal Arts. However, I don't think they will be able to keep the genie in the bottle. Once one starts offering a basic degree then others will start offering other degrees to grab their own share of the online education pie. Before long, even advanced degrees from elite universities will be available online. I can also imagine the elite universities partnering with hospitals, schools, businesses, and States to provide the approved training programs and facilities for nurses, teachers, MBAs, lawyers, etc.
It is just a matter of time, but I'm still impatient.
There are also some pretty cheap alternatives to some of the traditionally expensive equipment. For example, take a look at this article on a spectrometer built out of a cellphone. A strong case can be made that a student actually learns more using this type of inexpensive equipment because many students tend to view a traditional spectroscope as a blackbox where some kind of magic occurs that only an engineer can understand, but when they build a simple one themselves they have a much firmer grasp of the underlying concepts.
There may come a point that specialized equipment is required. There may come a point where interaction with patients is required (e.g. for Nurses and PAs). There may come a point where interaction with students is required (e.g. for teachers). So what? It still isn't much different than the B&M environment. If you want to become a teacher, most states require that you earn your Bachelors and then complete a certain amount of hours teaching in a classroom. These classrooms hours aren't done at the B&M college. They are usually done in a grammar school. Same with Nurses and Physician Assistants (PA). They have requirements of a certain amount of hours working with patients, or even require a kind of mini-residency. Yet once again, this is done in a medical facility and not the B&M college.
All that is required for this paradigm shift (yeah, an 80s buzzword) is for just one of the elite colleges to start offering credit for their online courses, or even better, offering a full undergraduate degree. If Stanford, Harvard, or MIT started offering an online BA in Liberal Arts for free, or even for say $10,000 (or even $20,000+), then they would probably have over a hundred thousand students from all over the world signed up to earn that degree --- including me. It wouldn't have the prestige or contacts/networking of their on campus degree, but it would have some prestige (and how much is $10,000 times a hundred thousand?). At this kind of money, one or more of the elite universities is bound to do it.
At first online degrees will probably be limited to just a basic degree, like a BA in Liberal Arts. However, I don't think they will be able to keep the genie in the bottle. Once one starts offering a basic degree then others will start offering other degrees to grab their own share of the online education pie. Before long, even advanced degrees from elite universities will be available online. I can also imagine the elite universities partnering with hospitals, schools, businesses, and States to provide the approved training programs and facilities for nurses, teachers, MBAs, lawyers, etc.
It is just a matter of time, but I'm still impatient.
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