John Updike A+P Essay, Research Paper
Today s pace of economic, social and, above all, technological change has put higher education in danger of falling behind again (Levine, 159). Arthur Levine s The Soul of a New University and P.J. Huffstutter s and Robin Fields A Virtual Revolution in Teaching unmask the truths about online education and the concerns that it carries. Because of continued overflow to major universities and the additional pressure to adapt to current technology, online education is just a short time away.
Levine s The Soul of a New University is a well-organized essay that relays the message that computers are soon to take the place of teachers because of demands to change. He simply states, pressures from the outside are likely to force those of us who shape the academy not only to adapt our institutions, but to transform them (159). By this he implies that if the people who power educational institutions do not become or stay computer literate, then they will be losing many opportunities that technology presents.
Today, education at home or in the work place (159) through online instruction is becoming more popular among students. They agree that the relationship with their college should be like the relationship with a utility company, supermarket, or bank — their emphasis on convenience, service, quality and affordability (159). The Internet bridges the gap, that has been absent in the past, making information easily accessible and use more convenient. Though this may seem easier, drawbacks follow closely behind. The Internet definitely provides convenience, but students cannot always rely on the quality and service to be only a click away.
Levine makes a point that today it is possible for one person to attend a lecture, for example in South Carolina, while another person attends the same lecture at the same time in Japan. With this type of technology available, few people would rather book a flight and make hotel reservations and other accommodations in Japan. Instead, an hour in front of a projection monitor would easily replace the hassle. The negative aspect is that there is no true interaction between students and professors, both losing the ability to converse person to person. It is challenging to ponder, If we can do all of that, and the demographics of higher education are changing so greatly, why do we need the physical plant called the college? (160).
The University of Phoenix is attempting to be a study intensive online university, already online with more than 6,000 (160) people. Lower-paid professors who teach their courses online will teach thousands of students each year, while an accredited professor at a university may only teach a few hundred. Obviously, because the school s economy thrives on getting more for less, it is a plain fact that these online enterprises are sure to increase.
An important statement that emerges is that higher online education is bound to come. The biggest danger is that higher education may be the next railroad industry, which built bigger and better railroads decade after decade, (161) without understanding the nature of their industry, transportation.
Times staff writers, P.J. Huffstutter s and Robin Fields A Virtual Revolution in Teaching reflects Levine s ideas, but in a more in-depth approach. Their idea of teaching in the near future is the era when students will sit down in front of computer monitors instead of listening to a lecture. The fact that corporations and colleges have invested at least $300 million in the last few years on the Internet college gamble (Huffstutter and Fields, 153) is alone convincing enough evidence to this scenario.
Since the desks are never full in cyber-classrooms, temptations are higher to go ahead with online enrollment. Even though this promise may be great, the downfalls are equally the same. Numerous questions arise from this prediction:
If schools start mass-marketing their courses online, will they keep their elite reputations? Will students get as good an education as those who physically sit in the lecture hall? What happens as corporations move into the college market and use people with no classroom experience to teach? What s to keep a top professor freelancing course work to a competing organization? And how much cachet will a dot-com degree have in the real world? (153-154)
Although these questions are not being answered at the time, remote learning continues to progress.
The Times staff writers argue that if there is a way for schools to continue growing without the expense of additional buildings, (154) they will find a way to put their curriculum online. This concept is clearly explained. The demand for online education grows out of a simple problem: There are about to be too many students and not enough classrooms (154). This type of education indeed is more passive, and it also requires a great deal of dedication to complete the courses.
Emerging from this are online companies who pay the universities to display their curricula, making their money from the students taking the courses. This mass production of degrees makes the process easier for the universities, which are basically making money for doing little. When dealing with this, questions again revert to reputation. Top-quality schools should not sacrifice character for the sole purpose of making money.
Together with other drawbacks, the fact that these online degrees will definitely cost more will not stop people. The opportunity to earn a degree without actually attending class would be hard to resist. Students must decide if the dot-com degree will be equivalent to one earned at a regular university. The Times staff quotes Blair Sheppard, senior associate dean at Duke s Fuqua School, who answers no to this question, mass-marketing would destroy the value and exclusivity of the degree (157).
In conclusion, both essays provide valid information predicting the sudden growth of online education across the country in many universities and other educational institutions. While most people are reluctant to believe this, the technological age is here, and more than likely here to stay. But they should keep in mind that technology is not humanistic. People want to learn what they need to know, not what professors want them to know. You can only do that on the Internet (155).