The Chancellor’s New Robes: Online Education

Stan Braude, Jon Merrill

Biology Department, Washington University, St. Louis, USA.
Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology, Washington University, St. Louis, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ce.2013.47A2009                

Abstract

Online education is being rapidly embraced as a cash cow for reputable universities. Although there are legitimate advantages to online learning, the data on learning outcomes are scarce. We point out the reasons why high quality, live classes are unlikely to be replaced by online alternatives. However, we do describe the poor teaching practices that can be inexpensively replaced by online courses. We finally point out that best practices and high quality online education are expensive and cannot generate the revenue expected by university administrators.

Keywords

Online Education; Distance Learning

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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