Monday, March 25, 2013

Colleges Assess Cost of Free Online-Only Courses - DAVID WALLIS, NY Times

Continuing education programs are also vulnerable and could lose 10 percent to 20 percent of their students to free online courses from esteemed universities, said Tony Bates, an online learning consultant and former director of distance education at the University of British Columbia. “It’s not rocket science,” he said. “Why would I even go to U.B.C. to do a continuing studies course on artificial intelligence, when I can get one from the top professor at Stanford for free?” What the free online courses take with one hand they may later give back with the other, said Cathy A. Sandeen, vice president for education attainment and innovation at the American Council on Education and former dean of U.C.L.A. Extension. “Right now, MOOCs are not organized in any sort of a program — it’s course by course,” she said, “whereas continuing education is probably some form of a credentialed or certificate program, a series of courses.” For example, Ms. Sandeen can see students sampling Berklee College of Music’s Introduction to Music Production through Coursera, getting “turned on” and then paying tuition for a more comprehensive program. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/education/colleges-assess-cost-of-free-online-only-courses.html