Dr. Peter Shea from the University of Albany found
that all the hoopla about online education being second class compared to on
ground education was simply untrue. Concerned about the results of a limited
study which found that those who engaged in online classes were less likely to
finish college were based upon outlier information. He decided to conduct his
own study but instead used national data to generate his results. Generally, the greater the amount of information
included in a study the higher its validity.
Spending on colleges has come under increased
scrutiny as budget woes have reared their ugly head. Using data from a 2009 Beginning Post Secondary Student Survey, conducted
by the U.S. Department of Education, it was found that those who entered online
classrooms to obtain an associate’s degree were more likely to graduate. With
national graduation rates low, policy makers are concerned not only about return on
investment of college in general but also future preparation of the nation.
Online education has been abused as not worthwhile
with a wide range of people joining in the apple throwing. However, over the
past few years other similar studies and surveys are finding that in some
respects online education may actually be superior to traditional education. According to Allen & Seaman ( 2013)
nearly 70% of U.S. Academic Vice Presidents found that online learning outcomes
are as good as or better than ground based classroom courses.
The growth in online education is remarkable as
transient students seek opportunities to maintain their educational goals
despite changing lives and demographics. Students may change jobs, locations,
and even their lifestyles but online education allows for consistency. It also provides for very rich interactive
content that is not often gained from physical settings. If online education is
slightly beating odds as a disruptive technology today imagine what the field is
going to look like in the next 10 years. Is there still doubt?
