Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Will Online Education Replace Instant Universities?

One of Peter's Drucker future quotes states:" Instant Universities and other educational institutions would be replaced completely by an online education". I would argue that it is most unrealistic and way too simplistic to say that in “thirty years from now the big University campuses will be relicts. Universities won’t survive (...)”. Peter Drucker’s futuristic vision does not take into account the fact that students need University and University campuses to develop their full potential. On-line courses do not provide the same experience and the same level of engagement as on-campus education. It is impossible for future doctors or engineers to study anatomy of human body or to construct technological devices respectively via Internet. There is no doubt that on-line resources are great help for people, who due to health problems, work, family commitments are not able to attend college every day. However, in order to develop essential skills needed in todays very competitive world, people must be able to work effectively in group environment, communicate, solve problems, be proactive, etc., and this can be achieved only through on campus education. It is face-to-face contact with lecturers and other students that makes people more engaged in learning process. “The human touch is much more vital to higher education than high technology. Education is not just about transmitting a body of facts, which the Internet does pretty well. It is about learning to argue and reason, which is best done in a community of scholars” as stated in The Economist. Lack of control on student progress is another limitation of on-line education. It is difficult to assess how well in reality students are performing. Are students’ efforts measured in fair and proper manner? Although, on-line education assists and supports existing education system, on campus education gives more opportunities to flourish and to help to develop essential skills needed in future work.
Future of Online Education by Dr.Patrick Dixon

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