[LINK] University of Australia Online Proposed by Labour

[Chirgwin, Richard]

I note from the radio news this morning that the AVCC has warned against the
assumption that online=cheaper.

That's the issue I would most like brought to KB's attention (is Kate Lundy
lurking out there?). Somehow, a notion asserted but not proven by MIT
futurologusts, about five years ago, that "online is cheaper than bricks and
mortar" maintains its currency in spite of empirical evidence. It's assumed
the ineradicability of urban myth...

STM1: [We][Somebody][They] should be wary to stop the UAO becoming a feeding
frenzy for "market-leading courseware developers" backed by "highly
respected international names in education". I note from many websites that
there's little capacity to assess the bona fides of Web consultants.

STM2: Accessibility is the biggest plus, but on the downside, there's a
large overlap between those who can't reach a campus and those who don't
have decent Internet bandwidth. 

Richard Chirgwin

-----Original Message-----
From: Geoff Muldoon [mailto:gmuldoon@scu.edu.au]
Sent: Wednesday, 24 January 2001 16:10
To: link@www.anu.edu.au
Subject: RE: [LINK] University of Australia Online Proposed by Labour


At 02:35 PM 24/01/2001 +1000, Chirgwin, Richard wrote:
>To add to your questions:

Not as a comprehensive answer, but snippets from someone involved in the
development and delivery of online learning:

>Which academic endeavours favour online over face-to-face models?

Management Studies, HRM, Law, most of the "book-based", non-practical
courses.  Nearly anything that is currently available externally.

>How well do assessment models map onto online course delivery?

For the above types, very well.

>How credible will be a degree granted by an online institution?

As credible as the institution already is.  I note that they are talking
about doing this through established education providers in consortium
mode, rather than a new stand-alone entity.

>What authentication model is proposed - how can we verify that Richard
>Chirgwin completed the course of study for which Richard Chirgwin is being
>awarded a degree?

Good question.  How do they do it for current courses which use paper-based
assessment rather than personally-attended exams, or for external students?

>I would add that given the dotcom experience, any model which assumes
"sight
>unseen" that an online activity will be cheaper than its "bricks & mortar"
>equivalent should be handled with caution. 

>From our experience, it certainly is not cheaper from the institution's
point of view, particularly in the formative stages.  In terms of
accessibility/transport/dislocation is is certain to be beneficial for some
students.

Cheers,

Geoff


Geoff Muldoon                                
Software Engineer
Information Technology Directorate
Southern Cross University
Lismore  NSW  Australia

Email: 		gmuldoon@scu.edu.au
Telephone: 	+61 2 6620 3097
Facsimile:   	+61 2 6620 3033