[LINK] the net, higher ed, and change

[Jan Whitaker]

At 07:20 AM 18/06/2009, Richard Chirgwin wrote:
>My experiences with students working as interns is that some are 
>independent and
>motivated, but as you would expect with real people rather than demographic
>constructs, this is not uniform.

That is definitely the case. The variability of learners today is 
just as wide as it always has been. The 'however' to that is that we 
have the means to provide different ways of learning today that takes 
advantage of the new technologies, either in blended environments 
(use of web resources during lectures, recording lectures for later 
review, students taking notes on devices, etc.) or in distributed 
learning options (forums like moodle with students participating from 
anywhere in the world) to make options available for those who are 
motivated and need the programs.

The last numbers I saw for the University of Phoenix was something 
like 200,000, maybe in that article. That's huge. And their students 
are primarily working adults. UoP has been working away at their 
program for about 20 years now. I had a little to do with it in its 
infancy. It's a private institution with large fees, too. So people 
are willing to pay for it.

Horses for courses. It's not either/or any more. Learners are 
accessing the educational program that meets their needs at the time. 
If they can attend in person, that's available in some places. But 
for those who can't attend a specific time/place, distance education 
provides the ability to participate at equal and sometimes better 
quality, sometimes lesser quality.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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