Article in the New York Times:
First, Ryan Gibbons bought a Hyundai so he would not have to drive his gas-guzzling Chevy Blazer to college classes here. When fuel prices kept rising, he cut expenses again, eliminating two campus visits a week by enrolling in an online version of one of his courses.
Like Mr. Gibbons, thousands of students nationwide, including many who were previously reluctant to study online, have suddenly decided to take one or more college classes over the Internet.
This story clearly has a relevance for Academic Libraries but I think there are implications of this story for other libraries as well.
Quality
From the article:
“I don’t feel I get as much out of an online class as a campus course,” Ms. Miller said. “But I couldn’t afford any other decision.”
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I don’t think video of lectures needs to be live but I think many online courses need to have more video. With the ability to stream video a high quality recording of lectures would be very valuable.
Another way to look at this
I am a MLS student with a MLS college nearby, but I take all my classes online from another university. Why?
1) Cheaper. No kidding. Out of state and everything and it’s still a little less costly then the University of Washington.
2) Class time for some learners is overrated, especially in the digital age. Lecture time in class is completely useless to my style of learning. I’m very global, hands-on, and text-based learner. As people who just don’t learn in lectures have to sit still in class, they start yes, taking notes – but also text messaging, talking to their neighbor, writing stories – anything to keep away and upright.
3) With the cost of tuition being what it is, you have to work and you have to schedule an internship for work experience credit. At one point I was driving 80 miles a day between errands, work, kids, and the internship. Having one less place to be – on time – in Seattle traffic is a Godsend. It actually allows me to even be in school as a possibility.
4) And yay – lower gas and car related bills! Let’s face it, they stiff people.
5) I’d like a few less fatigue related accidents out on college campuses, a better environment, and to have some people who really do need to drive be able to find parking.
Agreed
>>Class time for some learners is overrated, especially in the digital age. Lecture time in class is completely useless to my style of learning.
I agree with you on this. But on the flip side I would like schools to have quality lectures online for those people that are auditory learners and find quality lectures very useful.
I think a lecture that was highly planned and well thought out and then recorded would be very useful to the auditory learner and hopefully would also be more useful to all students because the lecture was made to be the highest quality it can be.
It is a good way
It is a good way to meet women (or men if one chooses).