Online Classes Should be About Enriching, Not Privatizing, Education

By Mary Ellen Flannery As online courses continue to grow rapidly in number and size, and as some colleges begin to experiment with the use of “academic coaches” or even robots to lead those courses, some educators are wondering whether it’s all a scheme to privatize teaching and rid campuses of tenured faculty. In 2009, [...]

Virtual Schools Under Scrutiny

By Teal Ruland As public schools nationwide struggle with devastating budget cuts, online schools are expanding – even in the most cash-strapped districts. Currently, 27 states operate these so-called “virtual” schools. This trend is accelerating as evidence mounts that online schools are not effective alternatives to traditional schools. Online schools recruit students with the appeal [...]

Study Shows Students Taking Online Courses More Likely to Fail

By Mary Ellen Flannery Maybe online education isn’t the magic pill for cash-strapped school districts and colleges. In a newly released study of 51,000 Washington State community college students, Columbia University researchers found that students who took online courses were more likely to fail or drop out of the course than students who took the [...]