Landing : Athabascau University

Americans' Trust in Online Higher Ed Rising

http://www.gallup.com/poll/168416/americans-trust-online-higher-education-rising.aspx

Thanks to Larbi for this one -

In the US, it seems that a steadily rising number of people believe in the quality of online education. This is despite the fact that, in the US, online education is all too often equated with somewhat tarnished institutions like Phoenix and a range of smaller shady or worse private providers (apparently I can get another doctorate in the US for a mere $25, according to spam I have received) that have not done wonders for the cause. It would be interesting to know what the results might be in countries that have a more visible tradition of high quality distance education provision, like Canada, the UK, India, Turkey, the Netherlands, etc.

In my (very direct) experience, students with distance taught qualifications are, on average, more self-starting, highly motivated and skilled when compared with students taught more conventionally. I'd definitely be one of the employers who would favour an online qualification over a traditionally taught one, all things being equal. But, as for any qualification, I'd look very closely at which institution it came from.

Comments

  • Hongxin Yan April 15, 2014 - 11:52am

    This article is somehow related:

    7 Myths and Facts About Online Learning Infographic

    http://elearninginfographics.com/7-myths-and-facts-about-online-learning-infographic/#sthash.zOXQkzvy.dpuf

     

  • Jon Dron April 15, 2014 - 3:41pm

    That's a nice infographic, thanks Hongxin. Without a doubt, an online education can at the very least match one at a face-to-face institution and, on most measurable dimensions, will typically exceed its effectiveness. I still think there are some things face-to-face universities tend on average to do better though, none of which have to do with curricula or teaching. The less tangible benefits of being part of a physical learning community such as serendipitous discovery, seeing people learning around you and engaging with others outside your discipline are seldom measured but often significantly contribute in an holistic way to the overall 'graduateness' of graduates. But that's why we have the Landing and why it plays such an important role! As has often been the case in the past, Athabasca leads the way here.

    Jon