Your new post is loading...
I never thought I would be a cheerleader for Janet Napolitano, formerly Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and a former governor of Arizona, but in her role as the relatively new President of the vast University of California System, she recently made some much needed comments about the hype around online learning in a ‘conversation’ at the Public Policy Institute of California two days ago (captured in a YouTube video).
The whole ‘conversation’ lasts about an hour, but her comments on online learning come 31 mins 10 secs into the interview and last only two minutes, with another brief comment at 48’15. However, the whole of her comments, about UC and the importance of publicly funded higher education, are well worth listening to by anyone interested in the future of public higher education.
What she said about online learning
She did not (contrary a possible reading of Hiltzik’s headline in the LA Times) pour cold water on online learning. What she said was as follows:
- it is one tool in the toolbox
- it’s not easy to do well
- students need regular interaction online with other students and with instructors
- so it’s not going to save buckets of money
- it’s better for students in upper level programs
- it could help in sharing courses across campuses and in assisting transfers (between community colleges, state universities and UC).
Via Miloš Bajčetić
