Mixed feelings over online courses

Fewer than one-third of Americans believe that online college courses provide value equal to classroom instruction, but half of college presidents disagree, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Those are findings from a pair of Pew Research Centre surveys taken at the intersection of higher education and technology. One survey involved telephone calls to 2 142 adults 18 and older living in the US.

Another was an online survey, done in association with The Chronicle of Higher Education, of presidents of 1 055 two-year and four-year private, public and for-profit colleges and universities.

Just over half of the college presidents who were surveyed said online courses offered the same value to students as traditional classroom teaching, reports CTI Career Search.

Meanwhile, just 29% of the public thought that online classes provided the same value.

“You still have a lot of people who grew up in an era where there was very little or no technology in their classroom, so it's very hard to relate to taking a course either partially or fully online,” says Russell Poulin, deputy director for research and analysis at the Wiche Cooperative for Educational Technologies.

The gauge of differing perceptions comes at a critical moment for online education, reveals The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Just 10 years ago, few colleges took teaching onto the Internet, and skepticism about the practice was the norm among professors and university leaders.

Now many studies have proved the effectiveness of online instruction, and colleges trying to cut costs and serve students who want more convenient options are embracing this form of teaching.

But the relatively dim view of online-course quality by consumers of higher education suggests that colleges need to do more to make the case for Internet-based teaching as they increase their offerings, according to some proponents of online learning.