Texas Panel Wants Students To Complete 10% Of Degrees Online

A Texas panel on higher education recently published a list of recommendations for the state's colleges -- one of which suggests that 10 percent of a college degree should be earned outside of the classroom.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the report seeks to suggest ways to lower higher education costs while boosting enrollment. Online courses would make it so that campuses wouldn't have to construct multitudes of new spaces to host the extra students.

The recent report comes on the heels of the news that Texas lags behind much of the country in degree obtainment. On July 23, the Associated Press reported that just 27 percent of Texans between the ages 25-34 holds anything more than a high school diploma.

What are your thoughts? Do online classes work? Weigh in below.

Comments

[AmigaMan]

08:55 PM on 08/05/2010

Why not take your degree entirely online? My university, Western Governors University, is making waves in the post-secondary education world with its programs that are more accredited than many brick-and-mortar universities.

The nice thing is that I can study on my own time while working full-time as a licensed substitute teacher. I'm working on a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science with an added teaching licensure to be able to teach History at the high school level.

Check it out... http://www.wgu.edu/

[snesich]

03:28 PM on 08/05/2010

As an owner of a business, I would never hire anyone who had a "degree" from a for-profit business, posing as a college.

"Online courses" are vastly inferior to real, face-to-face courses. Anyone with an "online degree" would never get hired by my company, or most reputable companies, for any kind of a responsible job.

[snesich]

03:23 PM on 08/05/2010

Leave it to Texas.

This state is always near the absolute bottom in literacy, education spending, educational achievement, pro-family programs, and the like.

Is it any surprise that these yahoos are recommending this?

Of course, they'd never recommend this for the sons and daughters from the ritzy suburbs of Dallas and Houston. Would they? No, those "special" (white with money) kids will get to go to UT, SMU and A&M. It's gross.

[jonrice]

12:15 PM on 08/05/2010

Online courses simply don’t require the engagement that in-class courses do. It’s like the difference between TV and live theater: there is something inherently different about even just viewing a lecture in a live setting than online. More importantly, to create a society that thinks critically, we need to spend more time focusing on bringing dialogue and discussion back into education. Online classes ARE NOT the way to do this.

I don’t want to discredit online classes completely; I am sure some are better than regular classroom classes, but I am hesitant to believe they are the solution to higher education’s issues.

[AmigaMan]

09:02 PM on 08/05/2010

Your comment shows how little you know about online education. My degree is online, and I find I have to work just as hard as I did at college when I completed a degree as a Computer Analyst/Programmer.

[Jude Ryan]

08:38 AM on 08/05/2010

As a college teacher for more than twenty years, I have seen the transition from traditional to nontraditional education, and the problem is, in part, that we have opened a Pandora's Box with no real understanding of the consequences of what we have done or are doing. The less direct contact students have with instructors, the more likely they are to cheat in any number of ways. I spend a good deal of my time as a composition teacher tracking plagiarism. Additionally, online education weakens the bonds between the student and the institution. Many people are getting online degrees today, but customers (formerly known as students) should know that these degrees are considered second rate in academia. We are creating two tiers of education. Any student who thinks his or her online degree is comparable to those offered by established institutions is mistaken. Online education exacerbates these disparities.
There are lots of good reasons for online education. I offer what we call hybrid courses in which I still meet with students regularly but they also take part of the course online. This gives a connection, helps me to verify their participation, and allows students to know their instructor.
We should move forward with the technology but only after establishing standards, evaluating each student for his or her ability to succeed in such a format (online courses have huge failure and dropout rates compared to face to face classes) and assuring quality is maintained.
This debate is about money, not education.

[AmigaMan]

09:03 PM on 08/05/2010

That's because many students think online studies are so easy. They are not. One has to be disciplined to be able to complete an online degree while working full-time.

[Snapper Snap]

02:57 AM on 08/05/2010

How about doing 100% of your generals online. College is too expensive and time consuming for student to attend class for 2 years doing generals. I know a lot of people would be against this because forcing students to take generals is how certain departments can afford to operate. But we have got to do something about those general-core classes.

[frakkingtoaster]

12:38 PM on 08/05/2010

In regard to your statement that college is too expensive, I completely agree. However, I am not sure that online courses would be any less expensive. In my experience as a current student at Texas State University, I have taken a few online courses and not only did I pay full tuition and fees for the online courses, but I had to pay an additional $120 fee for taking the course online. Online courses will not benefit students by alleviating costs.

[snesich]

03:25 PM on 08/05/2010

College IS expensive.

But it's a lot cheaper than ignorance.

[lisakaz2]

05:43 PM on 08/04/2010

I don't trust online requirements. I think they're meant to be cheap to boost university profits but doubt that they actually provide education. Students could tie into a "class" while they're doing anything other than paying attention (maybe not even in the room), the assignments can be grunt work that merely is done to finish versus resonate for any length of time. Acquiring skills and knowledge is hard enough right now given the lack of "work ethic" with many who think they can simply purchase a passing grade and/or a degree. These online choices will only further enable such lack of effort and real accomplishments.

[grokadile]

12:00 AM on 08/05/2010

Your comments are based on the assumption that all online courses lack academic integrity or can challenge critical thinking skills. No, it isn't the same as a classroom, but it can be fairly easy for students to not be engaged and sit passively in the back of a room during a boring PowerPoint lecture. In a quality online environment, 100% participation can be required since it isn't tied to the same time constraints, and the amount of learning and interaction can be just as valuable. I agree that there are horrible online courses and programs, but your comments are an unfair characterization and ignores many of the strengths of this delivery method. Not to mention, in the 21st Century, where so much of our professional development and communication happens electronically, 10% online courses may be a good thing to prepare professionals to be technologically literate.

[lisakaz2]

01:15 AM on 08/05/2010

You're right -- I am unfamiliar with any advantages to this course method, probably because I've seen how easily students try to hand in plagiarized work as their own and would think that many see "school in PJs" as a way to evade doing actual work beyond copying Wikipedia, which they do enough as it is. Seems to me someone mentioned collaborative projects with other students, but I don't know how that works when students may not live close to each other.

Are we really supposed to be teaching students how to use a computer program? So students aren't supposed to know anything about history or economics or geography or any other university major?

[AmigaMan]

09:04 PM on 08/05/2010

My university is non-profit. Check it out... http://www.wgu.edu/. WGU is more accredited than many brick-and-mortar universities.

[lisakaz2]

12:25 AM on 08/06/2010

How do they avoid the problems I mention? Having a policy is not the same thing as prevention you know -- and I have taught at schools that have harsh policies.

[Ayla87]

05:03 PM on 08/04/2010

This isn't a bad idea. 10% of a 120 credit bachelors degree is only twelve credits, or four classes. It would free up space at the universities, and it would enable the more motivated students to take more classes (since online classes can be taken at any time of day) and either graduate early or double major.

[lisakaz2]

05:44 PM on 08/04/2010

You presume more motivation. I think these enhance more laziness.

[Ayla87]

12:29 PM on 08/05/2010

I'm glad to know what you think. Would you mind telling me what you know?

Because what I know is that not only are online classes the same academic quality of regular classes (I've taken some), but that they serve as a gateway for hardworking people who are anything but lazy to achieve thier educational goals. And as far as motivation, I never said that everyone would be more motivated to take more classes and double major. I said the students who are already motivated would use the time freed by online classes to do something constructive.

I'm not trying to be snide, but just sticking your nose up at something because of what you *think* it does is illogical and in this case, quite elitist.

[clearthinker2008]

07:36 AM on 08/05/2010

What if you just prefer traditional classroom learning style?

[AmigaMan]

08:59 PM on 08/05/2010

What if you don't like blabbering professors that talk about their life instead of teaching the subject? I'd rather complete my education online.

[Jason Miller 2]

04:58 PM on 08/04/2010

There is nothing wrong with online degrees (I have 2, plus a certificate) - but going to a college or technical school right after high school is a valuable experience (my first degree was a brick and mortar school). Kid's should go to college, and the online degree program be used for continuing education.

[astimpso]

02:31 PM on 08/04/2010

“I received my BS from a brick and mortar public university in Michigan in 2003 immediately following high school. Email was barely used then. I have worked in my desired field since graduation but decided to go back for my MS in 2007. I looked at the same program at several different schools and after about a year of deliberation (mostly due to the prohibitive costs) I decided to return to my alma mater. The one big difference from my undergraduate studies was that now classes were also offered online. I had never taken an online class and was able to complete my MS without stepping foot on campus. The sense of community is not lost through online learning. It offers the opportunity to understand different perspectives of the discipline from students all over the world. Online classes by no means are a "work at your own" pace sort of deal. They are strictly regimented, deadline driven courses that required more reading and writing than I even did in a regular classroom setting. Virtual classrooms force the involvement of its students through discussion threads, assignments, and collaborative efforts. It requires the student to take a very active role in their learning while allowing the freedom of not being stuck to a specific classroom schedule. Both my degrees are from the same public university, one done entirely old school and the other entirely online, and from my experience, neither automatically have the upper hand. Learning lies with the student.”

[AmigaMan]

09:00 PM on 08/05/2010

My university has online areas for each degree area. I don't feel that I am "disconnected" from many of my fellow students.