I've enjoyed all the responses to this topic, especially, as always,
Martha's. The perspective I found missing was: which students will find the
most success with technology-mediated instruction?
In this day, when we have the most diverse student population ever, and an
open access policy at all the cc's I know about, can we presume that
distance ed will meet the needs of all our students? In my experience, the
best students (and probably the majority of us fit into this category at
least in the later stages of our formal education) can learn in almost any
venue. But the most needy students rely the most heavily on student-teacher
relationship to get ahold of the what and how and even the how-come of
success in their coursework. Experience thus far in my district says these
students will not be well served by distance ed.
Paula
>From: ted panitz <tpanitz@cape.com>
>Reply-To: ted panitz <tpanitz@cape.com>
>To: stlhe-l@unb.ca, wac-l@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu, aera-c@asu.edu,
>aera-k@asu.edu, aera-j@asu.edu, math@lists.davis.k12.ut.us,
>mathedcc@archives.math.utk.edu, CLTALK@asu.edu
>Subject: [MATHEDCC] Who will teach in the 21st century??
>Date: Fri, 03 Sep 1999 15:31:12 +0000
>
>Hi Listers,
>
> Do you think the big technology software and hardware companies,
>with all their money and people power, will be able to take over our
>teaching responsibilities by developing sophisticated internet courses
>which include videos, CD's, lectures from well known teachers, computer
>testing/grading etc.???
>
> If NO, why not?
> If YES, then what can we do about it, if anything?
> Should they take over teaching?
>
> You know my position, that we must change from lecturing to
>interactive, students centered classes, as a mechanism to stop R2D2 from
>taking over. What do you think??
>
> In order to fan the flames a little more I have taken a quote from
>Michael Margolis' paper "Brave New Universities". The web site where the
>entire document may be accessed in at the end of the article.
>
> Please reply to the list.
>
> Regards,
>Ted
>tpanitz@cape.com
>
> Michael Margolis (1997) clearly identifies the driving force behind the
>commoditization of university instruction and the consequences this will
>have on the future of teaching in the university. Margolis states the "
>Market capitalism, not the Internet per se, is the force behind
>developing the wired university". He believes that students will embrace
>distance learning because of the financial benefits they will receive,
>partially through reduced tuition and elimination of other expenses
>associated with taking courses on college campuses. He states, "A
>college degree from an accredited program will
>suffice- the cheaper the better- as long as it increases a student's
>chance of securing a decent first job to help pay back his or her loans.
>The "high-tech" universities of the next century will be hailed as yet
>another triumph of the free market. (p1)
>
> In order to achieve economic nirvana universities will need to
>implement actions to save money. Margolis states, " With proper
>planning, the savings generated from eliminating lecture halls,
>classrooms, and most undergraduate laboratories should be second only to
>those realized from downsizing faculty and outsourcing courses." (p2)
>In addition costly libraries and computer centers can be eliminated by
>using on line, digitized libraries accessible through the internet.
>
> The true intent of the technology companies is captured by Margolis
>in the following quotes.
>
> "The beauty of this power emerges not merely from customer
>convenience, however. It offers better quality instruction as well. As
>the Internet reaches a global market, local universities no longer need
>to limit their course instruction to their own- and let's face it -
>sometimes mediocre faculty, instead, they can offer choice among the
>world's greatest instructor's online."
> "Once arrangements for outsourcing the desired courses have been
>made with the managers and instructors at the appropriate institutions,
>local universities can effectively become franchises of greater
>institutions. They can offer their customers the finest courses of
>instruction from Harvard, Oxford or Heidelberg, or if their customers so
>desire, from Hillside, Liberty Baptist or Motorola. And, because they
>won't need to maintain many
>faculty to teach on their own campuses, they can offer these courses at
>a fraction of their present cost. The market will determine the best
>courses to offer, and the economics of scale will afford even greater
>savings." (p3)
> "To sum up, then, the commodification of higher educational
>training provides the impetus for reform of costly practices of American
>universities. To survive in the global market universities need to
>implement
>four types of reform:
>1. downsizing faculty by replacing classroom lectures with both
>asynchronous and simultaneous sessions on the Internet;
>2. minimizing the need for instructional laboratories, lecture
>halls, and other physical spaces for teaching on campus ;
>3. cutting research costs through the use of digital libraries and
>networked computers, eliminating valueless scholarship, and charging a
>fair price
> for support services that universities formerly gave for free;
>4. ending tenure as we know it and using appropriate economic
>criteria to evaluate each professor's teaching, research and community
>service. Finally, universities can supplement these reforms with
>expanded investment in recreational facilities and in varsity athletic
>enterprises." (p6)
>
> In order to succeed with implementing all of these reforms,
>university managers will have to overcome the troglodytes who resist
>marketing higher education as a commodity. These reactionaries argue
>that education in the arts and sciences is also an experience that
>provides worthwhile non-material benefits that enrich a person's time,
>and they often cite philosophies of education that run back at least to
>Thomas Jefferson. In the global economy, however, customers see higher
>education as training and
> credentialing to secure jobs that provide better
>remuneration. The American public understands
> that every major endeavor- with the possible
> exception of religion- needs to be evaluated on a
> commercial basis." (p6)
>
>Margolis, M. "Brave New Universities"
>http:/www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue3_5/margolis/index.html
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>Other sites of interest in this debate
>David Noble articles
>http://communication.ucsd.edu/dl/ddm1.html
>http://communication.ucsd.edu/dl/ddm2.html
>http://communication.ucsd.edu/dl/ddm3.html
>
>Boyer Commission Report
>http://www.sunysb.edu
>( click on the Boyer Commission Report) or
>http://notes.cc.sunysb.edu/Pres/boyer.nsf/
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