Professors hate online education. To save colleges, they have to learn to love it.

Via the Washington Post

There is still a stigma around online education.  For many faculty, online education is not much different than the old correspondence course with students interacting only with content.  Where is the intellectual development that only takes place with human contact (ala Vygotsky)?    If you cannot physically see the student, how does one know if they are truly the ones participating in the course?

In Lucas's opinion piece, he argues for a larger embrace of online learning as a saving mechanism for higher education.  MOOCs as a moneymakers.  Online content as moneymakers.  Flipped classrooms as moneymakers.

Some of his arguments are tarnished by my experience teaching online (N=1).  My experience at one of the more reputable online universities was both a frustrating and incredibly rewarding one.

What makes online teaching really exciting?  In the higher ed world - that we have the ability to reach students who would otherwise be unable to take a class and engage with them.  In the K-12 space - that we can show kids a world beyond their own walls and inspire them. 

What is it not?  Easy or better..... yet.  We are still talking about online education in terms of the overall "no significant difference" issue.  Teaching can be bad no matter where or how it takes place.  Personally, I think it is easier to be a bad online teacher because of how much work and effort it takes.  There will always be a small percentage of students who are highly motivated and eager and don't really need the teacher even as a guide.  However, a larger proportion still needs the intervention and touch of a teacher.  We are seeing more and more come out about the emotional needs of students and how to regulate learning into a strictly cognitive realm sets many students up for failure. 

Ultimately, this makes me wonder if the future of tech in education is based primarily on scale - does it allow us to scale up (MOOCs) or allow us to scale down (personalized learning with deep interactions)?  Both at the same time seem to be in conflict.