Thursday, January 24, 2013

A New Kind of Degree?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323301104578255992379228564.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories

Having experienced nearly all of my education thus far in the most traditional of settings, I am only slowly warming up to the idea of online classes.  I have taken a handful of online classes in my pursuit of higher education and while I find that you can certainly have a great professor and have interesting material presented to you, I myself do not learn to the best of my ability in an online setting.  I feel there is a lot to be said, especially in an MBA program, for a traditional classroom setting where you can chat with your peers face to face prior to class, essentially networking in an informal manner.

The idea that online classes could go to a whole new level and become just a virtual testing arena seems a bit absurd to me under most scenarios.  I think that it does make sense when you are considering someone who has a lot of hands-on knowledge in their day-to-day life but never formalized it in a degree.  But for someone who took most of the required psychology classes or biology classes in college but didn't quite complete their degree... and then decides to use the MOOC (massive open online courses) setting to finish their degree?  I know that I personally wouldn't stand a chance unless I had been actively using the knowledge I'd learned in those classes on a regular basis.

1 comment:

  1. I totally agree with you in thinking that this doesn't make sense! I personally hate online classes and would rather have a traditional setting where I can speak with my team and collaborate. I would take a traditional classroom over a virtual one any day.

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