Some universities are still holding out when it comes to distance education. This Internet thing is still too newfangled for them to grasp. They assert seemingly valid reasons: concerns about mission-creep, emphasis on residential life, cost, etc., but I question the rationale.

I can understand the first point about mission-creep, to an extent, although I believe there are ways to embed the university’s mission within core classes and throughout the curriculum. The second reason primarily applies to undergraduates, but since most graduate students live off-campus, they represent a good cohort with which to begin a distance education program. The third point is the most difficult for me to understand. Software programs such as Blackboard are already in use at many (most?) universities, and using the system for distance learning is no more difficult than using another module of the software; tools like discussion forums and document sharing are already built in! It’s like saying that you can’t create a newsletter because you only use Excel, but you ignore the fact that MS Office Suite also comes with Word and Publisher.

I read an article today about something unfathomable–a tenured professor is walking away from his post at a prestigious university in order to teach solely online. During his recent announcement at a professional conference, the professor explained that “his move was motivated in part by teaching practices that evolved too slowly to be effective.”

Wow. I would like to take back all of the snarky comments that I’ve made over the years about tenured professors becoming lazy, non-caring, out-of-touch fuddy-duddies. (Ok, most of the sassy comments, but a few are still applicable.)

The gist is: since when do you have to be physically present in a classroom to learn? I believe this is especially true at the graduate level. My doctoral classes cover a base of material, but I am expected to expound on what I read/learn and apply the information to my personal research and writing. Even in a “typical” doctoral program, I don’t know of anyone whose professor held them by the hand and guided them through every lecture, every research paper, every project and their dissertation. Graduate students are expected to work independently and become scholars.

I may not be Einstein, but I would gladly hold up the work that I have completed at a distance against a traditional doctoral student’s in-class work. Would my work be better? Perhaps not, but that isn’t the point. It should be comparable. Let a student’s work stand or fall on its own merit, not based on the classroom environment.