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Basically, online schools lack credibility. There is no real way to know the quality of graduates the online schools are producing. We've had correspondent sch

Basically, online schools lack credibility. There is no real way to know the quality of graduates the online schools are producing. We've had correspondent schools forever. Also, anyone, that wants to, can go to a library and learn whatever they want. Right now, online schools are just a different flavor of those. I think online schools need to follow some of the qualifications regular universities follow. 1) there should be an accreditation body that accredits online schools 2) Tests and projects need to be proctored 3) There also needs to be a way for students to get to know each other 4) Also, having someone to help you understand what you are doing wrong is very important. Online schools are a great way to continue your education, once you have graduated, but as the primary way to get educated citizens they have a long way to go. I think in time there will not be 2 different methods of learning but a hybrid of the two. Ultimately, having a combination of regular school and online education will produce a better quality graduate.

austincheney 6y ago
> There is no real way to know the quality of graduates the online schools are producing. That can be said for any higher education. The only way to clearly address that is to measure the performance of graduates over 5-10 years compared to a pseudo-random mix of graduates from the same programs of other schools over the same time interval.
_ah 6y ago
Traditional education is at least partially a signalling mechanism. Some of that is necessarily created by limited physical space, which enforces enrollment caps. Online education has the possibility to be effectively free at scale, but in the process it loses its value for signalling. For an online degree to be truly viewed as equivalent to a traditional university degree, supply will have to be limited, enrollment hurdles will need to be raised, and cost increased. This is a tragedy, but I don't see a reasonable other alternative if employers continue to value the signalling piece.

austincheney 6y ago

> There is no real way to know the quality of graduates the online schools are producing. That can be said for any higher education. The only way to clearly address that is to measure the performance of graduates over 5-10 years compared to a pseudo-random mix of graduates from the same programs of other schools over the same time interval.

_ah 6y ago

Traditional education is at least partially a signalling mechanism. Some of that is necessarily created by limited physical space, which enforces enrollment caps. Online education has the possibility to be effectively free at scale, but in the process it loses its value for signalling. For an online degree to be truly viewed as equivalent to a traditional university degree, supply will have to be limited, enrollment hurdles will need to be raised, and cost increased. This is a tragedy, but I don't see a reasonable other alternative if employers continue to value the signalling piece.