Please excuse any duplication - from the Chronicle / kw
"Enrollment in Online Courses Increases at the Highest Rate Ever"
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/enrollment-in-online-courses-increases-at\
-the-highest-rate-ever/28204
November 16, 2010, 12:01 am
By Travis Kaya
EXCERPTS BELOW:
"Despite predictions that the growth of online education would begin to level
off, colleges reported the highest-ever annual increase in online
enrollment—more than 21 percent—last year, according to a report on an annual
survey of 2,600 higher-education institutions from the Sloan Consortium and the
Babson Survey Research Group."
"In fall 2009, colleges—including public, nonprofit private, and for-profit
private institutions—reported that one million more students were enrolled in at
least one Web-based course, bringing the total number of online students to 5.6
million. That unexpected increase—which topped the previous year's 17-percent
rise—may have been helped by higher demand for education in a rocky economy and
an uptick in the number of colleges adopting online courses."
"Although the survey found sustained interest in online courses across all
sectors, there was a spike in the number of for-profit institutions—a 20-percent
increase over last year—that said online education is critical to their
long-term strategies. However, more public colleges than private
for-profits—74.9 percent versus 60.5 percent—say it's part of their long-term
plans." ...
EXCERPTS:
..."Administrators also continue to wrestle with the question of quality in
online education. According to the survey report, "Class Differences: Online
Education in the United States, 2010," 66 percent of college administrators say
that online education is the same as or better than face-to-face classes—a
slight decline from last year. Still, Ms. Allen said it appears that more
faculty members are warming up to online education as a quality alternative to
face-to-face learning and are finding new ways to use the technology." ...
Excerpts from the article~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"No artist is ahead of his time. He is the time. It is just that others are behind the time."--Martha Graham