For the past couple of years I’ve been directing one of Mason’s interdisciplinary academic programs (Global Affairs). I have learned a great deal about interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching, about how to build an MA program from scratch (to 50 students in three years), and how decisions made at the top of the administrative pyramid influence…
Author: Mills
The Online Course Tsunami (4)
The one issue I’ve not taken up yet in this series of posts on the sudden enthusiasm of higher education leaders for online education is the matter of teaching. Before I go any further, I have to offer the following disclaimer. I have not, nor do I intend to teach a purely online course. I…
The Online Course Tsunami (3)
In the first two posts in this thread, I asked a series of questions about how we might assess both the learning that takes place in online courses and the economic impact of a shift to online courses, especially at a university like mine. Today I want to turn to a consideration of the broader…
The Online Course Tsunami (2)
In my first post on this topic, I raised the question of how we might assess student learning in the online environment — at least in history education. Today I want to raise the question of the possible economic impact of the online course tsunami on the traditional institutions of higher education. This topic is not…