The case for on-line college education - A work in progress

Abstract

Going to college, often means incurring exorbitant tuition and high living costs, for students. This has become largely unaffordable for many aspirants, and results in otherwise qualified students, not getting a higher education. As part of this effort and future papers, the authors are working on developing various models of online college education with a credible (to be defined and discussed) certificate of completion or degree and are evaluating the extent to which each of those models are viable future possibilities that could help such students. The primary benefit would be to greatly increase the likelihood of productive adult lives without having to attend onsite college classes. Admittedly, at present the more realistic online education opportunities are tuition-based (rather than free) alternatives that lead to either a certificate or degree. With today's internet technology and social networking capabilities, it seems feasible to provide superior educational opportunities for a much larger and more diverse population of people. The online medium is not only a venue for educational innovation through experimental teaching methods, but also a source of new information (e.g., through online surveys and tracking of student progress). Online experiences should lead to further improvements in modern educational techniques and methods. This and subsequent papers will explore the viability of these notions while concentrating on several online education scenarios through: 1) further elaboration (particularly, within two specific domains, viz., engineering leadership/project management, and career/business education); 2) the gathering and reporting of supporting data; 3) the application of relevant fundamentals from complexity theory; and 4) stimulating analogies about complex system behaviors and complex systems engineering principles. All this may influence a positive transformation in the "mindsights" of aspirants, students, teachers, professors, and college/university educators. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2013.