Swiroset.com

In California, public university students are used to waiting to try to enroll in popular or required courses. But if a recently introduced state bill passes, those students may soon be able to take classes online instead of waiting in line.

The bill, introduced by California Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), would allow public university students to take web-based “massive open online courses” (MOOCs) to earn academic credits in lieu of certain courses required to complete the degree. if there are no available seats in the on-campus sections of those courses. The credit would be awarded based on the recommendations of the American Council on Education. While faculty panels would have the opportunity to review online courses and choose appropriate replacements for oversubscribed private classes, schools would no longer be able to withhold full credit from students seeking online alternatives.

The bill addresses a statewide problem of over-enrollment for introductory courses in core subjects, particularly at the community college level. The state’s community college system has been caught between budget cuts on the one hand and growing demand for higher education on the other. As a result, last fall, three-quarters of California’s 112 community colleges were forced to turn away students. School waiting lists averaged 7,000 students. Even those students who can enroll are often unable to enroll in the classes they need to graduate or continue their studies. Sometimes they must spend extra semesters at the school, simply waiting for places to open up in the required classes.

The replacement online courses promoted by the bill would be offered by third-party providers, some of which are for-profit businesses, including Udacity, Straighterline, EdX and Coursera. The program would be combined with an existing statewide effort to promote the use of free and open source textbooks, according to a news release from the 20 Million Minds Foundation, a California nonprofit focused on cutting costs. of the textbooks. (one)

Using online resources to fill the course gap makes a lot of sense. Allowing students to study introductory-level material in virtual classrooms can keep them on track toward graduation while freeing up classroom space and time for more advanced classes.

On the surface, allowing online programs to take over introductory-level instruction may seem like a teacher’s dream. My guess, however, is that California public university professors and administrators won’t be happy. In fact, were it not for resistance within academia, there would be no need for the bill, because students could already take online courses for credit.

The reason students need to have the bill passed before they can click “Enroll” is accreditation; so far, very few online programs have received it. The university accreditation process, which is carried out by private organizations dominated by academics and administrators, serves to entrench existing institutions at the expense of potentially more profitable competitors. Instead of applying objective, outcome-based standards, accreditors, who are mostly affiliated with traditional schools, judge potential newcomers based on whether they adhere to established methods. This automatically blocks innovation and has kept most online programs out of the accredited club.

By withholding accreditation, established powers in academia have effectively prevented newer online programs from being able to compete for students. Most students must show that their degrees are from accredited schools before those degrees are considered legitimate. Accreditation is also used to determine eligibility for federal financial aid. While accredited universities may choose to award academic credit to students who complete courses through unaccredited online programs, few do. That’s why students wait to get into face-to-face classes at accredited schools, despite the availability of online programs capable of providing the same knowledge and skills.

While university professors and administrators maintain control over the accreditation system, financial pressure will eventually make change inevitable. The ever-increasing tuition bills and mounting student debt that are the by-products of the current academic fix simply cannot be sustained much longer.

The California bill is a sign that those financial pressures are having an effect. The arrangement proposed in the bill effectively overrides accrediting agencies by forcing public schools to lend the strength of their own accreditation to high-caliber online classes. This kind of legislative manipulation may not be enough in the long run, but it is at least a step in the right direction, bringing us closer to the day when students can choose from a multitude of accredited programs that are online, online. campus or a combination of the two.

The proportion of high school graduates who go on to college has risen from 45 percent in 1959 to 70 percent in 2009. In that half-century span, employers who once accepted candidates with only a high school diploma are now using college degrees. as your hiring standard. However, we continue to rely on academic models that were developed when only a minority of students were pursuing higher education. It’s no wonder those systems are being overwhelmed. We owe it to students to make sure educational infrastructure is repaired before it breaks beneath them. If the universities themselves are unable or unwilling to do this, then policymakers, particularly at the state level, will need to step in.

If the California bill is successful, it will offer a valuable lesson to the rest of the country. I hope educators are paying attention.

Source:

1) Yahoo! News, “New California Legislation to Provide Full Academic Credit for MOOC Courses”