Competition in the dot-com World by Gregory Farrington and Roland K, Yoshida

The article I reviewed spoke of how the educational landscape will change in the future due to the availability of online courses.

The article begins by saying that United States educators argue that online courses are a poor substitute for the richness of residential education. Most educators are hoping that the online courses will fail in the same manner as many of the dot-com businesses.

The suggestion is that the internet is just another tool that educational institutions can use and is not necessarily a substitute for methods that are already in place. By using this tool effectively higher education institutes can improve on what they already do well. They can make education more effective, efficient, less expensive and more widely accessible.

The point was made that most every college educate the same way. The time is ripe for some innovation in methodology.

In some locations distance learning has been going on for decades. In particular the article mentions distance learning in Australia due to sparsely populated areas. This is an area of the world where online education can grow. China was also mentioned due to the fact it would not be feasible to educate all those who desired an education.

Some examples were given where online courses have already experienced some success. Lehigh University has changed the accounting 101 class. In the past students were split into sections of forty with a professor in charge of each. The material has been consolidated into more of a multimedia course with online testing. This has saved countless man-hours in covering the same material. Andersen Consulting conducted an experiment with an MBA program that demonstrated students learned just as much information online as taking regular classroom curriculum. Secondary students have taken online courses to accelerate learning freshman college courses.

The article does not suggest that online courses can substitute for the richness of residential college life. It does suggest that there are certain targeted areas for online learning. Particularly for MBA students where time and convenience are issues, for secondary school students where there is a lack of qualified instructors, and for public institutions where legislation will be used to force the situation.

This article was interesting reading considering the circumstances under which I am writing this critique. As I read it, I wondered if eventually the internet will put me out of a teaching job. At the same time, I realize that online courses may make education for my children cheaper. It will also leave them with more options. My children may have the option of getting some of their core courses out of the way online, or they could take most of their undergraduate courses online then transfer to a four-year institute for their last two years.

Like the article I do not believe that online courses will ever substitute for residential education. What I have always found a curiosity, is that, television has not been used very extensively in education. Here is a tool that has been around since the fifties, and this tool has not been used effectively in distance learning. The only time I found it being used effectively was in my accounting 101 class at Penn State. One professor taught about 500 students on closed circuit television. Interaction was accomplished through the use of a two –way PA system. Dr. Nelson seems to have been beyond his time in the distance learning arena.

Farrington G., Yoshida R. (2000) “ Competition in the dot-com World”;

[Educom Review , November / December 2000]

Retrieved September 16, 2003 from

http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm00/articles006/erm0060.