I’ve been asked by a Japanese media company to answer seven questions about the future of online education. They tell me that my answers will be translated into Japanese and then made available to a readership of over 4.6 million education and business professionals.
Having written my answers to the seven questions they asked, I thought it would be interesting to uncover what I’m getting wrong. One of the gifts of Inside Higher Ed has been its role as a place for all of us to share ideas and receive critical feedback.
So here is my invitation to you. Please feel invited to answer any or all of the seven questions, and share them as a letter to the editor.
Q: What are the key factors for making an online course effective?
A: When we talk about online courses, it is essential to distinguish what type of online courses we are considering. The big dividing line is between credit-bearing online courses offered as part of a degree program and noncredit online courses that result in a certificate or other nontraditional credential.
In general, although this is changing, credit-bearing online courses tend to mirror the size and costs of residential (face-to-face) courses. Noncredit online courses can enroll many more learners (sometimes in the hundreds of thousands, but usually much less) and are often (although not always) considerably less expensive.
