One of our savvy commenters brought up a very important aspect of the online education debate a couple of days ago. One of the factors working against the perceived quality of online degrees is the ease with which online students can cheat. A 2004 paper published in the Association for the Advancement of Computer Education journal puts it well, if not succinctly:

There is an existing perception, often expressed by those who oppose distance education, that online courses are of less “quality” than courses provided in the face-to-face (F2F) classroom environment. While some of these objections appear to be transparent expressions of resistance to change, there is an element of real concern among faculty that academic quality may be compromised by the new medium, by related changes in the population of students, and by the inability of students and faculty to maintain the type of personal and scholarly relationship that best typifies the academic “learning environment.

If there’s no easy way to maintain accountability, then the cheater’s degree is worthless–and if yours is from the same school, doesn’t that make yours worthless too?

Not quite. Here’s why. (more…)

NPR’s got a lovely three-part story going on about the improving reputation of online degrees. And the focus of their story demonstrates exactly how and why online degrees are going to finally shed their redheaded-stepchild reputation and get the respect they deserve, gosh darn it.

The first two parts of NPR’s story (the third one hasn’t aired yet) focus on online courses offered by traditional colleges. It spends some time airing the complaints of professors who’ve just now figured out how to post their overhead sheets on Blackboard. (You kids get off my lawn!)

But many of the profs are pleasantly surprised at how well the process actually works. It’s a good thing, too, because the trend is spreading like the proverbial wildfire–NPR notes that one in five college students is studying online. (more…)