Online education has been chipping away at the stigma of the diploma mill long enough now that many traditional campus schools have adopted online components into their education programs. So, let’s be clear; there’s nothing wrong with an online education from a reputable, accredited institution.

The fact that a lot of unethical organizations–I’m talking about you, diploma mills–use this delivery system as a means for getting lots of money and handing out worthless degrees doesn’t mean that the system delivering education is at fault. It’s taken awhile, but I think a lot of people have finally separated the two concepts and can give online education the chance to really take hold in the university systems.

Research done by Charles Dziuban and others at the University of Central Florida suggests that mixing online education with classroom instruction, called “Blended Learning” in this case (it appears to have many names, including hybrid education), can be an invaluable methodology for education and for schools’ bottom-lines.

Not only does the learning experience become more student-centric (Calliope alluded to this in an earlier post), but university systems may not have to face as much demand for parking, housing, and other associated issues with the physical presence of a student population.

Furthermore, Dziuban suggests that blended learning will greatly alter the way schools work. His study on hybrid education asserts that faculty will have to reassess their tools for instruction while students will have to reevaluate what their expectations and goals are for education within these new methodologies.

How to administer everything will be another big challenge, but it appears to be one that will be pushed forward out of necessity, as online education tools become more accepted. It remains to be seen how our educational experiences will be transformed, but the result seems to be that students now will have more choice in how they learn than ever before.