Balancing the needs of students and insititutions: Is it possible?

Posted 08/09/2014 in Education Issues, Online Education

Educause, a nonprofit organization focusing on the improvement of higher education, presented an article in regards to some of the concerns of online education. Over the years, there have been many obstacles the world of online education has come across, and we have had the online world attempt to defeat these obstacles. Educause has done some recent research as to what exactly these obstacles are. According to the article, one of the biggest dilemmas online programs face is the balance between satisfying the needs of the student (the individual learner) and the needs of the university. Educause describes this balance, “Absolutely crucial is the distinction between the needs of individual learners and the needs of the institutions—colleges and universities—that are currently in the business of teaching students and awarding degrees.” In addition, Educause begins to breakdown what the needs are of the student. Students, after all, are not all the same. There are three major “types” of students who are all involved in the online learning environment, and therefore it is important to recognize the three different motives of online students. There are: “-Some want to learn simply for learning’s sake.” For those who are learning, “just to learn”, there […]