Discussing all these great online courses and programs in class and from my peers who have experience with them really gave me a good outlook at the opportunities they provide. Reading this article in Inside Higher Education about a George Washington University online program reminds me that not everything is perfect. I mean, I am in an online course now in Brooklyn College and I dont necessarily enjoy it but it’s not because of the way it is offered.
I am wondering what other graduates who have used this program have to say because at the end of the article there was a quote from Vice President of media relations, Candace Smith. She said, “Since the security and safety leadership program began in 2009, 341 students have graduated, and many have gone onto successful careers…” They didnt mention how many students are a part of the program each year and how many graduate. It seems like the number of students that are complaining is small (11 signed a letter complaining about the program). So maybe it’s just these few students…? But the way they described the program (blurry photocopies of the textbook and unresponsive teachers) made it sound bad.
Another thing that I thought was interesting was that the program costs a lot. It costs about $33,300, $4000 more than the in person program would cost. I thought these online courses and programs were supposed to be more affordable!
Those are just some thoughts of mine that I had as I was reading the article.
Here’s the article: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/15/george-washington-u-alumni-sue-university-over-quality-online-program
Hey Norma–Though I’m glad that MOOCS are being more appreciated, I agree that George Washington University’s online program was definitely a failed attempt. The students were cheated of the “quality” education that the program claimed to be offering and since they had to pay for the program and the service/product doesn’t live up to what it’s claiming to be, they have a right to file a lawsuit. I hope that George Washington U’s failed attempt does not discourage the public to use MOOCS because there are some out there, for example EdX (which I tried myself) that are much more student-friendly and effective than whatever George Washington U. was trying to pull off. I’m looking forward to what will happen to the lawsuit in July 8.