We reported Wednesday that Gov. Tim Pawlenty would be flying around the state today to push an online higher-ed proposal. Now we know the details:
He wants 25 percent of all credits earned in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system to be online courses by 2015.
Last year, only 9.2 percent of MnSCU credits were taken online, so there’s a ways to go.
“We live in an iPod world, but much of our education system is dominated by whiteboards and lecture halls,” Governor Pawlenty said. “We have students with different learning styles, different backgrounds, different capabilities, and exploding interest in online opportunities and services. We need to modernize the way college courses are delivered and put Minnesota on the cutting edge of online education.”
For details, check here.
Pawlenty is totally punting on an EASY win. An online university with podcasted content and online tests can and should be available in 1 academic year online!
I will go one step further and say it should be cheap too! (like $25 a class) Now you may only be able to get an AA or a certificate online, but adults need fast, quality, and cheap education that will give them legit skills now not later. Adults do not have 4 years or even in many cases 1 year to give in residence.
How is it that the IVY League can give content away and we can’t go one step further and put a certificate with it?
Uh, what’s that link, exactly?