Emerging Technologies Consulting

This Newsweek article covers the reasons why online education is becoming increasingly popular.  Originally marketed to working adults, online classes are now extremely popular with traditional age college students as well. Partly, it’s the cost; online classes are often cheaper than their brick-and-mortar counterparts.  But also, online environments have improved so that they are more immersive and more engaging.  They’re no longer electronic versions of correspondence courses.  Instead they offer video, podcasts, simulations through applications in Second Life or elsewhere, and more.  They’re also convenient, usually allowing students to log in whenever they want, not requiring a specific seat time.  Enrollment in online courses is growing faster than traditional educuation:

[O]nline enrollment is growing at a rate more than 10 times that of the higher-education population at large—12.9 percent vs. 1.2 percent for traditional “in seat” students.

That’s pretty impressive and traditional institutions should be wary of such growth.  Even though the biggest thing that’s missing from online courses is campus life, that may not be a big enough selling point for traditional schools with high price tags.  They’re going to need to find another way to be competitive.

Update: The New York Times covers this issue as well.