Traditional brick-and-motor institutions of higher education are experiencing severe challenges from all fronts. The tuition at traditional institutions has been out of reach for many underprivileged and underrepresented students; their education has not always been industry-relevant, and their educational model appeals to an institution-centered or a faculty-centered education, such as athletics and tenure, and not to a learner-centered model. When you graduate from one of these traditional institutions, for example, you might end up with a large amount of debt but little prospect of employment. Hence, the desperate need for an alternative model of education exists.
To offset, among others, the high cost of higher education, educational innovators saw the potential use of the World Wide Web for higher education. A popular social networking site now hosts numerous academic lectures given by a volunteer expert or teacher on nearly any given subject—for free. An educational innovator from India has created a virtual academy called Khan Academy that is tuition-free for anyone who can access the Internet. You can download or view these video-lectures from anywhere in the world. The Internet has also brought world-class libraries to your fingertips, in the form of “cybrary” or “ebrary,” thus eliminating the need to build a major campus infrastructure. More online institutions are adopting mobile applications as part of their instructional strategies.
Online universities thrive as they offer a broad access to a student population that has been largely ignored in the past by brick-and-motor institutions. Their methods of delivery vary, tailored to the specific needs of an individual learner and include the following forms: synchronous live chat, asynchronous discussion board, individual or group projects and assignments, instant messaging, incorporation of social network sites, email and phone calls from the instructor. If the live chats are archived, as most are, you can access them whenever it is convenient for you. Online universities do not need any facilities, such as classrooms or dormitories. By hiring well-educated instructors rather than having tenured professors, they can further reduce operating costs, thus being able to offer affordable education. Their mode of operation is flexible and adaptable; they can offer hybrid courses, using both online and traditional access. Some even deliver their classes via smart phones. Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCS), offered nowadays by top brick-and-motor institutions, allow a free global enrollment for non-degree seeking students, regardless of their academic standing.
Virtual and online universities also face challenges. Currently, the course completion rate is low, and truly assessing the learning outcome in online environments is not simple. Educational experts believe, however, that virtual and online universities will solve many critical issues currently challenging brick-and-motor universities. In the past, no other sector in higher education has grown as fast as the online sector. Virtual and online universities can deliver cost-effective, flexible, individualized, industry-relevant, interactive, collaborative and student-centered education to nontraditional returning students. Realizing numerous benefits of online education, in fact, many brick-and-motor institutions, such as Harvard, are now embracing online models to largely offset their operating cost. However, others warn that online education still needs to focus on the common issues and challenges found in brick-and-motor institutions such as encouraging student-faculty contact, cooperation among students, active learning and prompt feedback, emphasizing time on-task, communicating high expectations and respecting diversity, among others.