2020-03-23 Bloomberg Businessweek

◼ BUSINESS Bloomberg Businessweek March 23, 2020

13

ILLUSTRATION

BY

XAVIER

LALANNE-TAUZIA.

DATA:

NATIONAL

CENTER

FOR

EDUCATION

STATISTICS

ontheirlaptops.Ina matterofweeks,asspring

breaksend,the$600billion-plushighereducation

industrymustsuddenlyturntoanapproachmany

havelongresisted:onlineeducation.

Evangelistsofdistancelearninghavelauded

itspromiseofexpandedaccessandlowercosts.

Theyhopethecrisiscouldspurreluctantinsti-

tutionstofullysignontotheweb,butalsofear

a potentialdisasterif thingsgopoorly.“Schools

thathaven’thistoricallyembracedonlineeduca-

tionarenowbeingforcedintoit,”saysMichael

Horn,co-founderof theClaytonChristensen

InstituteforDisruptiveInnovationanda higher

educationconsultant.“Ratherthanbecominga

crowningmomentforonlineeducation,thiscri-

siscouldprovokea backlash.”

Thenationhashada previousexperiencewith

massemergencyeducation.Thatwasafterthedev-

astationofHurricaneKatrinain2005,whichdis-

ruptedabout 20 colleges.TheSloanConsortium,

anassociationofcollegessupportingonlineedu-

cation,offeredfree virtualclassesoriginating

frommorethan 100 schools.Theso-calledSloan

Semesterenrolledmorethan1,700students,help-

ingmanykeeponcoursewiththeirstudies.Still,

professorslosttrackofstudentswhodropped

outastheyscrambledtofinda safeplacetolive

or found theycouldn’t concentrate ontheir

work.“Thebiggestproblemswerethe‘lifehap-

pens’issues,”saysBayViewAnalyticsDirectorJeff

Seaman,whoworkedontheconsortiumthen.

Inthatdisaster,manystudentscould,atleast,

relyonfamilyandfriendsbeyondLouisianaandthe

GulfCoast;notsotoday,whenthevirusis wreaking

havocworldwide.Andpoorstudentsorthoseliving

inremoteregionswithspottywebaccesssuffered

then—achallengefacingeducatorstoday.

Onlineeducationhassincegrownsteadily.

Some2.4millionundergraduates,or15%ofthe

totalundergradstudentbodynationwide,studied

entirelyonlineinthefallof2019,accordingto

researchandconsultingfirmEduventures.An

additional3.6millionenrolledinoneormore

online courses whileotherwise studying on

campus.“Twentyyearsago,therewaspracti-

callynothing,”saysBradFarnsworth,a vicepresi-

dentattheAmericanCouncilonEducation,which

representscolleges.

Manyuniversitiesalreadyoffersomeonline

classes toon-campus studentswhencourses

don’tfitintotheirschedules,ortofreeupfac-

ultysotheycanconcentrateonsmallersessions.

Andmanyschoolsusea “learningmanagement

system” from companies such as Blackboard Inc. or

Instructure Inc., which operates a popular platform

calledCanvas.Studentscanlogontoaccesscourse

materials, hand in assignments, see their grades,

and converse online.

Pearson, John Wiley & Sons, and other publishers

craft more tailored online programs for universities,

helping develop curriculum and recruit students. So

does 2U Inc., which works with well-known schools

such as Georgetown, Northwestern, the University

of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University

of Southern California.

Such offerings can require millions of dollars in

investments, according to Trace Urdan, managing

director of TytonPartners,aneducation-focused

investment bankingandconsultingfirm.Andsome

faculty have beenenragedbycontractswithedu-

cation tech businessesthatallowthecompaniesto

keep 50% or moreofrevenuefromclasses.Insome

setups, studentslearnattheirownpace,logging

on at will and chattingonline.Inothers,professors

hold classes inrealtime,wherestudentscanspeak

via video feedsandvirtuallyraisetheirhands.

A relative handfulofinstitutions,includingmajor

public universitiesandprivatenonprofitssuchas

Southern NewHampshireUniversity,enrolla dispro-

portionate numberofU.S.onlinestudents,making

them ideally positionedforthisenvironment.Last

fall, Arizona StateUniversityenrolled45,000online

students, mostlyundergraduates—morethanthe

total number whoattendtheUniversityofCalifornia

at Berkeley inperson.One-fifthworkforStarbucks

Corp., which paystheirtuition.PhilRegier,theASU

dean overseeingtheseinitiatives,saysschoolsthat

suddenly adoptvirtuallearningwillencounternew

challenges, suchassecurelyofferingteststoavoid

cheating and holdingstudents’attention.“Here’sthe

first lesson,” hesays.“There’snothingmoreboring

than a 45-minutevideo.They’rehorrible;nobody

can get throughthose.”

Studies havereachedmixedconclusionsabout

the efficacy ofonlinecourses,whichvarywidely

in quality. Concernsincludelowcompletionrates,

especially amongunderprivilegedandlesspre-

pared students.Witha fewnotableexceptions,

such as GeorgiaTech’sroughly$7,000onlinecom-

putersciencemaster’sdegrees,institutionsoften

chargeaboutthesameforanonlinedegreeasan

in-person one,undercuttingthepromiseoflower

costs via technology.

Distance learningdatesto19thcenturysnail-

mail correspondencecoursesandhaslonghada

dubious reputation,oftenforgoodreason.After

thegovernmentin 2006 droppedanti-fraudpro-

visionsthatbarredfederalaidforfullyonline

programs,for-profitcompanies—manyofthem

publiclytraded—jumped into the fray. The

▼ Four-year

undergraduatefall

enrollmentin theU.S.

◼Onlydistance

educationcourses

◼Somedistance

educationcourses

◼No distance

education courses

2013 2018

100%

50 %

0 %