Steady Long-Term Trends Rule the World
Kevin Carey,
The Quick,
Jan 27, 2010
Kevin Carey reports on a new report released from the Sloan Consortium reporting a steady rise in student enrolments in e-learning classes. The report states, "Over 4.6 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2008 term; a 17 percent increase over the number reported the previous year. The 17 percent growth rate for online enrollments far exceeds the 1.2 percent growth of the overall higher education student population. More than one in four college and university students now take at least one course online." Carey reports (accurately), "The report didn't get a great deal of media attention, because the media has a terrible bias toward unpredictable short-term change." But the trend, he argues, strikes directly at the heart of the existing system. he cites a Kaplan University advertisement and observes that "It's striking how direct and harsh a critique of traditional colleges and universities this is. 'Steeped in tradition' is generally taken as a good thing in higher education, not grounds for denunciation."
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