“I haven’t seen a single study showing that online learning is as good as other learning.” (Quote from ‘Universities reshaping education on the web‘ in The Age – original in The New York Times) This knuckleheaded claim was apparently made (apologies if the quote was wrong) by a leader in the current wave of online learning technologies, one Sebastian Thrun of Stanford University. That it was made at all is surprising, but to have been uttered by ‘a master of MOOCs’ is astonishing. For most of us who’ve worked in open and distance learning for decades, this confirms once again that Americans (to be more specific, certain citizens of the USA) are breathtakingly parochial, choosing to remain in blissful ignorance of worldwide developments in their field.
So, Sebastian, please logon and conduct at least a cursory search of the literature. Maybe even talk to someone who can point you in the right direction – any of the names in the blogroll on the right will be just fine. Or even Molly Corbett Broad, quoted in the article and the esteemed president of the American Council on Education.
The hype