While many colleges currently offer at least a few online courses, within the next decade, a drastic increase in digital teaching is expecting to make some fundamental changes to colleges throughout the country. With the projected gradual elimination of the classroom environment, the increased sharing of information between colleges, and changes to the college calendar as we know it, its possible that collegiettes in 2023 will have a completely different educational experience from the one we have today.
The Classroom Environment
Though online courses exist at many colleges and universities, its expected that teaching over digital platforms will become increasingly popular in the near future. Though this technology was originally developed for massive open online courses, the ease of sharing content, holding discussions, and tracking progress of students digitally makes it an effective tool for teaching. With technological advances, it is even expected that these programs can help professors moniter how long students spend doing individual assignments, and thus, the course platform as Rovy Brannon, associate dean at the University of Wisconsin-Extension, states “will get to know you far better than your professor does today.”
Information Sharing
One of the effects of this new emphasis on digital teaching platforms may be that the accessibility of information to a much more public audience will enable colleges across the world to potentially take courses developed elsewhere, and redevelop them for their students. Though Ron Kraemer, chief information and digital officer at University of Notre Dame explains, “students will be able to acquire knowledge globally, across different campuses,” he also expects that it will lead to intellectual property battles as colleges make their content more publicly accessible.
The Calendar
The result of this anticipated increase in the number online classes diminishes the need for a structured calendar. If all courses become available online in their entirety at the start of a semester, fast-learning students may be able to complete a course within a few weeks that may have originally been designed to take up an entire semester. While this most obviously benefits the quickest learners, it may also be encouraged by the schools, as it moves more students through the system, ultimately bringing the college more revenue.
Despite popular belief that the expansion of online course offerings may lead to a decrease in college tuition by increasing class size, tuition is expected to stay relatively stagnant as a result of the expansion of functions outside of academics, ranging from student activities to career counseling. We can only hope that shortly thereafter, the high cost of tuition will be the next change made to the American college experience!
What do you think of these possible changes collegiettes? Weigh in below!