The Future in Blended Learning

At the beginning of January, I started teaching an online leadership class in an MBA program through a bricks and mortar college based in Chicago. The delivery platform is a combination of online discussions, classwork and a once-a-week, in-person, video class. It is an intriguing type of distance learning that is filling a need.

Working in university administration demonstrated to me that this country’s higher education system is broken. I believe that online learning like Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) is a part of the answer. MOOC’s are bricks-and-mortar universities, including ivy league schools like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. that are providing courses online, some for no fee, some for credit and some not for credit. Job seekers are having success getting hired by showing potential employers a list of their completed online courses.

The higher education problem is twofold. One part is that college is no longer affordable by middle and lower class Americans. In the late 1970’s, I was fortunate to be able to get a student loan for my undergraduate education that was augmented by money from my parents. The cost of my education was affordable; therefore, the loan payback was doable. Of course, when Tim married me he also married my college loan.

The other part is that college graduates are not able to find jobs in their field of study or even one closely related. New college graduates are working in coffee shops, fast food restaurants and bars. Not that there is anything wrong with those jobs, but most students go to college to earn a degree to obtain a higher-level position with greater earning power. Many students graduate with an average of $30,000 debt and are only earning minimum wage.

However, businesses are complaining that they cannot fill their open positions because of not enough qualified candidates. The employers need skilled workers, but many students are not being advised about skills that are in demand by employers. They may graduate with a degree in the liberal arts, marketing or communications. Employers do not see a direct application of the new graduates’ skills to the position they need filled.

Online learning can help fill that gap. Students can take classes that teach them the skills needed to land a well-paying job. It may be that if they haven’t discovered their passion, it is wise to get a job first. Then the college degree, whether it is online or traditional, will prove to be most valuable to them.

Today’s gift was to buy an audio recording of a teleseminar on online learning and send it to someone I know who is interested in expanding her business. It describes blended learning—combining online learning, coaching and classroom instruction. I think blended learning is the way of the future and a step toward fixing the higher education system.

In Giving,

Robin