How online learning could help control the exploding cost of higher
education
Two of the most visible and important trends in higher education today
are its exploding costs and the rapid expansion of online learning.
Could the growth in online courses slow the rising cost of college and
help solve the crisis of affordability? In this short and incisive book,
William G. Bowen, one of the foremost experts on the intersection of
education and economics, explains why, despite his earlier skepticism,
he now believes technology has the potential to help rein in costs
without negatively affecting student learning. As a former president of
Princeton University, an economist, and author of many books on
education, including the acclaimed bestseller The Shape of the River,
Bowen speaks with unique expertise on the subject.
Surveying the dizzying array of new technology-based teaching and
learning initiatives, including the highly publicized emergence of
"massive open online courses" (MOOCs), Bowen argues that such
technologies could transform traditional higher education--allowing it
at last to curb rising costs by increasing productivity, while
preserving quality and protecting core values. But the challenges, which
are organizational and philosophical as much as technological, are
daunting. They include providing hard evidence of whether online
education is cost-effective in various settings, rethinking the
governance and decision-making structures of higher education, and
developing customizable technological platforms. Yet, Bowen remains
optimistic that the potential payoff is great.
Based on the 2012 Tanner Lectures on Human Values, delivered at Stanford
University, the book includes responses from Stanford president John
Hennessy, Harvard University psychologist Howard Gardner, Columbia
University literature professor Andrew Delbanco, and Coursera cofounder
Daphne Koller.
