So Beloit College is looking to do this. 2 classes for 7 weeks then another 2 classes for the next 7 weeks if I remember correctly.
EXACTLY. Most of us on this forum have parents who lived through the depression. Parents/grandparents who lived through wars. Major upheaval and years of stress. If they got through it, surely our kids can weather a semester or a year of online college!
I get kids are upset. I really do. Let them talk about it. Sympathize. Be there for their meltdowns. And in a quiet moment discuss what their grandparents faced. Talk about polio epidemics. Kids living in iron lungs. Let them see that this pandemic could be so, so much worse.
This is what Beloit college has already made the decision to do. Two 7 week modules, taking two classes each module. Don’t know what courses they are offering…but perhaps their offerings/catalog are already online.
Block scheduling works, so seems like 7 week modules should work. Centre College announced they will do block scheduling in the Fall, same calendar that Colorado College, Cornell College, and several other schools have had for a long time.
@JeJeJe, obviosuly no one can can say that about Spring any more than they can do about Fall right now.
Sounds like MIT is focusing on making decisions for the Fall now and will worry about Spring later, but the possibility of a fully online freshman year is accounted for in son’s college decision.
His academic interests (Math and CS) lend themselves to online instruction relatively well, but lab-heavy sciences or performance arts are definitely an entirely different story.
So our governor just lifted the quarantine restriction for people from hot spots and if hot weather helps it is often in the high 90s well into September. So maybe our state schools will be ok…ish?
Local TV sports guy is doing PSA to encourage people to continue good social distance/behavior even as some restrictions are lifted. Tag line…do it for football! May be the one thing that gets people to listen to caution in the south.
"The new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation indicates that while rural communities have fewer COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people than urban areas, rates of both coronavirus cases and deaths have surged at a faster pace in more rural counties in the last two weeks. The average number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people rose 125% in non-metro counties – or those that are largely rural, according to the analysis – and by 68% in metro counties between April 13 and 27, according to the analysis. Deaths rose 169% in more rural areas and 113% in the more urban counties, reaching respective rates of 4.4 and 17 per 100,000.
Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association, says the risk the virus poses to rural America has been readily apparent.
“You can see this coming,” he recently told U.S. News. “Those communities most at risk for this COVID-19 are concentrated in small towns all across the U.S.”"
That’s really funny – great idea.
Something I haven’t seen discussed yet in this thread (unless I missed it) is that scientists are right now trying to figure out whether the number of times you’re exposed to COVID increases the severity of your case. In the news this has mainly been talked about in the context of health care workers getting more severe cases, but it would also apply to colleges. The idea of letting it spread in college communities because the risk is low to young people might not work if so.
Businesses perhaps, colleges no. I don’t see that happening.
There was an interesting article in the New York Times about this. It quoted a student who was torn about what to do in the fall:
“It doesn’t make sense to pay 20 grand to sit at my computer at home and take online courses,” he said. “You can get the same education from a community college.”
I think this raises a huge issue for colleges: how to differentiate themselves once teaching goes online.
My guess is that this will be difficult to do.
And this implies that what differentiates institutions from one another isn’t the teaching, but rather the residential experience (and for some institutions the reputation).
Once you strip out the residential experience, the value premium starts to change.
I found this interesting so I will pass on. This week the daily medical briefing from the hospital chief in my area shared that they read a recent study from Wuhan that said three groups did surprisingly well with Covid19. One group was no surprise but the other two were. The three groups were:
- children
- pregnant women
- people over 90
This certainly doesn’t affect our college students but fascinating none the less.
Residential experience adds value but isn’t the main value proposition. Teaching is far from the same everywhere. Colleges, at least the good ones, do differentiate themselves in teaching and other educational aspects. Even when the classes online, the differences remain.
@Mindfully I have two online right now. One at a small LAC and one at a rural community college. The classes- structure and quality- are pretty different. I don’t know that I could say they’re $50,000+ different (the difference in tuition), but no one would confuse them as equal.
@INJParent – I think in theory you could be right about quality differences, but for the typical student/parent ‘consumer’ they can’t easily see quality differences between online courses provided by various colleges.
And, the fact is, there’s a tremendous amount of variance. But it’s possible the advantage at this moment goes the other direction. Most community colleges have been teaching huge numbers of online classes for years so many (most?) may be higher quality than the quick turnaround courses being offered by residential colleges. In fact, most colleges are calling them ‘remote learning’ b/c true online courses have embedded instructional design elements that optimize online learning; these remote classes don’t have those components. Would they be better in the Fall? Likely, yes.
I think the bottom line for residential colleges, especially high cost ones, is that online-only versions of their education is not a ‘product’ that student/parent ‘consumers’ want to pay for.
It’s really tough for colleges and faculty – I have tremendous empathy for the planning and decision making underway.
That suggests that the quoted student, like many posters on these forums, cares little about academic content differences between colleges (at least after coarse differences like whether the desired major is available, or assumptions based on prestige or admission selectivity). That the community college may offer better or worse courses on nominally similar topics, or offer or not offer courses on some topics, compared to the other college seems to be ignored.
For us it wasn’t the residential experience so much as “life of the mind”. The ability to collaborate with other students, to form relationships with faculty, to broaden soft skills, to network, to be able to participate in cutting edge research etc. All these things are more difficult to cultivate in an on-line only environment.
@gwnorth – yes to what you said – but I’d also add friendships and connections. My D’s LAC is known for being really warm, caring and connected. You don’t get that online. Oh, and, um, I’ve heard sometimes there are parties in college. . . 
Disagree on this. Once you strip away the residential experience, what remains is academics. Colleges that can continue the rigor of their academics will be better able to serve their students in a distance learning environment.
For many students, it is the “teaching” that is most valued. Some schools happen to have both the teaching and the compelling residential experiences that have differentiated them.
I think well funded colleges will give students a much better experience in these trying times as they have the resources to do it. Not all colleges are equipped to provide students the optimum education even if it’s online, modified in-person, or a hybrid approach.
The other point is that undergrad college is for 4 years so even if things are “bad” for one year, after 4 years of college and graduating you will likely have received close to what you were expecting (albeit with some modifications). Things will likely get back to a better “new”normal each and every academic year.
This too shall pass - how quickly, is anyone’s guess.
I think a Harvard degree on line has somewhat more of an impact than a school with little name recognition. The question comes down to how much more people are willing to pay for the differential. Also, with the great financial aid schools like Harvard offers, it could be cheaper to be doing Harvard on line than State U if your state U does not tend to meet much need.
I knew a family paying more for instate Pitt for a kid than Duke University. Had a kid in each school at same time.