Conflicted: Faculty and Online Education, 2012

By Steve Kolowich

Faculty members are far less excited by, and more fearful of, the recent growth of online education than are academic technology administrators, according to a new study by Inside Higher Ed and the Babson Survey Research Group.

But professors are hardly the luddites many still assume them to be. Nearly half of the 4,564 faculty members surveyed, three-quarters of whom are full-time professors, said the rise of online education excites them more than it frightens them. And while more than two-thirds of instructors said they believe that students currently learn less in online courses than they do in the classroom, other findings suggest that their estimation of online education quality stands to rise as the technology improves and more professors get firsthand experience with the medium.

For example, 60 percent of professors at institutions that offer online courses have recommended one to a student or advisee — a proportion that holds true even among tenured and long-serving faculty members.

Visit: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/conflicted-faculty-and-online-education-2012#ixzz1yU6Z8XGu

Download the Report: http://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/survey/conflicted.html

Webinar: 7/10/12 – See “Events” in this blog