Open Letter/Response PART II to Oversimplifications and Overgeneralizations about Harmful Online Education

FridayLive!  March 23 (Part II - Continuation from March 16, 2018)

Better to Clothe the Emperor than Leap into the Chasm

We'll CONTINUE work on 3 brief lists of important elements that differentiate among online courses.  We'll review an Open Letter/Resource draft intended for those who are often called to help colleagues who are just beginning to engage with online education. Especially those “beginners” who have previously succeeded in higher education, but lack the experience and background needed to recognize:

• Oversimplifications and overgeneralizations about the harmfulness (or helpfulness) of online courses.
  
• Well-designed and effectively-supported online courses.
  

Why? Because "advanced beginners" may be misled by introductory articles that focus on a narrow selection of students and online courses without acknowledging a wider variety of already-successful alternatives (e.g.,  Dynarski in NYT Jan, 2018 ). Based on our participants’ experience and their knowledge of changing options and conditions for online courses, we offer a possible antidote:

A BRIEF introduction to options, hopes, and fears for online education in the form of 5 short lists:

1. Different Kinds of Online Courses

2. Different Kinds of Online Learners (in Online Courses)

3. Different Kinds of Teachers (of Online Courses)

4. Recommendations (Guidelines, References, Questions)

5. Hopes and Fears for Online Education