By Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed

Fully online programs widen achievement gaps and often are unaffordable, says report seeking to discourage politicians from pulling back on federal policy protections.   Spiros Protopsaltis, an associate professor and director of the Center for Education Policy and Evaluation at George Mason University, co-wrote the report with Sandy Baum, a fellow at the Urban Institute and professor emerita of economics at Skidmore College.  Ray Schroeder, associate vice chancellor for online learning at the University of Illinois at Springfield [also, Founding Dir of the UPCEA National Council for Online Education], said the report by Protopsaltis and Baum painted online education with too broad a brush.    For example, its comparisons between online programs and on-campus ones failed to acknowledge the low graduation rates and default rates of many traditional programs…. Likewise, Schroeder said the report ignored the value of subdegree credentials such as online certificates and industry certifications. And he said it did not account for the growing potential of technology like adaptive learning to boost student results online.  “The tools we have in higher education are being refined by AI, machine learning and the ways we can engage students,” said Schroeder.

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/01/16/online-learning-fails-deliver-finds-report-aimed-discouraging

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