A bill is under consideration in the Senate that would force California\u2019s public colleges and universities to give credit for online courses.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not clear whether it will pass, but the bill appears to have achieved a desired consequence already in sparking debate. Darrell Steinberg, the president pro tem of the Senate said he introduced the bill to ensure that \u201cno college student in California will be denied the right to move through their education because they couldn\u2019t get a seat in a course they needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
If if succeeds, this would be the first time a state is mandating that universities grant credit for courses offered by third-party providers, making it a landmark bill.<\/p>\n
Coursera<\/a>\u00a0is one of the massive open online course providers, dubbed MOOCs, that is working with state legislators and local educators to improve student matriculation rates.<\/p>\n \u201cThis bill comes from a realization that the situation for many California students is really in crisis,\u201d said Daphne Koller (pictured, above<\/em>), cofounder of online course provider\u00a0Coursera<\/a>,\u00a0who was called in to help structure the bill in the preliminary stages.<\/p>\n Coursera, EdX, and Udacity will likely provide the eligible online courses to help students progress through college. A faculty-led panel will determine which 50 introductory courses are the most oversubscribed and will recommend that online versions of those courses be available for credit.\u00a0A student would only get credit from a third-party provider if the course is full at their college or university.<\/p>\n Due to budget cuts, thousands of students are on the waiting list for a basic and introductory algebra class, which is a requirement. This prevents many students from graduating from a four-year degree program on time.<\/p>\n Senator Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramento, told the New York Times<\/em>\u00a0that the state\u2019s 112 community colleges each had an average of 7,000 enrolled students who were on waiting lists, and at the 420,000-student, 23-campus\u00a0California State University, only 16 percent of students graduate within four years.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a problem that isn\u2019t confined to California. An estimated 37 million people in America have some college experience, but no degree.<\/p>\n A handful of Coursera\u2019s online courses were recently approved for college credit by the American Council on Education (ACE), ahead of its competitors. The problem, which Koller refers to as the \u201cbottleneck\u201d is that colleges still need to accept those credits for transfer.<\/p>\n Universities are realizing that it\u2019s not the best use of resources to have multiple instructors teaching the same introductory calculus class when Coursera has an accredited online version.<\/p>\n \u201cMOOCs have a huge role to play in addressing the quality and capacity issues we\u2019re seeing in the California education system,\u201d said Koller.<\/p>\n Gov. Jerry Brown has been a huge supporter of\u00a0online education as a means to reduce college costs. In November, Brown made a comparison between the University and California and the U.S. Postal Service, both \u201cvenerable institution[s] being upended by digital change.\u201d<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s not clear whether the bill will pass. Innosight Institute<\/a>\u00a0researcher Michelle Rhee-Weise said it may prove to be highly controversial, especially among students and faculty.<\/p>\n In the short-term, schools may allow students to enroll in an online course, rather than one of their own oversubscribed classes. But it\u2019s not a solution to solving California\u2019s education woes.<\/p>\n \u201cThese low-level courses are really the largest source of revenue for the university because [they’re] large classes often taught by grad students and a few instructors,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that universities will have a hard time letting go.\u201d<\/p>\n Likewise, students across the country are experiencing budget cuts and may view this bill as a quick fix. Thursday, a group of students will rally<\/a> to combat downsizing at the City College of San Francisco.<\/p>\n \u201cThey feel like the only reason their class sizes are too small is that their funding was cut in the first place,\u201d said Charlotte Hill, a current student at the City College. \u201cSo [the bill]\u00a0ends up feeling like a long-term privatization strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n Former California state assembly nominee Kai Stinchcombe said the structure of independence built into the University of California charter may pose a problem, especially if the bill is met with grassroots opposition.<\/p>\n Koller said we have a long road ahead and advised the government to support a \u201cblended learning\u201d format, meaning a combination of\u00a0face-to-face classroom methods with computer-mediated activities.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this is an important first step to solving a critical need, but it\u2019s not the full solution to combating high student dropout rates,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n A bill is under consideration in the Senate that would force California\u2019s public colleges and universities to give credit for online courses. It\u2019s not clear whether it will pass, but the bill appears to have achieved a desired consequence already … Continue reading