The Ending of an Era? or the start of a brave new world? AS the Harvard Independent puts it:
Can the hallowed, ivy-covered halls of Harvard be reproduced on the Internet? It was recently announced that the Harvard Extension School will allow students to take classes from actual Harvard professors entirely online, as if sitting in Cambridge. The Extension School also announced that students may have the opportunity to earn two degrees from Harvard online.
This well thought out essay offers no answers to the question but rather provokes more questions and even defines it as a battle over the purpose of university:
This is about tradition versus progress, stability versus chaos, control versus anarchy — and there is no clear answer as to who is correct.What is the duty of a university: simply to preserve knowledge, or to extend it for society’s benefit? The only thing still clear is the most obvious of all: the information revolution started the ball rolling, and there is almost no chance that the forward movement can be slowed.
Harvard Extension School: Overview:
Distance education allows students living anywhere in the world to experience Harvard through a wide variety of courses available via the Internet. Lectures conducted on campus are videotaped, then made available online along with other course-related material. Local students have the added flexibility of attending lectures in person or watching them online and frequently enjoy the benefits of doing both. In some cases, courses are available online only. Students who take courses online complete the same coursework as students who take them on campus. Thus, although at this time no degrees can be completed entirely online, students may use credits earned via distance education to complete requirements for many Extension School degree and certificate programs. Currently the Certificate in Environmental Management and the Certificate in Applied Sciences may be completed online.
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