Employers Need To Recognize On Line Education Attainment
Investors love online education. If only employers did too.
“Four hundred million dollars. That’s how much was invested in education technology companies last year, according to Kevin Carey’s excellent new piece in the Washington Monthly. Higher education is one of the hottest growing sectors in Silicon Valley, and with good reason. The college premium is enormous. College-educated men have seen their wages increase since the 1960s even as wages for men with some to no college education have dropped. College grads face much lower unemployment rates than other educational groups. The gains among advanced degree holders are even larger. So, unsurprisingly, demand for higher education is increasing.”
washingtonpost.com
I do think online classes work better for some degrees versus others. That said, I also think the line between online and offline classes is fading and will continue to fade. Even grammar schools enable students (and parents) to keep up with courses online. Granted it’s not the same as getting an entire degree online, but as online becomes more and more integrated with the classroom, it seems like the natural direction. Especially for certain types of classes, I don’t see any reason why the medium matters. The key is the quality of the class and that’s just as important offline as it is on.
I think that employers will have no choice but to recognize employees who have gone back to school to get higher degrees from online institutions. Some of the most competitive colleges in the country have challenging online programs that have helped students to find well-paying jobs. I have found that people who do not support online learning for college students, really do not understand it. With recent advacements in techonolgy, companies should encourage students to improve their skills in any way that meets their needs. For many people, online college programs are beneficial because they can work from their homes anytime during the day without giving up their jobs. Times have changed, and employers must go with the trends.