Online Learning in the Future

Doing as educators do in the summer months, part of my idea of relaxation involves improving my instructional skills in some way. This year, that improvement takes the form of learning how to create online college classes - a trend I expect to continue into the future.

As part of the course, I was given the following prompt to answer - What do you think Sierra College will look like ten years from now and what will be the role of the online program?  

To start, I believe that Sierra and most other colleges will be be able to serve a much larger population in 10 years. If students can take courses from anywhere they can access the internet, there will be increased inter-college competition but also a much bigger population looking to access online learning. 

In addition, I would anticipate the tools available would be much more sophisticated - making it easier to incorporate a wide variety of multi media content and create more personalized learning opportunities that cater to student learning styles. 

To be involved in higher ed online learning at this point in it's growth reminds me or being involved with in the early days of the internet. Yes, there will be challenges like the increasing competition for against schools throughout the world, but there will be so many opportunities as well as technologies evolve to meet student and professor needs. 

The most successful schools will take risks, experiment with new technologies, support educators as they move into online learning and devote appropriate resources for campus expertise, training, and tools.