College at home frightens some parents
My column today:
"Initially, UNC campuses will collectively offer over 90 fully online degree programs" -- University of North Carolina system news release, June 7, 2007.
Your son's high school years have been, well, a trial -- for you. His grades are fine, and he hasn't gotten into trouble, but his behavior just isn't normal for a teenager.
When he's not at school, he spends most of his time in his room -- on his computer. He meets up with his friends online. You never see them, don't even know them. He does his homework on the computer, plays games, listens to music, watches movies. It's the center of his social life.
How did you, a popular, active teen of 30 years ago, become the confused, frustrated parent of a reclusive computer geek? Your parents complained you were never home. This kid never goes out. Sure, he might end up as an Internet billionaire. But he'll still be a weirdo.
Unless college saves him. You and your spouse can't wait to send him away. ...
You made sure he put in his applications. You dragged him, against his will, on campus visits. He said he didn't like any of them, but you're sure he'll get over that. And, wonder of wonders, he was accepted by his first choice. OK, it was your first choice for him. Anyway, he's going to a UNC system school that's far enough away to keep him from coming home every weekend. Praise the Lord!
He doesn't realize it now, but it will be the best thing for him. At the university, he'll make new friends. He'll find stimulating activities. He'll attend lectures and concerts and football games. He'll hang out at coffee shops. He'll develop new interests. He'll meet girls. He'll discover an exciting world of possibilities. He'll be a regular, happy college kid just like you were.
And he'll vacate his room, which then will be available for guests or maybe a home office.
You just can't wait. You celebrate his high school graduation with high hopes that the next four years are going to be terrific, for your son and for you.
Then, just days later, your son bursts out of his room with astonishing news:
"Mom, Dad, I've just transferred to the online program."
"The what?"
"The whole UNC system is offering new distance learning opportunities. I can take all the classes I need for my course of study online."
"You mean on the computer? Why would you want to do that when you'll be living on campus? All you have to do is walk to your classes."
"But I won't be on campus. I'll be right here."
"Here? You mean here, at home? In your room? Instead of at college?"
"Sure. That's why it's called distance learning. You don't have to be at college to go to college. Isn't that great?"
"No! I mean, what about the college experience? The atmosphere? The social environment? Expanding your horizons? You'll miss out on all that."
"But don't you see? The whole world can come right here to me. Lectures by the very best professors, with no worry about being squeezed out of their classes or getting a seat in the back row of an auditorium where you can't even see. There's space for everyone in the virtual classroom, right up front."
"OK, you can still take your computer with you. But you have to live on campus ... for the fun and excitement of it."
"Oh, I know I'm making a sacrifice. But our universities are running out of room. They can't afford to keep adding more classroom buildings and dorms. This is the best way to educate more young people at the least cost. I've thought about it and I think I should do my part to help the taxpayers. Besides, you'll save money, too. Why pay for me to live in a dorm when I can stay right here?"
"For four more years?"
"Longer, if I want to get a graduate degree."
"Son, this won't do. Let me tell you what distance learning means to us."
"What's that?"
"It means it's time to put some distance between us. Come this fall, you're going to college."
Contact Doug Clark at dgclark@news-record.com or 373-7030.
Comments (10)
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Doug:
Clearly, this is a tongue-in-cheek column. Nevertheless, it would be nice if the N&R showed more consistency in its editorial positions.
Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that the group editorial called on the UNC system to serve more students, serve them more effectively, and increase graduation rates? BTW, today's editorial calls for the same thing from the GCS. On-line classes help with these goals, allowing the UNC system to offer more classes and do so in ways that are more convenient to students.
While today's column talks about an 18-year-old who may be ready for full-time schooling, many students do not follow this traditional path. Room & board is a hardship for some, and others must work or have family obligations. Other people want to return as non-degree students and just take a few classes. Not all of us have the privilege of going to school full-time or having supportive parents.
Given the flunk-out rates for students who do follow the traditional route, the parents for this hypothetical adolescent would be well-advised to listen to the student and consider the on-line alternative. If a student isn't ready for a full-time residential program, why waste resources or risk the student's discouragement by sending him or her away? Why not allow the student to pursue a degree in a way that better fits his or her learning style? In any case, it seems foolish to push an adolescent into a particular program if he or she doesn't want to go. (Of course, if the parent weren't referring to his or her son as a weirdo and comparing his quiet lifestyle to the parent's own "popular, active" adolescence, the student might just have a bit more confidence in setting out on his own).
Anticipating that there may be a reply along the lines of "lighten up," please allow me to say that I have worked with many students who were pushed into college before they were ready. Those students would not see the humor. The N&R also didn't seem to think that the high drop-out rates from the UNC system were all that funny in its editorial a week or so ago.
Posted on June 13, 2007 8:53 AM
Well, Dave, since you insist on squeezing all the humor out of any discussion ...
Yes, our editorial board supports expanding higher education opportunities through innovative strategies, and we will publish a serious commentary on that subject soon.
I hope you are not dismissing the advantages of the traditional model of higher education and precluding the possibility that some young people might benefit and HAVE FUN during four (or more) years on a real college campus.
Posted on June 13, 2007 9:00 AM
By the way, I purposely gave these hypothetical parents some flaws of their own. Caring, involved parents would not let their son center his social life around his computer. They would pull the plug before he got to that point.
Posted on June 13, 2007 9:03 AM
Doug:
Perhaps the humor was too subtle :)
From my brief experience as a freshman and incoming student advisor, I can tell you that the types of parents and students that you described are all too real. A full-time, residential college program is a fantastic experience for many, many students, but it is not the answer (or practical) for everyone.
Posted on June 13, 2007 10:28 AM
This is a very good and interesting column and very thought provoking. It frames up one of the relativley new conflicts of the modern age and that is ext. universe vrs. an inner, now cyber-universe.
There has always been a segment of the populace who were introspective by nature who would not just enjoy the benefits of, but literally dis-appear into alternate realities. In the past ,since the invention of the printing press, they had books. Since the early 20th century movies became available. Now the computer era has created a seemingly infinite inner universe.
This infinite, inner, controlled-by-the-user, alternative universe, coupled with in many ways what seems like an increasing number of very daunting, complex, perhaps unsolvable, uncontrollable problems in the external universe has led to increasing numbers of people like the young person above.
Once the door has been opened to this cyber universe there' is no going back. "How You going to keep them down on the farm after they've seen Paree".
Like Doug alluded to above, this person is going to have way-underdeveloped social skills. Is not going to reality test etc.
On the other hand, the cost of college is outrageous. On-line courses should be available to people who are working during the day or others who have finanacial constraints etc. but allowing people to spend their whole life in their room???Although I guess people have that right anyway, even before computers.
They should make it that unless there are extraodinary circumstances, they have to come out of their room for at least two years or something or they should have to do some kind of military or civil service for two years to be elgible for an online degree.
Very interesting conflict.
Posted on June 13, 2007 10:43 AM
In the perpetual access vs. quality battle that characterizes higher education, the UNC system has opted for access and sacrificed quality. The system will expand irrespective of student preparation--mostly through online courses, most of which will be taught by transient academic labor. Some students will be well-served by convenient, well-designed courses. Many others will get a second-rate education stripped of any social dimension. It is certainly true, as Dave observes, that many students show up unprepared for traditional residential programs. I'm doubtful, however, that they will be any more prepared for an online education.
Posted on June 13, 2007 11:21 AM
Interesting indeed. It brings to mind online "communities" of people around the globe who share similar interests but who might be strangers to their next-door neighbors and disconnected from local concerns.
Posted on June 13, 2007 11:21 AM
b444, I don't think I could have learned as effectively in many of my college classes via computer. The big lecture classes, yes, but not the smaller ones where discussion was a big part of the process.
Posted on June 13, 2007 11:25 AM
"It means it's time to put some distance between us. Come this fall, you're going to college."* Doug humor
Heck Doug! Boy are you behind the times on this on-line college business with the kid staying home. Good news! Help is on the way for the parents. The Army is offering on-line military training should the kid join up. That's right! Jr can fight the terrorists right from his bedroom and not get a scatch on him. In fact, he does not have to hang at the Mall and play those old video war games anymore. The Army even has a social club on on-line should the kid become lonely in the bedroom. It is called " Wacs gone wild in Iraq" with Apache women pilots bombing the heck out Muslin goat and camel supply trains going into Baghdad.
Can I count you to promote the Army of One in the bedroom?
Posted on June 13, 2007 11:29 AM
Doug and Brian444:
Different people learn differently. As someone who has a vested interest in this discussion, I think that most students benefit from the presence of an instructor. However, there are many other ways to get material across. For instance, during the dark ages when I went to school (i.e., before Al Gore invented the internet), universities offered credit by examination if you wanted to teach yourself.
On-line delivery has many advantages, not the least of which is allowing students to move at their own pace (and go back over material) if necessary. For students with certain types of learning disabilities, this is a godsend.
Brian444 raises an excellent point regarding the quality of instruction. However, it is a point that applies to all types of instruction, not just on-line courses. Secretary of Education Spellings has recently recommended that universities to establish quality benchmarks and to disseminate these data. The public should demand this of the UNC system and push more accountability.
Posted on June 13, 2007 5:51 PM