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Electronic Correspondence Schools - Cyber Universities
Reasonable Option For The Future Of Education
by
His Eminence The Metropolitan/Archbishop
Sir Dr. Chief
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Alexander Swift Eagle Justice
D.D., Ph.D., J.D. -Theologian, Academician
Member of the Imperial Holy Orthodox Synod of the Holy Orthodox Church of All Russia and Appointed Chief Patriarch for United States of America - California, Mexico and for ALL Latin American Countries.
Metropolitan/Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Native Americans and President of the College of Bishops of the Mexican National Catholic Church
Metropolitan/Archbishop of the Holy Orthodox Native American Catholic Archdiocese and Chief Patriarch of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Holy Orthodox Native American Catholic Church
(AKA - Keepers of Creation Church)
Virtual Universities are not a threat to higher education. Virtual Universities may be the vehicle to provide low cost life-long education to the students of the world.
The issue of quality of the offerings
is moot because the market will decide which offerings survive. Students are the best
arbiters of what they wish to learn. Those who select foolishly will not obtain marketable
skills. The marketplace of jobs, entertainment and production will determine which classes
are pursued and which wither from a lack of interest.
Some Universities have forgotten that
education is a dynamic and interactive process. The individual who wishes to educate
himself by using the resources that are available on the Internet does not need professors
and curriculum guides.
The life-long learner that everyone
seems to wish to develop does not need to attend an accredited university to become
educated. The individual who is independent enough to select his own path toward knowledge
or intellectual fulfillment needs no "Good Housekeeping Seal".
Accrediting agencies have the
paternalistic attitude that they know what is best for students. It is my belief that
accrediting agencies have good intentions but they have not lived enough outside of their
academic circles to prescribe what is best for all students.
On-line universities do not need standing libraries. Most items that are in a standing library may be found on the Internet. On-line universities do not need to have a large resident faculty. Professionals in the required fields of study can evaluate students' work, on a pay per read basis.
Many accredited schools use graduate
students to read and evaluate the work of students. Students who are evaluated by other
students are not getting the best value for their tuition dollar.
Bundling courses for delivery to
students in traditional universities removes the natural diversity and spontaneity that
education can take if individual students are allowed to follow their interests during
their course of study.
Academic freedom does not belong in the
hands of a tenured faculty. Academic freedom belongs in the hands of the students. The
students know where their interests lay. Students know that many required courses are
simply make-work welfare programs for the university.
The so-called defining features of
higher education have not improved higher education. They have brought higher education to
the brink of a rapid demise. Many institutions of higher education have ignored the need
for education to be related to the real world, provide a marketable skill or to prepare
individuals to take a place of leadership within the community.
Many individuals who have a college
degree are not able to make a living. Some students leave universities with advanced
degrees only to find that their "latest techniques" are obsolete in the real
world.
Many traditional universities have
undervalued life experience.
Traditional Universities who operate
on-line are not Cyber Universities. They are merely technology assisted. They are still
doing business in the same old way. They offer structured classes, tests, chat rooms
on-line, limited options for independent exploration of a subject. Their future is
limited.
The Cyber University offers a positive
alternative to traditional university education. Students who direct their own learning
may acquire the same information that may be learned at a traditional university. No
faculty is needed for the self-directed student. This is true academic freedom. Students
are free to study subjects in any order, depth or variety they can handle.
Cyber Universities are free to offer
credit for life experience or self-taught classes. The Cyber University will replace the
traditional university for a number of very good reasons. The Cyber University is
accessible to all. The Cyber University will cost less for individuals to attend. The
Cyber University will better promote real, meaningful and relevant education to its
students because education is self-directed at the Cyber University.
I have always been an advocate for
self-teaching. I taught myself about real estate, passed the Broker's exam and obtained my
real estate broker's license. I taught myself all of the ground-school portions of flying
and obtained my pilot's license. I have learned about the sciences, mathematics, space,
computers, geography, politics, economics, religion, art, etc. on my own.
I can build a house, complete the
plumbing, masonry and electrical work without assistance.
The idea that the only meaningful
education available must come from a traditional university is absurd. Accrediting
agencies have lost touch with what an education is supposed to do for the student.
A traditional university degree from an
accredited university does not assure an employer that a graduate is prepared to do any
job. Employers have had to develop their own tests, benchmarks and evaluation systems for
candidates. I am surprised that some students have not sued accrediting agencies and
universities when their educations failed to provide them with an education that made them
fit as employees. The assurance of quality has fallen short of its promise.
Shouldn't all universities offer
degrees based on a student's life experience if a student has demonstrated knowledge of
any subject that they could have learned in a university? For example, who would argue
against granting a Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree and even a Doctoral Degree to Bill
Gates in business? He has demonstrated his ability. He would be a valuable professor to
teach classes in business. Should an individual like Bill Gates go back to college
and take Business 405 or Finance 304 to get a degree? I think not.
The debate could rage on but the marketplace will soon
decide the issue. Consider what happened in the debate about Beta vs. VHS as the medium of
choice for recording video movies. Beta was clearly a superior product. The marketplace
chose VHS for a variety of reasons. The debate is now a non-issue. VHS is the dominant
medium in the world because it provided longer record times, easy access to recording
movies and television events, greatly reduced pricing as quality and
International distribution improved.
The Market continues to change and to evolve. DVD and Blue Ray battle
for dominence. The Education Market is not exempt from Market Forces. Time
will show which systems survive.
The true Cyber University will become the delivery
system of choice for higher education around the world. I am sure that the Regional Accrediting Associations would rather
choose to ignore or denigrate the Cyber
University as a reasonable option. The marketplace will decide.
Interested individuals may view a 100%
Cyber University - International Theological University at:
