Online courses have had their enthusiastic advocates and gloomy nay-sayers from the beginning. Now that we have considerable experience with them, what should we conclude?

In today’s Martin Center article, Professor Rob Jenkins tackles that question.

He begins by reflecting on an article he wrote back in 2011 where he took a skeptical position (which landed him in hot water with the administration of his school):

The problem, I argued, was two-fold: We were offering too many courses online, including some that probably shouldn’t be taught in that “modality” (like science labs and other clinical courses), and we were encouraging far too many students to take online classes, primarily as a way of growing enrollment without increasing overhead (no new buildings needed). A fair number of those students, I suggested, lacked either the necessary technical proficiency or the self-discipline (or both) to succeed in online classes. And this conclusion was borne out by the abysmal completion rates — in many cases, well below 50 percent.

At the time he wrote that, Jenkins had not actually taught online courses. Now that he has, his view has changed somewhat.

Read the whole thing.