By ROBERT ARNOLD
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 15, 2011
Full disclosure first: I have been an adjunct in the Saint Rose classroom for almost three decades teaching American History. I also completed my Masters of Arts (MA) at Saint Rose in 1981.
For a dozen of those years, I also have taught online classes for Excelsior College, a school also based in Albany. What I can say honestly is that there is no substitute for the classroom experience.
However, well-designed and well-monitored remote learning can be a very good thing and it surprises me that Saint Rose has not jumped into this growing field. I also have witnessed less than stellar online efforts at other schools and can see some drawbacks, particularly when teachers may be overcommitted, unfocused, or simply lazy; or when students are less than motivated.
On the plus side, I have, at Excelsior, students serving all over the world in the military; including people in combat roles in Iraq and Afghanistan and people who have recourse only to online college work. Saint Rose could serve these people, and also could serve people who work full-time (often in this economy working more than one job), parents with young children who cannot afford both tuition and daycare, Saint Rose students who cannot otherwise schedule an essential requirement as they move closer to graduation, and Saint Rose students involved in time-consuming college activities such as sports, student government, or The Chronicle.
It may be time for Saint Rose to consider entering this field. With Saint Rose’s avowed commitment to quality education, it will take constant work, and constant vigilance to maintain a rigorous college experience, but it is worth the effort.
