Official Edubilla Blog

Within the next five years,the global leading universities will offer fully accrediated Online undergraduate degrees, according to the founder of educational platform Coursera. Speaking at an educational conference in London, Professor Daphne Koller said the next stage for digital learning would be the introduction of online undergraduate courses with invigilated exams and full degrees.

Though some still consider technology to be a distraction to learning, many education experts understand that embracing the digital era can enrich the classroom environment. The focus on technology in further education specifically has intensified in the last few years.However, some universities have not been so quick to embrace an online learning culture.

University Reluctance to Move Away from Personal Tuition

Online learning remains a niche concern for many universities. Prof Koller believes many institutions do not want to be seen as moving away from personal tuition. She claims concerns about impersonal online learning are often built on an unrealistic image of traditional campus-based teaching.

Stanford University in California is one of the few schools to fully embrace digital learning. The university has ploughed millions of dollars into “massive online open courses”, also known as moocs, which offer free courses to students around the world.

Online Degrees Not Viewed as Favorably

Educational platforms like Udacity have become popular with students who want to improve their qualifications but have little time or money for campus-based study. An annual report into online education found that one in four US students take at least one course online – a total of 5.8 million students.

Nonetheless, a Public Agenda survey found that employers prefer applicants with traditional degrees from average universities over those with an online degree from a top university. Despite recognising the niche for online education, 42% of employers surveyed believe students learn less in online-only degrees, while 39% believe online-only degrees are easier to pass.

Online degree opportunities are set to expand

In the UK, online university platform Futurelearn have teamed up with the University of Leeds to offer moocs which, for the first time, will count as credits towards an undergraduate degree.

In the US, more online learning networks are emerging to challenge Coursera and Udacity. EdX is set to launch a project with the Arizona State University where online course units will count towards a full degree. If a student passes eight online courses, costing around $200 each, credits earned will be the equivalent of a first year at university.

The past four years has seen a rapid rise in students interested in studying online, according to Prof Koller. However, there has been a much slower reaction from universities in offering fully fledged online courses. The big shakeup to the further education system will come if leading, campus-based universities begin to challenge online learning networks by offering their own degrees online – something they’ll inevitably have to do if demand continues to increase.