As online college courses have become increasingly prevalent, the general public and college presidents offer different assessments of their educational value, according to a new Pew Research Center (@pewinternet) report. Just 3-in-10 American adults (29%) say a course taken online provides an equal educational value to one taken in a classroom. By contrast, half of college presidents (51%) say online courses provide the same value.
- 77% of colleges now offer online courses
- 15% of college presidents say most of their current undergraduate students have taken a class online; 50% predict that 10 years from now most of their students will take classes online.
- 15% of college presidents say most of their current undergraduate students have taken a class online, and 50% predict that 10 years from now most of their students will take classes online.
- Nearly two-thirds of college presidents (62%) anticipate that 10 years from now, more than half of the textbooks used by their undergraduate students will be entirely digital.
- Most college presidents (55%) say that plagiarism in students’ papers has increased over the past 10 years. Among those who have seen an increase in plagiarism, 89% say computers and the internet have played a major role.
- The leaders of the nation’s colleges and universities are a tech-savvy group. Nearly nine-in-ten (87%) use a smartphone daily, 83% use a desktop computer and 65% use a laptop.
- College presidents are ahead of the curve on some of the newer digital technologies: half (49%) use a tablet computer such as an iPad at least occasionally, and 42% use an e-reader such as a Kindle or Nook.