By Mary Carmichael, Boston Globe
Here’s Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor and author of “The Innovative University,’’ on the future and finances of higher education in an era of destabilizing Web technologies: “I think it’s going to get really bad for traditional universities a lot sooner than most people think.’’ Traditional universities are under attack on many fronts. State and federal support is in flux. Most schools have hiked tuition, a move that leaves critics questioning the worth of a degree. Online learning has changed dramatically in the last decade, gaining respectability and attracting the attention of everyone from Bill Gates to Governor Rick Perry of Texas for its potential to help low-income students. Christensen writes glowingly about what online courses can offer: convenient and affordable formats, personalization, and a “growing body of skilled instructors who know how to make the most of the medium.’’ He proposes that brick-and-mortar universities outsource some of their introductory courses to for-profit online providers, a step some have taken.
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