Wednesday, November 3, 1999

Author Warns Students -- and Colleges -- to Avoid On-Line Education By JEFFREY R. YOUNG A forthcoming book encourages working adults to go back to college and earn degrees, but its author warns against "I think that reputable universities should get their names as far away from this as possible because I think it's going to besmirch them," says a professor who recommends against taking distance-learning courses. choosing a virtual campus. The author, Carole S. Fungaroli, says that distance education fails to deliver the most-important aspect of higher education -- inspiration. "At its best, the traditional campus can make you fall in love with something," says Ms. Fungaroli, a lecturer at Georgetown University who says her own experience as a part-time, non-traditional student fostered her passion for English literature. "One of the things missing from the distance-learning area is passion." Ms. Fungaroli's book, Traditional Degrees for Nontraditional Students, is part pep talk, part college guide. Its premise is that college can benefit just about any adult, even those who were steered away from higher education by high-school guidance counselors. The book also offers a range of practical tips to help adults choose a college, apply for admission, select a major, and adjust to campus life. The book is based on two years of research that included interviews with more than 100 non-traditional students, says Ms. Fungaroli. Anecdotes appear throughout the book. Ms. Fungaroli says the stories she heard from on-line students led her to exclude distance education from her book. She says she encountered students in distance-learning programs who were discouraged and isolated. "They hated what they were doing, but they just wanted to get those three credit hours," she adds. Ms. Fungaroli fears that distance education might cause some talented thinkers to give up on higher education, or to stick to limited subject areas. "When you get on campus, you might find out that you're all fired up about something that you might not have thought about before," she says. "Distance learning allows you to stay in your rut." Ms. Fungaroli also advises colleges not to jump on the virtual-courses bandwagon. "I think that reputable universities should get their names as far away from this as possible because I think it's going to besmirch them," she says. "I think distance learning started out well-meaning, but I think it very quickly became a money-making, opportunistic enterprise." Proponents of distance learning argue that universities should work to make their courses available to a wider audience, and that classrooms aren't the only places in which inspiration can happen. Sally Johnstone, senior program director for the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, says she, too, had an inspirational experience as a non-traditional student at a traditional campus. But she says she had to give up other parts of her life -- and had to move to a new city -- to attend college in person. "The reality is that the vast majority of our population can't do that," she says. "Does that mean that we should not offer post-secondary experiences for those who are not willing to give up everything else in their lives?" Ms. Johnstone also noted that sitting in a classroom isn't always blissful. "Who hasn't sat in the classroom with 70 people trying to take calculus and being totally lost?" she asks. "These were not great experiences. They were pure drudgery." The Western Cooperative worked with Prentice Hall to publish The Distance Learner's Guide, a book designed to help non-traditional students enter the world of on-line education. Ms. Fungaroli's book will be published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, and is expected to be released in January. The first chapter is available on line. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article