Moltz, D. (2009) In the midnight hour Inside Higher Education, December 9
This article describes midnight courses for welders at an Oregon community college. Although not strictly about e-learning, the article reflects capacity problems in colleges due to the recession, which is driving unemployed workers into re-training – the same pressures that are leading to increased demand for online courses.
I have tremendous sympathy for these students. Before I got to go to university as a ‘mature’ student, I worked for two years after finishing high school. I had to take evening classes after a day’s work to qualify, which I found desperately tiring, but that was nothing compared to my uncle, who after a 12 hour shift down a coal mine, went to evening classes for six years to become qualified as an electrical engineer.
My point here is that this is where I still believe e-learning has most value and potential: providing flexible learning for lifelong learners. And in economically advanced countries, this is where the growth of the post-secondary education market will be over the next 20 years.
Dr. Tony Bates is the author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education. He has provided consulting services specializing in training in the planning and management of online learning and distance education, working with over 40 organizations in 25 countries. Tony is a Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network.
I fully agree with you, Tony. I started to work at 14, so I also did my High School and university degree in the evenings, after an exhausting working day … and sometimes I think to have had an e-learning opportunity, maybe I could have taken advantage of an easier youth …