A comment on online university, updated

Yeglesias comments about it, he is in favor.  The original link here.

We see this:Unsurprisingly, Edley’s [Christopher Edley, dean of the Berkeley law school],bold plan to reach students “from Kentucky to Kuala Lumpur”  has garnered opposition. The thoughtful critique is that the Internet can’t replicate the intellectual and personal experience of going to college in person. That’s true (if overstated, and becoming more so as technology improves). But it’s also the wrong way to think about the issue.

Using digital assist in education is great, but Mr. Hedley misses the point.  He has enough students and potential students in the Bay Area.  He is better off recruiting them to law school, and because they are in the bay area, they can come by his office for a chat, say once per quarter.  That is enough to remove 90% of the hassle of actually going to Berkeley.

The Internet will not spread the reputation of Berkeley, rather the Internet will make many other law schools just as well taught as Berkeley.

More on the debate from another college teacher.