Ford T. Smith is helping to bulldoze one of the most durable pillars of academic life: the semester.
An adjunct faculty member at Kentucky's Jefferson Community & Technical College, Mr. Smith teaches in an online program that lets students start class any day they want and finish at their own speed. One student, desperate to graduate, knocked off 113 quizzes and six writing assignments for a humanities course in 46 sleepless hours.
But there is a downside to this convenience, and it's deeper than bleary eyes. The open format of Jefferson's program, called Learn Anytime, means students don't move through classes in groups. None of Mr. Smith's 400 online students will have a discussion or do a group project with classmates.
To read the full, original article click on this link: No Classroom, Not Even a Class. Just Students, One by One, Logging On. - Technology - The Chronicle of Higher Education
Author: Marc Parry
