It’s still early days in US for school closings and how that’s going to be handled, but many higher ed institutions are already transforming themselves into “virtual” locations by moving classes online, and closing dormitories.
This will very likely entail a great deal of “learning on the fly” concerning how to make online classes work effectively for huge numbers of students and teachers and admin, and institutions may get a real sense of how much more economically efficient online learning can be.
Presumably there will also be a lightbulb turning on for many students that if learning can be done online, do I really have to pay Harvard 50K plus per year to get a useable level of certification and a career foundation?
[gview file=”https://publicservicesalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-Harvard-moves-classes-online-tells-students-not-to-return-after-spring-break.pdf”]According to Harvard’s website, tuition costs for the 2019-2020 school year total $47,730, fees are $4,195, and room and board costs $17,682 for a subtotal of billed costs of $69,607.
After estimating personal expenses like text books ($4,193) and travel costs ($0-$4,400), Harvard estimates total billed and unbilled costs of about $73,800-$78,200 per year to attend the prestigious school — up from $71,650-$76,650 the previous year.
(costs above do not include scholarships and loans)
This move online also affects K-12 learners, some of whom are already getting going at home with Google Classroom and Zoom, as Kris notes for her grandson. We can look forward to future posts on how that all is working, or not, from an eyewitness.