身在线上课堂上 每人都可以前排坐

Most mornings I listen to online courses while walking on my treadmill. In my experience, what separates the great courses from the mediocre ones is the quality of the professors, whose passion and expertise bring their subjects to life, as much online as in-person. That’s why it’s critical that during this time of transition we keep our focus on the instructors. They are the ones who inspire and guide students. The best online learning technologies expand the reach of the most inspiring professors by allowing more students to be part of their classes.
很多个早晨，我在跑步机上听在线课程。以我的经验来说，好的课和一般的课之间的最大差别是教授的质量。好教授的激情和专业度会让他们的讲课题目充满活力，即使在线的效 果也如同在对面一样。这就是为何我们在这个转型的时期高度关注授课老师。他们才是启发和引导学生的人。最棒的在线学习技术便是帮助这些最能启发学生的教授拓宽受众的范 围，让更多学生能够进入他们的课程。

The risk of this mass approach to education, of course, is that students might get lost in such an impersonal setting. That’s why Rio Salado and other institutions are researching new approaches to student advising. Using the growing body of data available about online students’ learning habits—for example, are they completing assignments and logging onto their courses regularly?—the institution can intervene to help students at risk of falling behind or dropping out. “Students don’t get lost because no one can just sit in the back corner. Everyone is in the front row,” a Rio Salado faculty member told me.
当然，这种大众教育方式有一个风险，——在这样一种非针对个体的环境中，学生可能会迷失方向。因此，Rio Salado学院和其他机构开始研究有关指导学生的新方法 。利用不断积累的学生在线学习数据——例如，他们是否有规律地完成作业，登陆自己的课程？——学校可以在学生有可能落伍或辍学时介入帮助他们。“学生不会迷失方向，因 为没人可以坐在角落听课。每个人都在前排。”Rio Salado学院对我这样说。

Several students I met during my visit said they liked learning online better than in a classroom. “I’ve taken college classes in a big auditorium with herds of people. There was no personal connection,” one University of Phoenix student said. “Now I can reach my teacher with the click of a mouse.”
在我访问期间，几位学生告诉我，比起坐在教室里，他们更喜欢在线学习。“我在大学的大礼堂和一大帮人上过课，课上没有个人的联系。”一位菲尼克斯大学的学生说道，“现 在，我只需点击一下鼠标便可以联系到我的老师。”

Other students said they liked the fact that they can learn at their own pace and fit school into their busy schedules. What still needed improvement, however, was a connection with other students. They said they struggled to complete team assignments online because it was too difficult to coordinate schedules. Lab work for science classes and other hands-on learning can also be problematic, although Rio Salado is addressing this issue by giving chemistry students a lab kit to use at home. Marine biology students get a frozen squid to dissect.
其他学生坦言，他们喜欢以自己的进度来学习，喜欢把学校学习排入自己繁忙的日程中。而还需要改善的地方是学生之间的联系。学生们说他们一起完成在线的团队作业很困难， 因为相互协调日程非常难。实验室的任务和其他一些实操性的学习也会有不少问题，尽管针对这个问题，Rio Salado已经向学化学的同学提供实验室工具套件，使得他们能在家里进行实验。海洋生物学的学生可以得到一个冰冻的鱿鱼来做论文。

The biggest challenge facing all higher education institutions is how to ensure more students stay in college or university and complete their degrees. They are looking everywhere for solutions. Arizona State University, for instance, discovered that the college catalogue overwhelmed students with too many class choices and gave them too little guidance. So the university redesigned the entire experience. The new, personalized online catalogue features “major maps,” which outline a major’s key requirements, optimal course sequence, and career options to help keep students on the path to graduation.
摆在所有高等教育机构面前的一个最大挑战是如何保证让更多的学生留在学校里，并读完他们的学位。他们四处寻找答案。例如，亚利桑那州立大学发现，大学课程目录中的课程 让人目不暇接，但却没有多少指导意见，这让学生无所适从。所以，这所大学重新设计了学习体验。新的个性化的在线课程目录有这些特点：“学科地图”列举了一门学科的主要 要求，推荐的课程攻读顺序，以及职业选择，帮助学生一路顺利地走到毕业。

I left Arizona feeling quite optimistic about what the future holds for higher education. It also reminded me how much work still needs to be done. What’s most exciting is that the institutions I visited are not standing still. They are taking risks and using their creative and intellectual powers to reinvent themselves for the future. In doing so, they will give many more students the opportunity to do the same with their own lives.
我离开亚利桑那时，心中充满了对高等教育未来的乐观。同时，我也提醒自己还有很多工作要做。最让人激动的是我访问的那些学校并没有安于现状。他们继续尝试着风险，用创 意而智慧的力量为自己的未来投资。而这种做法将使得这些学校能为更多学生争取到投资自身的机会。