I’ll give it a shot with my reply.

First, please know my bias (it’s my disclosure statement to the traditionalists). As a student I took classes online -at the graduate level. As an instructor, I’ve developed and delivered classes online -at both the undergrad and graduate level. As a fairly well-educated, well-read, and I like to believe, open-minded adult, there is no doubt in my moind that online education is bona fide ….

And, I may as well get my shot in here to try and provide some salve from the rather inconsiderate shots you’ve already taken … if those that claim online education is less than their “education”; that it’s as random and cheap as the prize in a Cracker Jack box ; that there’s only one way to get a “true” education: that somehow, online education is “less-than” education … than I pose this: Why in the **** is public education in america so dysfunctional?

It’s not the students.

For all the yahoos that completed the traditional gig of getting their degrees and then made their way into policy-making positions, what have you done for education lately?

For all the yahoos that completed the traditional gig of getting their degrees and then made their way into teaching -at any level- from Pre-K through PhD, what have you done -beside lecture- for education lately?

And for all the yahoo educators -at any level in any capacity, that trash online education at all costs … two questions, i) what exactly do you know [not theorize or ponder] about online education, and ii) what have you done for education lately?

Yes, online education -for that matter, teaching yourself- can and will prepare you properly for the teaching field. The content knowledge of teaching is mainly theory that certainly needs to be learned and then applied -as such, you need the opportunity to be in front of a classroom, or an audience (maybe you’re presently a corporate trainer and that certainly provides the opportunity). My point is, that online education cannot be blithely dismissed by anyone … for some people it is their ONLY opportunity to further their education -and in my book that’s a lot more importabt -and productive- than having to say I can’t complete my education because I can’t get to a classroom.

Good luck -and do it!