Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
Aspen Institute
Expanding Economic Opportunity for More Americans, and Longform
The Challenges of Leveraging Online Education for Economically Vulnerable Mid-Career Americans
February 4, 2019
Author
Joshua Goodman
, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Economic and technological change has made lifelong learning more important than ever and partly explains the rise of online education, the flexibility of which appeals to mid-career Americans. Most existing online education appears to result, however, in poor learning and labor market outcomes. Promising models of low- cost, high-quality online education are only now beginning to arise. This brief lays out some of the central questions policymakers should ask when considering plans to leverage online education for economically vulnerable mid-career Americans, as well as the state of the evidence surrounding those questions. In short, existing research provides little clear evidence of successful models of online education for academically weaker students, suggesting that policymakers should proceed with caution. Any such efforts should be accompanied by rigorous, data-driven assessment and accountability systems, both to encourage pedagogical innovation and to ensure students benefit from such degrees.
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