Unidentified exogenous variables vitiate extremophiles' hyper-rationalistic hubris.

If not, they should! tlt.gs/FtFvHybrid           
But pierced politically-powered paradigms' proponents persist.
See:  Face-to-Face ?vs.? Hybrid, Blended, Online, ...

We, educators, citizens, not only economists, need "an ethical code that would ask [proponents] to understand and communicate the limitations and potential misuses of their models." - Statement excerpted and modified from Abstract below.

"One might ask, how can we explain the persistence of the paradigm for so long? Partly, it must be because, in spite of its deficiencies, it did provide insights into many economic phenomena. ... But one cannot ignore the possibility that the survival of the [neoclassical] paradigm was partly because the belief in that paradigm, and the policy prescriptions, has served certain interests." Joseph E. Stiglitz. 2001 Nobel Prize lecture: p. 524 "Concluding Remarks" in "INFORMATION AND THE CHANGE IN THE PARADIGM IN ECONOMICS"

"Abstract:      
The economics profession appears to have been unaware of the long build-up to the current worldwide financial crisis and to have significantly underestimated its dimensions once it started to unfold. In our view, this lack of understanding is due to a misallocation of research efforts in economics. We trace the deeper roots of this failure to the profession's focus on models that, by design, disregard key elements driving outcomes in real-world markets.

Face-to-Face vs. Online: Over-Zealous Extremophiles vs. Hyper-Romantic Luddites

"Hybrids always win!" Eventually.  Education that mixes place, schedule, media, synchronous/asynchronous, responsibility, stage of expertise, authority, responsibility, role

For more than fifty years, new applications of information and telecommunications technologies have arrived with claims about their abilities to record, reproduce, or offer alternatives to various dimensions of face-to-face interactions.  Many of these claims have been over-zealous and misleading, but many have understated or missed what emerged later as widely useful.  As the capabilities and availability of these technologies continue to increase and costs diminish it becomes ever clearer that

• no technology intermediated experience can be the same in every significant way as a face-to-face experience for every participant.
• for some people, for some purposes, under some conditions, face-to-face interaction is superior to all other kinds.
• for some people, for some purposes, under some conditions, some technologically intermediated interaction is superior to face-to-face interaction.

[NOTE:  Almost every kind of education offered in recorded history has actually been a “hybrid” or “blended” combination of face-to-face interaction and other “technologies.”  Examples of “hybrid” activities included within “traditional” face-to-face education:  students read assigned chapters in books without any direct supervision;  students meet in a bar and argue about a topic raised in a course they take together while drinking.  Substitute “café” for “bar” if you wish.]

Steve Gilbert, TLT Group
FTF vs. Hybrid (FISE)

Western Govs U (WGU) vs. Tuition-Free? Univ. of People

How many children of the founders of WGU have ever enrolled in WGU courses?  How many have opted for any online alternatives to traditional college?  I ask these questions when I'm feeling especially cynical.  Not feeling so cynical about Univ. of the People


Below are some milder comments followed by excerpts from 2011, 1998, 1999.  Let me know if you find any juicier clips of WGU's over-zealous claims which so dramatically exceeded its accomplishments.


Meanwhile, is WGU the real "phoenix" among universities?  Re-rising when financial crisis meets burgeoning, unpredictable online options?   Proving again that "necessity is the mother of self-deception"?   NOTE:  The new University of the People seems to be more modestly and reasonably addressing the growing educational needs of those whose alternative is no higher education at all.   Join FridayLive today 4/1 to learn more about UoP.  tlt.gs/UnivofPpl