Episode 03: How Some Instructors at Univ. of Michigan are Creating Engaging Experiences During the COVID19 Crisis - ft. Matt Blattman, Student at Univ. of Michigan
In recent weeks, both in this blog and on my podcast Illuminate Higher Education, we’ve carried on an extended discussion about higher education and measuring its real value. We’ve explored college in the age of COVID-19 and made some educated predictions about how higher education might change in the future.
My overarching goal with my podcast has always been to feature a variety of guests--individuals I would consider “stakeholders” in assessing and improving the higher education experience. This includes current students, graduates, parents, faculty and staff, leaders such as Deans or Presidents, and other outside entities like innovators in education technologies.
Our first featured podcast guest was Matt Blattman, a senior at the University of Michigan studying cognitive science. Matt gave us an insider’s look at what life has been like for college students and how students and professors alike have adapted to changing circumstances. One of these circumstances, and perhaps one of the most controversial, has been the addition of extra fees to help colleges defray costs of testing and other safety protocols. At the University of Michigan, it was a modest fee of $50 per semester; other colleges’ fees range from $129 to over $400 per semester (NYTimes).
As we’ve discussed in previous episodes, growing tuition costs make it more and more difficult to measure the ROI of a college education, especially when so many families are experiencing economic hardship. Many students and parents felt that the pandemic-induced shift to virtual education should come with a proportional decrease in tuition (some universities even faced class-action lawsuits). While some institutions offered refunds or credits for unused housing fees and other expenses, tuition costs generally remained the same--leaving many students, including Matt, feeling as though they were paying more for less. On the other hand, on top of health and safety changes, many colleges were forced to rapidly upgrade their digital infrastructure to support distance learning, an expensive project even under the best circumstances. Whether this money was “money well-spent” depends on who you ask.
Yet, as I suspected, one of the significant impacts of COVID-19 was to finally draw the line on what many families are willing to pay for higher education. I believe we’ve actually been waiting for this moment for a while, only to have it suddenly thrust upon us by the pandemic. I strongly believe that higher education must be affordable and accessible to any who seek it. 2020 has forced colleges and universities to change their strategies and practices much more quickly than they have in the past, a critical step in increasing availability of college to all students.
The proof of this is evident in recent headlines featuring colleges that plan to freeze or cut tuition costs for 2021. Some are deploying hybrid educational programs that feature a mix of in-person and online learning with a lower price tag than fully on-campus programs. As we learned from Matt on the podcast, online classes are missing some key elements of the traditional classroom or lecture hall setting but it is possible for professors to create engaging and participatory environments virtually.
To hear more about Matt’s experience as a college senior during COVID-19, listen to Episode 003 of Illuminate Higher Education: How Some Instructors at Univ. of Michigan are Creating Engaging Experiences During the COVID19 Crisis - ft. Matt Blattman, Student at Univ. of Michigan.
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