A PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE STATE OF ONLINE GRADUATE
PROGRAMS IN MUSIC TEACHER EDUCATION
Mitchell
Robinson, Michigan State University
James R. Austin, University of Colorado
at Boulder
William I. Bauer, Case Western Reserve
University
Dorothy Bryant, Ohio University
Kimberly C. Walls, Auburn University
Technology
is impacting the content and delivery of many aspects of the educational
enterprise. The recent and rapid increase in numbers of completely online and
hybrid online/summer/residential graduate degree programs promises even further
changes to the educational landscape in music teacher education. Given the
increasing presence and popularity of these programs, serious, substantive
conversation concerning the structure, design and effects of online graduate
education has been conspicuously lacking in our professional discourse.
While
online graduate programs offer tantalizing financial possibilities to cash
starved music schools and departments, there are also ethical considerations
surrounding these programs, including questions about admissions standards,
residency requirements, student mentoring, online assessment integrity,
opportunities for collegiate teaching experiences, and the socialization of
online students to the music education profession. Among the issues offered for
discussion are:
Student
Issues
á
Why do
students elect to enroll in online programs and how are they being recruited?
á
What
benefits are there to students who earn a degree in an online program?
á
Who are the
people applying to online programs?
á
What is an
optimal number of students for an online class?
á
How
do qualifying and comprehensive exam procedures compare between online and
residential programs?
á
What sorts
of residency components are in place for online graduate students?
á
How are
students in online graduate programs provided adequate mentoring and
faculty attention?
á
In doctoral
programs, how are online students afforded opportunities to gain experience
with collegiate teaching, long acknowledged as a critical component in the
preparation of future professors?
Faculty
Issues
á
What are
faculty perceptions of teaching in an online environment?
á
What are
the characteristics of the faculty being hired to teach in online
graduate programs? Is the number or percentage of tenure-track music
education faculty positions in online programs different than that in
residential programs?
á
What
research and scholarship expectations are in place for faculty who work
with online masters and doctoral students?
á
What
staffing levels are necessary for online programs to ensure that the quality of
learning and mentoring are equivalent to face-to-face programs?
á
What are
the implications of hiring faculty members from other institutions as
course instructors?
Online/Programmatic
Issues
á
To what
extent is technology being used to transform learning and take full
advantage of the medium, rather than simply delivering traditional
course materials in an electronic format?
á
What types
of assessments are used in online programs?
á
How do
faculty overseeing online courses ensure that students submitting the
work are actually doing the work?
Issues
Impacting the Profession
á
What are
the career plans for persons in online masters and doctoral programs upon
degree completion?
á
Does an
exponential increase in the number of music education masters and doctoral
degrees awarded online decrease the value of all such degrees awarded across
all accredited institutions?
á
What is the
financial impact of an online program on its institutionÕs music unit?