AllLearn – Alliance for Lifelong Learning... terminou!
O “Oxford online learning project folds” é um artigo que nos informa que um projecto de eLearning de joint-venture entre as universidades de Oxford, Standford e Yale, “AllLearn - Alliance for Lifelong Learning” http://www.alllearn.org/, lançado no ano de 2001, no “dot.com boom”, terminou, por não conseguir atrair alunos suficientes.
Depois de terem oferecido 110 cursos online, para mais de 10,000 alunos de mais de 70 países, é afirmado pela sua presidente que "as we looked to the future, the cost of offering top-quality enrichment courses at affordable prices was not sustainable over time."
Referiu também que:
"The project's founders appear to have underestimated the costs of designing online courses and overestimated the number of students willing to pay tuition costs. Lack of interest, rather than lack of status or brand visibility, has been cited as the primary reason behind AllLearn's failure to meet enrolment targets."
"Institutions offering non-credit courses must generally charge lower tuition fees than providers operating credit courses leading up to a qualification, and the shorter duration of courses compared to degree programmes suggests less tuition revenue. AllLearn's closure suggests that the 'general interest' market for online provision remains unproven, although this may change over time as the educational value of broadband is further explored."
Este aparente falhanço torna-se ainda mais significativo em face dos vários projectos de eLearning ao nível inter-universitário que também terminaram antes de tempo, tais como: “UK e-University” , “NYU Online” da New York University, “Fathom” (Columbia University e London School of Economics), “Virtual Temple” da Tempe University e “University of Maryland University College Online”.
Estas iniciativas não retiram nada às incríveis oportunidades que o eLearning pode oferecer, particularmente na perspectiva da Lifelong Learning, no entanto alertam-nos para a necessidade de aprendermos com os erros...
