We can hardly deny that online education transforms many aspects of learning, knowledge, and validation. It also opens new opportunities for research. The Berkeley Center for New Media hosted an interdisciplinary two-day symposium (March 15 and 16, 2013) about university-level online education that brings together scholars, educational media developers, students, and employers to explore and discuss critical issues in online education.
Our panel speakers shared their diverse experiences with online education and examine from a variety of angles the conditions, opportunities, and tensions pertaining to learning online. Some questions that our panels addressed include: Where do online education technologies currently disrupt on-campus education? Does online education work equally well for all disciplines, subjects and course levels? Should traditional on-campus experiences endure in online education settings, or is there space to construct new understandings of what it means to “go to campus”? Do new learning tools engender new literacies? Can online education create new opportunities for equitable access to education?
