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Distance Ed: For The Fun Of It

Online Education's Not Just For Utility's Sake

John Kobara has worked in education, marketing and technology for the last 20 years. He's been Vice Chancellor of UCLA, Executive Director of the UCLA Alumni Association and Vice President and General Manager of Falcon Cable TV. He is currently the President and CEO of OnlineLearning.Net.

There are three kinds of students who enroll in distance education classes, says Kobara.

"The first [type] is people who need a degree," he says. "The second group has a degree, but because of their careers, they have to take continuing education." Into this group fall teachers, CPAs, lawyers and doctors.

"And then there's a third group of people who just like education," says Kobara. "They think it's fun or a way to meet people."

That third group, he says, "we're not serving at all."

According to Kobara, that makes non-degree, non-certification programs one of the largest potential markets for online education.

At OnlineLearning.Net, Kobara says he's seen a growing demand for online creative-writing programs.

"We were pleasantly surprised that there's a demand for writing programs," says Kobara. "It's a medium that serves that very well. It's one where you want to get collaborative feedback on your work -- not only from an instructor, but also from colleagues."

"Writing online works very well that way."

Online education also is a good way to meet people.

"All of our classes are taught in the graduate seminar style," says Kobara. "They break up into groups and have assignments to work on with one another."

The process makes it impossible for students to remain anonymous -- or "lurk," he says. And students often make deeper connections with their online peers than they do in the brick-and-mortar classroom.

"I took an online class last year," says Kobara. "In the first week of the class, the instructor asked us to pair up. ... A woman wrote me back from Mt. Kisco, N.Y. Being able to connect like that" is a great learning tool.