Analyzing the Impact of the Internet
By: Yaribel Velez
Capella University

Analyzing the Impact of the Internet

“When I decided to obtain my MBA I was a bit concern with the problems all students are facing in today’s economy. I thought to myself “another loan” could I bear to afford a student loan with a high interest rate? Not many single mothers seek to gain a profession due to the rise in college tuition and high interest rates on loans. Though, I decided to pursue with my degree which will benefit me in the future. The government intervention with Obama lowering rates of federal loans back in August 2013, but I wish for more financial assistance availability. My personal opinion is that financial assistance for higher education should be a more important base topic in today’s world.
There are more and more cut back on college funds each year, and to make matters worse the real cost of college has risen steadily since the 1940s. Government aides and Pell grants have been reduced significantly; and obtaining free grants has become harder. Schools have raised tuition; which drops down the students enrolling in school due to loan affordability or not enough aids available. Over the past years, access to higher education has expanded from being privileged at birth, to having a certain qualification. In (Schumpeter, 13 April 2011; Hazelkorn, 31 May 2012) the impact of the financial trouble in California on its public University system is symptomatic of problems around the world. Whether funded from public or private sources, escalating costs and tuition fees have prompted The Economist to suggest that higher education could be the next bubble. The quality of higher education is coming under increasing scrutiny. If higher education is the engine of the economy, governments are looking for verifiable and measurable evidence of benefit and impact. Students, as consumers, are questioning the value for money of their study program relative to the tuition fee the pay, or the institutes status and reputation. Evidence of quality and the pursuit of excellence have become the key mantra dominating higher education.
Online education has become a big sensation throughout the years with more colleges and universities integrating online courses. Online education is a beneficial way of learning for single parents, elder population seeking to obtain a degree, and most importantly for those seeking flexibility. According to (US Department of Education 2006, p. vii) the landscape in higher education has been constantly changing. While this evolution has led to expansion of the higher education industry and advancement in educational aspirations and attainment, ongoing improvements in these dimensions is imperative. This new landscape demands innovation and flexibility. Students have become more attracted with online learning because they have more flexible way of achieving their personal and educational goals. All students learn differently, and taking courses online will give you time to completely understand a material before moving on which is a better approach of learning. David Kuntz believes that we’re only just beginning to see the potential of educational software. Through the intensive use of date analysis and machine learning techniques, he predicts, the online programs will advance through several “tiers if adaptivity,” each offering greater personalization through more advance automation. Although the link between media and learning remains controversial, many educators believe that different students learn in different ways. Some learn best by reading text, others by watching a demonstration, others by playing a game, and still others by engaging in a dialogue. A student’s mode may change, moreover, at each stage in a course or even at different times during the day. A video lecture may be best for on lesson, while a written exercise may be best for the next. By monitoring how students interact with the teaching system itself when they speed up, slow down, where they click a computer can learn to anticipate their needs and deliver material in whatever medium promises to maximize their comprehension and retention. Looking towards the future, Kuntz says that computers will ultimately be able to tailor an entire “learning environment” to fit each student. Elements of the programs interface, for example, will change as the computer senses the student’s optimum style of learning. (Carr, N. 2012, Nov. The crisis in higher education. Technology Review, 115, 32-36).
Colleges and universities have established more focused on their ethical responsibilities to avoid any scandals that will affect their reputations. Schools have adopted institutional codes of ethics to make sure students comply with the standards of honest scholarship and academic integrity. With technology and its advancement there has been an automated system to detect cheating in online classes. (Unesco, 2010) Education serves society by providing a critical reflection on the world, especially its failing and injustices, and by promoting greater consciousness and awareness, exploring new visions and concepts, and inventing new techniques and tools. Educating is also the means for disseminating knowledge and developing skills, for bringing about desired changed in behavior, values and lifestyles, and promoting public support for the continuing and fundamental changed that will be required if humanity is to alter its course, leaving the familiar path that is leading toward growing difficulties and possible catastrophe, and starting the uphill climb towards sustainability. Education, in short, is humanity’s best hope and most effective means in the quest to achieve sustainable development. According to ELearning Companion, “The disadvantages of Online Learning,” 2011, the limitations students encounter from an online education create an unethical situation, where universities provided their students with unrealistic expectations and do not provide them with the skills to reach those goals. This is a situation that needs to be understood and assessed by educational leaders everywhere. All in all, universities and professors should truly evaluate the benefits and consequences of online learning. Though there may be speculations and questions raised with online learning, schools have different types of programs to ensure students are being ethical and citing work that belongs to others; for example: Capella University uses a program called Turnitin, this program checks the paper to make sure there is no plagiarism and work is cited correctly. The advancement in technology helps not just the school, but the students to follow the code of conduct correctly. Those that violate the schools codes of ethic will be responsible for the consequence that impose to them this can even mean being expelled from school and not having the ability to enroll in any other university.
Innovation is the successful exploitation of new ideas. The same range of meanings applies in higher education, where innovation can refer simply to some new way of doing things, or a change that improves administrative or scholarly performance, or a transformational experience based on a new way of thinking. Today’s higher education administrators, who must balance the fiscal pressures of running a large organization influenced by external forces such as rankings and increased competition for students and faculty and internal stresses produced by boards and accrediting agencies who are demanding more transparency, accountability, and tangible evidence of success, are best served by seeking continued innovation in curricular programs, delivery mechanism, support services, and operations. In this volume, we have presented ideas for new ways of conducting business within the context of higher education. These, and more, are crucial to the continued success of institutions of higher learning. Innovation can offer flexibility to enable institutions to adapt more readily in a constantly changing environment, a means by which colleges and universities can address concerns typically associated with mature enterprises, tools to ease increasing cost pressures, and efficiency gains through better operations and better matching of resources and requirements. Donofrio, N. M. “Engine for Innovation.” Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 2006, 23(2).
In conclusion, there are many financial issues with education that need to be address by the government more in depth. Students are discouraged to enroll in college due to rates on loans being too high or no aids available. Although online education may be fairly new to many, the innovation is making it easier for those seeking a flexible education to obtain it online. With the future of global environment seeking new programs and analyzing operations; ethical questions in regards to online learning will no longer be a potential issue or big concern. (US Department of Education, 2006) impose that higher education continues to evolve worldwide. Evolving and improving to meet the challenges of the contemporary landscape. The world is changing and is becoming a better flexibility in many ways. I believe it is imperative that as higher education finds the funds to pursue with new projects in the innovation world, more focus should be input in school loans. If the students see more facility in grants and lower interest rate on loans, the enrollment in education will become higher with more students pursuing a degree. We live in a world where employers prefer to higher educated candidates, which makes it important for students to continue their education.

References
(Schumpeter, 13 April 2011; Hazelkorn, 31 May 2012) obtained from http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2011/04/higher_education
(US Department of Education 2006, p. vii) obtained from http://cyber.law/harvard.edu/communia2010/sites/communia2010/imagesWhite_Glickman_2007_Innovation_in_Higher_Education-_Implications_for_the_Future.pdf
(Carr, N. 2012, Nov. The crisis in higher education. Technology Review, 115, 32-36). Obtained from http://search.proquest.com/library.capella.edu/docview/1151856941
(UNESCO, 2010) obtained from http://www.unesco.org/education
ELearning Companion, “The disadvantages of Online Learning,” 2011 obtained from http://www.evolllution.com/distance_online_learning/exploring-ethics-online
Donofrio, N. M. “Engine for Innovation.” Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 2006, 23(2). obtained from www.diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/printer_5576.shtml.