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Will the Web Kill Colleges

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“Will the Web Kill Colleges?”
Will the Web Kill the Cupcake Business?
Marlo Thomas

In “Will the Web Kill Colleges?” by Zephyr Teachout (Chaffee, p. 91), the author is trying to argue that traditional brick-and-mortar schools will be replaced with online-base learning. The strongest point being made is that because of economic changes, the economy is slowing down, fewer learners wanting to take out student loans and aid being cut to universities; it will be more cost-effective for them to implement online-base learning. These classrooms are easy to manage and navigate for learners, with the plethora of access to resources online such as, “…access to videotaped lectures, full courses, free articles, openly available syllabi online—as well as books that can be searched and borrowed from libraries around the world.” (Chaffee, p. 91) It is also noted that online courses are at a cost savings that are drastically lower then living on campus.
Five years ago, close to 4-million learners participated in at least one online learning experience, those numbers are probably double that in 2012. Even right now, every person in this the Capella MBA program is doing this very same thing, learning online. The schools shifting to this new model of learning are ones that middle-income and lower-income learners attend, state schools and local community colleges. Those state schools and local community colleges are experiencing heavy cuts in both federal and state funding, which is forcing them to become creative with changing the learning experience. These learners, pay for their educations through grants, loans or just doing it out of pocket, with costs sky rocketing, online learning offers them a more affordable way of pursuing a college degree. When the university runs an online program, they have lower payroll because they are using Ph. D. learners. There is no need for big buildings with fancy marble floors because these instructors can work out of their homes or from smaller office spaces.
The classrooms for both learners and instructors are easy and simple to navigate since both have been brought up in a very technological aware society. A learner can access an online library from their local community college to an Ivy League University, all the tips of their fingers and a click of a mouse. Lectures now are available online through Microsoft Connect and even YouTube, giving verbal instruction to learners. Those lectures can be listened to anytime by anyone in the safety and security of their home, car or workplace. Universities are providing online “black boards” so learners can communicate between themselves and with the professor, giving the feel of a virtual classroom. But implementing all these options, learners can still work and do not have to leave home.
This virtual classroom and university can keep cost way down, the example given stated that East Carolina University offers an online program of “…$99 per credit hour; that’s a base of $1,200 a year.” (Chaffee, p. 92) With more and more colleges and universities moving towards more online programs and classes, the costs will surely go even lower. Parents and students do take into account when searching for their school of choice what the cost will be, these programs will be more cost-friendly to them. With a cost savings of attending an online school many more lower-income individuals will have access to education to them that was not afforded to them before, or even the middle-class who do not qualify for grants and cannot afford the extra burden of student loans. There is a very good chance we may see a more educated population because of the online virtual classrooms.
It would have been nice to have been supplied, by the author, with graduation rates are for online universities compared to brick-and-mortar. I would have liked to see more tuition rates listed for more colleges and universities across the United States. Also, what areas “majors” are online colleges really focusing on? I think it would have been helpful if the author would have more facts about ‘who’ is attending online universities. Which degrees are these learners graduating with, bachelors, masters or Ph. D.’s? Maybe some success and failure stories could have been supplied explaining how the online learning experience does and doesn’t work for learners. This argument was a failure of me, because the aforementioned information was not supplied and he did not give enough documented and supported facts.
The author leads the reader to believe that by moving to online virtual universities, the standard of education will go down and that more people will be attaining a degree but the quality will be lessened. Teachout seems to lead the reader into believing that a subpar class of instructors will be employee by online universities and the there will be no more individual classroom construction. Learners will lose out on the feel for walking onto a campus and feeling the experience of classrooms and tenured professors, who are vastly superior to online educators. Personally, I could not find anything unethical he posed by online virtual universities and classrooms, I sensed he was more angry by the fact that something would be lost of the learner. That young men and women graduating from high school would be missing out more on the “experience” of going to college rather than the education they would be receiving. I feel it was within his right as the writer, to voice his concerns about the possible diminishing quality and standard of the college professor. In December 2011, 32.7% of the world population has used the internet (Inter Growth Stats, 2012), that’s an amazing amount of clients, customers and people that are looking for products to purchase. Starts up costs to build and create a webpage are low, making it easy for anyone to start an online business. Small business people have found a great stepping stone to reach millions and millions of potential customers from all over the world quickly and economically. The business I have chose to research is cupcake delivery, they can be custom made with exotic and basic flavors shipped right to the costumers home or business. “Cupcakes are becoming more popular, creating a lucrative business option for home bakers.” (Hogan, 2012.) Starting a home base business, especially the cupcake delivery business, is easy and cheap! You will need all your baking supplies, cookware, shipping supplies, promotional materials, internet connection, computer and of course, a phone. This former of startup is much cheaper then opening a bakery and renting a building, getting permits and all the other big ticket items that go along with brick-and-mortar bakeries. Once the recipes are perfected and decorations delectable; anyone can go online and open shop. Because every cupcake has a picture online, and there are not samples in a store, materials are not being wasted and that keeps costs down. But there is something lost for the costumer by shopping on line, for those tasty little treats, the personalize experiences of sampling flavors, smelling the goods baking and visually inspecting different types of cupcakes. Social networking, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, will allow any home baker a vast network of expansion, helping ease the old burdensome ways of going out into the community and sharing their goods. The power of the internet has allowed personal touches and person-to-person experience, to be lost not only to the baker buy the customer. With cupcake selling anywhere from $3.00 to $4.00 a piece, the business is booming! “Nationwide, cupcake sales, according to the market research firm, Mintel, are projected to rise another 20 percent over the next five years at a time when other baked goods are expected to grow in the single digits.” (Olson, 2009.) Several successful cupcake home based business moved into both internet sales and brick-and-mortar sales to grow, Magnolia Bakery and Sprinkles Bakery are two of the top cupcake stores in the USA that also have internet based sales. But selling cupcakes isn’t all icing and sprinkles, this business especially if someone is doing a brick-and-mortar business has a low profit threshold. It can be about $0.15 on the dollar after mortgage, utilities, loans, labor, etc. Most successful cupcake delivery bakery owners make anywhere from 30,000 to 45, 000 per year. When cutting out the brick-and-mortar shops, they profit margin will rise. When Main Street Cupcakes in Hudson, OH opened, the owner was worried no one would show up to buy he wears, but people where lined up down the street ready to taste. Owner Kimberly Martin has stated that she has sold over 55,000 cupcakes since opening. (della Cava, 2007.) Lily Jane’s Cupcakes in Eagle, Idaho hit their sales expectations in 6 weeks versus 6 months by selling 400 cupcakes per day. Even Victoria’s Secrets, has entered the world of cupcake sales with their own line of the sinful treats, known as Pout cupcakes. Katie Holmes and Courtney Love are big fans of the spectacular popular Sprinkles in LA, they have given up a couple of pounds to help that business grown. All of these businesses have successful internet sales. When visiting the Cupcake Stations website (Cupcake Station, 2008.) customers can find a variety of flavors like; White Chocolate Raspberry, Vabulous Vanilla Vegan, The Tortoise, The Great Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Peanut Butter Pretzel Crunch, Neapolitan, If You Like Pina Coladas, Cotton Candy Sweet Treat, Campfire and many more delectable taste sensations. But it leaves the mind wondering, what do they really taste like and would any customer want to spend $200.00 on experimenting with flavors. At Cupcake Station, online orders must spend at least $200.00 for shipping anywhere in the USA. When a customer looks at their beautiful, sinful, sweet and tasty treats, the marketing campaign is working very well for the Cupcake Station. Under each picture is a description of what goes into each cupcake and what experience the customer is suppose to connect with, but there is nothing like having a little sample as you sit in the shop smelling all the smells of the day. I think the best way for home base cupcake delivery bakeries to truly succeed is to venture off both into online sales and brick-and-mortar shops. Allowing for the personal experience that each customer loves and allowing for the ease and convenience ordering and shipping, also. The internet is another way to grow these businesses via social media but word of mouth is what’s going to bring a customer in the door. Our society is fast past and needs convenience, for this particular business having both options will allow the best and fastest growth.

References

Chaffee, J. (2012). Thinking Critically: Tenth Edition. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Cupcake Station. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.cupcakestation.com/orderonline.asp della Cava, M. (2007). Cupcake Bakeries Cater to the Kid in Us. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2007-09-18-cupcakes-cover_N.htm
Hogan, M. (2012). How To Start A Cupcake Business From Home. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/start-cupcake-business-home-259.html
Internet Growth Statistics. (2012). Today's road to e-Commerce and Global Trade
Internet Technology Reports. Retrieved from http://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm
Olson, E. (2009). The Latest Entrepreneurial Fantasy is Selling Cupcakes. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/business/smallbusiness/26cupcake.html?pagewanted=all

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