線上和傳統教育的博弈？線上教育CEO預言傳統教育轉型
Steve Polzner and Mika Salmi, both heads of growing online education companies, are warning traditional universities that they must catch up to online curriculums if they plan on continuing to charge students thousands upon thousands of dollars for a higher education.
線上教育蓬勃發展之際，兩位新生代線上教育公司負責人——米卡·薩爾米和史蒂夫·柏茲勒在接受採訪時指出，傳統大學如果想要繼續向學生收取數千美元的高額學費的話，他們就必須跟上線上教育的潮流。
“They’re pricing themselves out of market, effectively. Something needs to change in the education field,” Polzner, CEO of Empowered University, said Tuesday at The Wrap’s Media Leadership Conference, TheGrill. “Our mission is to help universities go mobile.”
“傳統大學學費太高額，他們正被排擠出教育市場，這是很明顯的。教育界必須進行變革。” 線上教育公司 Eempowered University 的執行長史蒂夫·柏茲勒週二在TheWrap網站承辦的傳媒界領導者主題會議上說，“我們的任務就是幫助傳統大學實現‘線上化’的轉型。”
Polzner and Salmi, CEO of CreativeLIVE, are tapping into a $100 billion worldwide industry that is giving people access to education that is not just cheaper but available when and where they want it. All this at a time when student debt nationally has surpassed credit-card debt.
柏茲勒和在另一個線教育公司CreativeLIVE的執行長薩爾米，都已經投身到了線上教育這一總值達1000億美元的全球產業之中。通過線上教育，學生們可以隨時隨地的學習更為廉價的線上課程，要知道當今全國學生貸款總額已經超過了信用貸款。
Polzner’s (at left in photo) company partners with accredited universities, such as UCLA, to issue certificates of proficiency in particular skill sets, once students complete online courses. “We partner with universities to extend their brand beyond their physical borders without having to build new classrooms,” he told TheWrap’s Brent Lang. This training program costs somewhere around $5,000 for a year-long course.
柏茲勒（圖左）的公司正在與加利福尼亞大學洛杉磯分校等知名學府合作，當學生完成線上課程後，他們將可以獲得該大學辦法的相關技能認證和證書。柏茲勒對TheWrap網站記者布倫·特朗說，“我們與大學學府合作，使這些學校無須修建新校舍，就可以超越地域限制、向世界傳播品牌。”一門全學年制的線上培訓課程大約需要5千美元的學費。
Salmi’s CreativeLive, on the other hand, functions more like a television network, offering people looking to advance their careers free lessons from successful professionals — these can include everyone from Pulitzer Prize to Emmy winners. The classes are free to watch live but cost between $49 and $150 to own.
薩爾米的CreativeLive公司採取了另一種經營模式。類似於有線電視網路，該公司向希望提高職場技能的學員們免費提供線上課程——主講人是包括普利策獎得主和艾美獎得主在內的著名人士。這些線上課程可以免費觀看，但需要花費49美元至150美元的費用下載。
“It’s like a broadcast model. If you can’t watch all 18 hours for free — people average 3.5 hours of watching — then you have to buy it,” Salmi said.
薩爾米說：“這種經營模式有點像廣播。課程的人均收看時間大約為3.5小時——如果你不能持續觀看18個小時的線上課程，你就得付費購買了。”
Although Polzner calls online education “a game changer,” and encourages educational institutions to “deliver a lot more of their content online,” he still supports traditional higher education.
儘管柏茲勒將線上教育稱為“教育行業規則的革新者”，並且支援傳統教育機構“大力發表網上課程”，但他對傳統高等教育仍然持著支援的態度。
“It’s important for an 18-year-old type to go into a college campus and grow up and learn those life lessions,” Polzner said. “But what about the busy adults out there who can’t go to a college campus and have a skills gap and need to close that gap?”
“對一個18歲的青年來說，進入大學課堂學習是十分重要的，將使其終身受益。”柏茲勒說，“但是對那些忙碌的上班族來說，他們不能學習大學課程，要如何彌自身的職場技能缺陷呢？”
The answer that Polzner and Salmi easily agreed upon is a hybrid educational model that pulls strengths from both online and traditional classrooms. However, both noted that faculty members can feel very threatened by digital education — perhaps because it will require them to up their game.
對上述問題，柏茲勒和薩爾米的一致回答是：需要一種可以同時發揮線上教育和傳統教育二者優勢的混合教育模式。但同時，兩位企業家也提到傳統教職人員面對數字教育可能深感受到威脅——可能因為數字教育會要求傳統教職人員實現“線上化”轉型。
