Cyberschools: An Education Renaissance
- Book Review,
by Glenn R. Jones
From Publishers Weekly
In the United States this year, 2.2 million students will receive college-level credit without physically going to college. Course material will be delivered to their homes or offices by Internet. Discussions, assignments and exams will be done online. Some of these are courses offered by traditional universities, of which the University of Phoenix is the largest, some by accredited "virtual universities" with no on-campus instruction, such as the author's Jones International University, and some by unaccredited institutions. Such programs are not cheap; the author's statistics place them about midway between public and private bricks-and-mortar universities. For many students, however, especially those with full-time jobs or those far from campuses, the savings in commuting and the flexibility to make their own schedules make the total cost less than that of alternatives. This book summarizes the history and current state of the market. Taking a narrow focus, Jones discusses only professionally oriented courses in business, technology and health care leading to traditional degrees. The increasing need for skilled workers in developing countries and worker retraining everywhere has created huge opportunities within this segment. This is an updated edition of a work originally published in 1997, but more than half of the statistics are from 1996 or earlier, and many are from 1992 or earlier. In Internet time, that means a lot of the argument is ancient history. This book will be of most interest to someone getting into the distance education business and possibly someone considering online college courses for professional advancement.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Advances in information technology and changing student demographics are quickly reshaping higher education in the United States. Few would disagree with this point, but this reviewer has rarely seen as self-serving a "study" of the impact of these factors in higher education as Cyberschools. An updated edition of Make All America a School (and of earlier versions with this same title published in 1997 and 2000), this book is little more than a paean to the work of the author, an "educational entrepreneur" who founded Jones Knowledge, Inc., and Jones International University (JIU) and an advertisement for the proprietary software application through which JIU courses are offered. Jones provides a brief history of the use of technology in distance education, but the research on which he draws is limited, and his text is peppered with commentary aimed at highlighting the special significance of his own work and promoting the commercial services provided through Jones Knowledge, Inc. Perhaps Jones should be respected for his business acumen, but no one should expect to find either a comprehensive or an objective introduction to the subject of distance education in this book. Not recommended.Scott Walter, Washington State Univ., Pullman Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book News, Inc.
Describes the emergence and advantages of distance education, and suggests that computer, cable, and satellite technology offer the best solution for the increasing demands and diminishing financial resources of higher education on a global scale. -- Copyright © 1999 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR All rights reserved
Book Description
In Cyberschools: An Education Renaissance, author and educational entrepreneur Glenn R. Jones identifies several influences that are forcing change in educational institutions and addresses how online learning and electronic delivery of information can be critical tools to assist educational, business and community leaders and individuals in making these changes. He also examines: the rising costs of higher education; the changing characteristics of the adult student; the development of a global learning community; the transformation of the world to a knowledge society; and how the Internet and television can provide a less costly and more efficient means of providing education to a diverse student population. Cyberschools: An Education Renaissance is a good reference for anyone interested in the underlying fundamentals of distance learning, and also provides the reader with a number of successful distance learning programs currently available.
From the Publisher
Glenn R. Jones is founder and chief executive officer of Jones International, Ltd. and JonesKnowledge.com, whose subsidiaries and predecessors have been leaders in the field of Internet- and television-delivered education since 1987. He was also the founder of Jones Intercable, Inc.In 1999, Jones International University became the first virtual university -- meaning that its courses are delivered only through electronic means -- to receive full higher education accreditation from one of the six U.S. higher education accrediting authorities. The institution delivers courses via the Internet to students in over 30 countries and all continents, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America, Asia, Australia, Europe and Africa. Mr. Jones has served on the board of directors and the executive committee of the National Cable Television Association, the boards of directors of Cable in the Classroom, and C-SPAN and on the boards of the National Alliance of Business and the American Society for Training and Development. He is the founder of the Global Alliance for Transnational Education. He has received awards for advancing minorities and women in media. He also has received several honorary doctoral degrees. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Law and the Stanford University Business School Executive Program. Mr. Jones is the author of Free Market Fusion, Make All America a School, Jones Cable Television and Information Infrastructure Dictionary, Jones Telecommunications and Multimedia Encyclopedia, and several volumes of poetry.
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