They have chosen to see the introduction of technology into learning environments as replacing faculty, complaining bitterly about the imposition of cold, sterile machines in place of warm, attentive humans. One can't help but wonder if they have ever read student exit interviews complaining about the quality of instruction. They seem to suffer great emotional distress at the prospect of replacing the teacher by the student as the focus of the learning process. Any suggestion that there may be some things that technology can do better is met by accusations of an unholy alliance between higher education and the private sector. But their fulminations are misguided.
Higher education is a highly personnel-intensive activity.
Eighty to 90 percent of the operating budgets of most institutions of higher education are devoted to personal services - faculty and staff salaries. Higher education costs have been rising at more than twice the increase in the consumer price index for the past two decades. And, the cost of receiving a university education at some of the nation's premier institutions is totally out of the reach of the vast majority of families. In fact, attendance at the local state university is likely to require about 25 percent of the median income family's pretax income. In light of the very serious problem engendered by higher education costs so far outstripping the rise in family income, it would be less than responsible for any of us not to look for educational strategies that can reduce costs, improve quality and broaden access.