Are these new rules the canary in the coal mine for distance learning?
Edward Cramp and Kristina Gill
June 17, 2024
Restrictions on online, asynchronous learning for hands-on programs could spell trouble for successful remote learning efforts around the country.
At the start of the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education quickly enacted emergency regulations allowing students to continue with their education online—a revolutionary development that provided a lifeline to institutions and students alike. Schools around the country seized the opportunity, pivoting to online asynchronous programs even for hands-on occupations like nursing, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, cosmetology, barbering, and esthetics that some believed could never be taught remotely.
The benefits were immediately apparent. Even the Department proclaimed that expanded online education increased access, flexibility and cost savings for students, including “millions of Americans who, as a result of their work schedule, family responsibilities, transportation limitations or military deployments cannot enroll in or complete postsecondary education offered in the traditional campus setting.” Without this flexibility, no doubt the critical worker shortage of the past several years would have been far worse.
