Internet Learning Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2012 | Page 7

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Internet Learning

The university was the domain of faculty. One of the central roles of faculty was to teach
and teaching is something they do alone. The digital classroom has made the university a place
where learning can be rigorously assessed. This change decentralizes teaching (along with the
teacher) and makes learning the heart of the enterprise.
The digital universities redefined the role of the traditional professor (Donoghue 1988).
The digital revolution has redefined the role of faculty in assessing learning.
We have looked at the metaphor of the professor as craftsman and his craft was teaching.
There was no objective measure to compare one craftsman to another. The online professor does
something wholly different. He or she can be viewed as a digital collaborator who is a partner in
an enterprise of learning whose results can be measured and compared with other classes. This is
seismic revolution that has only begun to be felt in the academy and whose impact has only
begun to be understood.
About the Author
Dr. Frank McCluskey serves as Vice President and Scholar in Residence at the American
Public University System.
References
Barr, Robert B., and John Tagg. 1995. “From Teaching to Learning: A New Paradigm for
Undergraduate Education.” Change Magazine.
Birnbaum, Robert. 1988. How Colleges Work: The Cybernetics of Academic Organizations and
Leadership. Jossey Bass.
Boston, Wally, and Phil Ice. 2010. “An Exploration of the Relationship Between Indicator of the
Community of Inquiry Framework and Retention in Online Programs.” Journal of
Asynchronous Learning Networks 13 (3).
Brown, Sally, and Phil Rice. 2008. Lecturing: A Practical Guide. Kogan Page Limited.
Christensen, Clayton, and Henry Eyring. 2011. The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of
Higher Education from the Inside Out. Jossey Bass.
Donoghue, Frank. 1988. The Last Professor: The Corporate University and the Fate of the
Humanities. Fordham University Press.
Huba, Mary,