symbolipoint said:
I have now taken a look and partial read of that article,
https://tcf.org/content/commentary/need-retain-protections-scam-online-schools/?session=1&session=1. Any online degree program as I can imagine, if it is completely online, will be missing some important instructional components. Must this be explained in some detail?
I read the article in its entirety. The core issue presented there isn't so much online vs. in-class as it is the degree and regularity of teacher-student interaction (which can be online). Note that the author of the article doesn't dismiss the possibility of effective instruction without teacher-student interaction. A key takeaway I got from the article is that, regardless of the mode of instruction, we need methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of a program:
" This isn’t to say, however, that fully automated education will never be up to snuff. The innovative computer-programs-that-think-and-teach are welcome in higher education now, both in concept and in practice, and are eligible for federal aid for up to half of a college’s operations. But before we change the law to allow for a college run completely on artificial intelligence rather than human teachers, we should get to know these automated surrogates better.
...
It is anyone’s guess how soon fully automated instruction will gain widespread acceptance. Maybe never. But to prepare for its possible arrival, we should gain experience with more robust and reliable systems of human peer review to test the rigor of our current college programs, so that if and when the robots arrive, we will be able to keep them honest. "
In the "...", the author discusses his proposal for program evaluation. In other words, we're back to the old adage, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating" (my analogy, not the author's).
With the continuing chaos in education due to the lingering pandemic, various non-traditional modes of instruction will be executed, whether we like them or not. So evaluating effectiveness will be paramount.
<<To clarify: I'm not weighing in on the OP's question concerning WGU. I don't know enough to form an opinion one way or the other. At any rate, a deeper dive than this one article would be needed.>>