The pandemic has forced a giant-scale experiment in online education, and by many accounts it is going very poorly. From first graders to college students, everyone seems to be frustrated at having to take the classroom experience to a crowded space in the kitchen, and many are clamouring to get back to the in-school experience. But will it ever happen? After all, the experiment was a poorly planned one, and perhaps should not be seen as the benchmark of what online education, something that was being rolled-out in force pre-pandemic, is likely to look like over the long term. Our guest on this episode is economist Robert Frank, who is a professor at Cornell University. He argues that when it comes to higher education, economic forces are too powerful for virtual instruction to go away after the pandemic. After all, would it not be better to see a video of a superstar instructor give a lecture than sit in a classroom and hear a mediocre one present the same material? In-class seminars could then be presented by teaching assistants who could answer questions and facilitate discussion. That has implications for students of course, but it has implications for professors as well....
