Ethical Issue

Zephyr Teachout

Teachout (2009) makes two conclusions the affect the internet will have on higher education. His reasons are based on the use of the Internet to provide higher education and the driving force to lower the cost of higher education. Based on these factors, Teachout (2009) envisions that higher education will be accessible to many new individuals, including the poor. His second point is that the 'Academic tradition' will be lost, which will lead to a lower quality of education. Overall, Teachout(2009) is trying to prove why we must increase our funding of higher education.

Teachout's uses several factors to justify his claims. One of his arguments is that Internet classes are cheaper due to lower paid instructors, lower facility overhead, and no room and board. He also argues that the learning experience can be replicated online by the use of bulletins boards for questions, take it yourself tests, ebooks and online libraries. Teachout (2009) also argues that classes will be separated from college. His reasoning is that at least half of today's students attend more than one school before receiving their degree. His last argument is that the Internet and cost will drive higher education to eliminate redundancy. His reasoning is that lectures can be recorded, so we will not need as many professors to teach the same class. Many courses will be taught be instructors instead of tenured professors due to the lower pay for instructors and the ability to share syllabi.

Assuming Teachout's claims prove true the higher education experience will be dramatically changed. College will be widely available, even for those that previously were unable to get a higher education. Unfortunately, the quality of that education will be lower. The reasons many pursue higher education is to get a better job. Since the quality will be lower, the jobs gained upon graduation will not be as good. Since the payoff of ascertaining a higher education will not be as large this could lead to less people choosing to get a higher education. This would be hard on the global economy. This is an ethical issue. The loss of jobs, the lower quality education would not raise the overall happiness, which would make this unethical based on Hooker's (2011) utilitarian test.

If this is our future, reasons that lead to Teachout's conclusion would need to prove true. The biggest issue with his reasoning is that cost is the only factor Teachout takes into consideration about how