The World’s First International Remote University
What can universities learn from Minerva University? — a learning institution that has been completely online from the very start.
College students around the world have been left in the dark regarding their academic plans, especially for this coming fall. Many schools have already decided to cancel in-person classes this September. This hope of preventing transmission and shifting towards a completely virtual learning-model has caused a backlash from students across the country and around the world. With the lack of transparency surrounding tuition payments, residence, time-zone differences, and inquiries regarding integration, staff, and students have been left in disagreement with post-secondary management.
The traditional college experience will most likely cease to exist for students this September. Despite this unsettling reality — one university, in particular, has been implementing a completely virtual model from the very beginning.
You’re probably wondering what is Minerva University?
Well, Minerva University is a regular “four year-accredited university program”. The university was established in hopes of being incredibly accessible and preparing its students immensely to succeed within a fast-changing employment market. With over 78% coming from countries outside the U.S, the institution prides itself on its commitment to diversity, and affordability with a relatively low tuition cost of $10,000 per academic year.
Every semester students move to a new city in a different country, as a part of their experiential learning curriculum and cultural immersion program. Through integrated learning, students can participate in projects relevant to their current locations and help their local communities.
Why is Minerva different from any other remote post-secondary institution?
Minerva prides itself on its unique and innovative active learning forum. In my opinion, it is somewhat of a glorified “Zoom meeting platform”. The forum includes a live-seminar platform, a course system, and more sophisticated technologies like; gesture-responsive control which helps when it comes to presenting visual learning material, real-time simulations, enhanced debates, and collaborative documents.
This all sounds a little bit too good to be true, and to be honest, it sort of is…
Creating an intricate platform intended for hundreds of students to be using at once can lead to unforeseen bugs and problems. This problem is something that traditional colleges are struggling with as well. Most schools are shifting towards already established communication platforms like; Slack and Zoom that already have a reputation of being unreliable at times.
The Takeaways…
Students at Minerva pay to come to this institution in hopes of gaining international experience, in hopes of combining their traveling desires and customizable educational experience. However, having an in-person experience is a clear want for many students in-spite of the pandemic.
The truth is, even after cases begin to stabilize, there will be a new normal that students will need to adapt to. It is up to educational institutions to decide how they will implement new learning models without sacrificing the quality of the educations their pupils are receiving.
Education was destined to change. It was only a matter of when.
