Recent massive growth in online learning and the proliferation of new digital tools have changed the landscape of teaching and learning in higher education. Enrollment in online learning has continued to grow despite disagreement and uncertainty regarding its educational value. It is likely that online learning will have a differentiated impact on the various institution types and sectors within the larger system of higher education in United States. This study focuses on a sector of education that is highly valuable and increasingly vulnerable: liberal arts education. Despite a strong record of offering robust undergraduate education, some liberal arts colleges are beginning to move some of their essential core courses online, potentially undermining the quality of education. This study employed an embedded case study design to examine how key stakeholder groups at a liberal arts college perceived the degree of compatibility between traditional liberal arts education and online learning. By interviewing key stakeholder groups of a liberal arts college, this study uncovered key issues, tensions, and trade-offs related to moving the core courses of a traditional liberal education, such as literature, philosophy, and history to online formats. The consensus between stakeholder groups in this study was that a traditional liberal arts education is not compatible with a fully online degree. Simply put, every stakeholder group agreed that moving a degree entirely online would undermine the essential nature and core purposes of a liberal arts education. Administrators believed that an all online liberal arts education would undermine essential elements of liberal arts education, such as student vocational discernment, community life, and interactive learning. Faculty participants said that a purely online degree would undermine each of the essential elements of liberal arts education identified by faculty participants: a) multi-disciplinary approach, b) liberal arts skills, c) embodied learning, d) faculty to student interaction, and e) student to student interaction. According to the faculty, the essential nature of liberal arts education is embodied learning that addresses the whole person; mind, body, heart, and spirit. In order to achieve truly embodied learning, full human bodies must be physically present together. Students believed online learning was less personal, and that it would undermine the opportunity to develop close relationships and to pursue wholistic formation.Although each stakeholder group expressed ways in which online learning would undermine liberal arts education, there was also openness to online learning. Administrators said that incorporating a limited number of online courses would not undermine liberal arts education. Faculty expressed optimism that hybrid formats could leverage the best of online and face to face formats in ways that could truly improve liberal arts education. By providing the right mix of experiences, instructors could take advantage of the unique opportunities in both online environments and face to face settings. According to the participants in this study, online learning has the potential to seriously undermine long-held and valuable features of liberal arts education. At the same time, each stakeholder group identified ways that online and hybrid learning might be incorporated in ways that are compatible with the essential nature and core purposes of liberal arts education.
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