Will online education render the traditional university campus irrelevant? Is there a “there” there when it comes to online education? What makes the flesh and blood, bricks and mortar material realm still relevant – even essential – to education? While online education has brought with it radical transformations to higher education, bringing people together in physical space is and will be essential for student success. The reasons for coming together, however, are changing; institutions must adapt if they are to remain vital. This article examines the risks and rewards that online education presents to the traditional campus as well as the impact that educational models merging online and on-campus learning might have on the traditional campus and beyond. It also identifies potential campus realignments that could bring vitality to a campus through engagement with the regional community, businesses and government as well as the key questions about planning, strategy, branding, and architecture that institutions need to ask themselves in order to determine where they stand in relation to online education.
This article originally appeared in a Special Issue dedicated to our Innovation Incubator Research: Vol 06.01 of the Perkins+Will Research Journal. CLICK HERE to see the whole article.
