Will You Create or Re-Sell Content?
From the Chronicle of Higher Education, July 30, 2013:professional writing service
When undergraduate students at Southern Methodist University peruse their course catalogs this fall, several listings may strike them as odd.First, the courses will be taught entirely online—an option that Southern Methodist has never before offered to undergraduates.Second, the courses will be taught by professors at other universities—including Emory University, the University of Notre Dame, and Washington University in St. Louis, among others.Southern Methodist, along with Baylor University and Temple University, plans to announce on Tuesday that it will allow undergraduate students to take online courses from other colleges for credit.The courses, offered through the online-education company 2U, will come from a consortium of colleges participating in 2U’s Semester Online program, which is focused on undergraduate education at selective institutions.
This is just one of what we expect to be numerous examples of top-tier schools creating academic content that is re-sold by somewhat less elite institutions. It is a more easily monetizable delivery channel than typical MOOC courses, and leaves the credit-granting part in the hands of the reselling school.We can imagine future strategic conversations in the independent and international school sector being about how much content the school will create and how much it will buy from others for resale. It's a time honored way for "stores" to offer premium goods in a challenging market and without huge capital outlays.