在线和传统教育的博弈？在线教育CEO预言传统教育转型

Steve Polzner and Mika Salmi, both heads of growing online education companies, are warning traditional universities that they must catch up to online curriculums if they plan on continuing to charge students thousands upon thousands of dollars for a higher education.

在线教育蓬勃发展之际，两位新生代在线教育公司负责人——米卡·萨尔米和史蒂夫·柏兹勒在接受采访时指出，传统大学如果想要继续向学生收取数千美元的高额学费的话，他们就必须跟上在线教育的潮流。

“They’re pricing themselves out of market, effectively. Something needs to change in the education field,” Polzner, CEO of Empowered University, said Tuesday at The Wrap’s Media Leadership Conference, TheGrill. “Our mission is to help universities go mobile.”

“传统大学学费太高额，他们正被排挤出教育市场，这是很明显的。教育界必须进行变革。” 在线教育公司 Eempowered University 的首席执行官史蒂夫·柏兹勒周二在TheWrap网站承办的传媒界领导者主题会议上说，“我们的任务就是帮助传统大学实现‘在线化’的转型。”

Polzner and Salmi, CEO of CreativeLIVE, are tapping into a $100 billion worldwide industry that is giving people access to education that is not just cheaper but available when and where they want it. All this at a time when student debt nationally has surpassed credit-card debt.

柏兹勒和在另一个线教育公司CreativeLIVE的首席执行官萨尔米，都已经投身到了在线教育这一总值达1000亿美元的全球产业之中。通过在线教育，学生们可以随时随地的学习更为廉价的在线课程，要知道当今全国学生贷款总额已经超过了信用贷款。

Polzner’s (at left in photo) company partners with accredited universities, such as UCLA, to issue certificates of proficiency in particular skill sets, once students complete online courses. “We partner with universities to extend their brand beyond their physical borders without having to build new classrooms,” he told TheWrap’s Brent Lang. This training program costs somewhere around $5,000 for a year-long course.

柏兹勒（图左）的公司正在与加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校等知名学府合作，当学生完成在线课程后，他们将可以获得该大学办法的相关技能认证和证书。柏兹勒对TheWrap网站记者布伦·特朗说，“我们与大学学府合作，使这些学校无须修建新校舍，就可以超越地域限制、向世界传播品牌。”一门全学年制的在线培训课程大约需要5千美元的学费。

Salmi’s CreativeLive, on the other hand, functions more like a television network, offering people looking to advance their careers free lessons from successful professionals — these can include everyone from Pulitzer Prize to Emmy winners. The classes are free to watch live but cost between $49 and $150 to own.

萨尔米的CreativeLive公司采取了另一种经营模式。类似于有线电视网络，该公司向希望提高职场技能的学员们免费提供在线课程——主讲人是包括普利策奖得主和艾美奖得主在内的著名人士。这些在线课程可以免费观看，但需要花费49美元至150美元的费用下载。

“It’s like a broadcast model. If you can’t watch all 18 hours for free — people average 3.5 hours of watching — then you have to buy it,” Salmi said.

萨尔米说：“这种经营模式有点像广播。课程的人均收看时间大约为3.5小时——如果你不能持续观看18个小时的在线课程，你就得付费购买了。”

Although Polzner calls online education “a game changer,” and encourages educational institutions to “deliver a lot more of their content online,” he still supports traditional higher education.

尽管柏兹勒将在线教育称为“教育行业规则的革新者”，并且支持传统教育机构“大力发表网上课程”，但他对传统高等教育仍然持着支持的态度。

“It’s important for an 18-year-old type to go into a college campus and grow up and learn those life lessions,” Polzner said. “But what about the busy adults out there who can’t go to a college campus and have a skills gap and need to close that gap?”

“对一个18岁的青年来说，进入大学课堂学习是十分重要的，将使其终身受益。”柏兹勒说，“但是对那些忙碌的上班族来说，他们不能学习大学课程，要如何弥自身的职场技能缺陷呢？”

The answer that Polzner and Salmi easily agreed upon is a hybrid educational model that pulls strengths from both online and traditional classrooms. However, both noted that faculty members can feel very threatened by digital education — perhaps because it will require them to up their game.

对上述问题，柏兹勒和萨尔米的一致回答是：需要一种可以同时发挥在线教育和传统教育二者优势的混合教育模式。但同时，两位企业家也提到传统教职人员面对数字教育可能深感受到威胁——可能因为数字教育会要求传统教职人员实现“在线化”转型。