The Work of Education in the Age of E-College

Abstract This article provides an overview of online education models developed by commercial and academic institutions. I examine some rhetorical strategies used to talk about online education and discuss some of the hopes and fears associated with online instruction by academics, administrators, and businesspeople. The article outlines some of the main players and positions involved in debates about online education, and suggests strategies that academic groups might explore. In particular, I argue that academics need something like an open-source movement and, drawing inspiration from groups like the Free Software Foundation, should create a “Free Courseware Foundation” to give teachers greater control of their resources, better enabling them to share materials with other teachers and with the public. I consider how composition and rhetoric teachers could become involved in such a project.