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National Public Radio

Washington, DC. – Technology should enhance -- not replace -- a classic college education, Tufts University President John DiBiaggio recently told the New York Times and National Public Radio.

   During meetings of the American Council on Education, DiBiaggio talked with the national press about his perspectives on an online education. While technology offers new opportunities, DiBiaggio said they cannot replace the valuable experiences students gain while attending a "bricks-and-mortar" institution such as Tufts.

   “Education isn’t just to prepare a student for work or even to go on to graduate or professional school," DiBiaggio told NPR last week. "It’s to make certain that they’ll be good citizens, that they have a broad perspective of life, to have a sense of responsibility to the society that nurtured them.” He stressed, however, that colleges and universities can "utilize this new technology in a way that will enhance the educational process."

   In an earlier letter to the New York Times, DiBiaggio wrote that he believes higher education will “see the benefit of combining traditional with the new, and not just throw the baby out of the bath water.”