Georgia Tech imagining brick-and-mortar 'storefront' portals to online education

Lindsay McKenzie for Inside Higher Ed:

Georgia Institute of Technology is considering creating brick-and-mortar "storefronts" for prospective and current students to sample its course offerings, listen to lectures and network.

The effort is part of Georgia Tech's plans to make its online degrees and professional education certificates more appealing to the nontraditional students of tomorrow, who the institution predicts will expect "flexible learning experiences."

“We know that students are happy with the online delivery, but we have found that they still have the desire, and in many cases the need, to connect physically with us,” said Rafael Bras, the university's provost.

Georgia Tech administrators published an ambitious report earlier this year exploring how the university might evolve to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student population in the next 20 years. The report included a proposal to build a “distributed worldwide presence” through the creation of spaces called Georgia Tech atriums.

Bras, who convened the commission that created the atriums concept, imagines the spaces being located in co-working spaces, corporate offices or even shopping malls. Georgia Tech has already trademarked the atrium name, though the plans remain conceptual for now.

H/t Tyler Cowen.