5 days, 2-3 hours a day, all on Zoom.
I suppose it saves money on airfare, but I wonder how many “students” they will actually get for this. I can see the appeal for someone who is incapacitated and unable to travel, but otherwise, not. Think of all those fun pubs, and the full English breakfasts, you would miss.
I think the concept is very cool but I wonder if it would have gathered greater traction during the height of Covid, when no one was travelling.
For me, no loss in missing out on the full English breakfasts.
I've been fairly appalled at the expense of Road Scholar's online offerings. Since they started these after the pandemic started most have been in the $400-$500 range. That is ridiculous. Plus the reviews I've seen on them have included complaints that 1.5 hours of "lecture" time included a 15 minute "break" and 15 minutes of discussion with other Road Scholars. Uh, no.
There was one on Alsace that looked interesting and I'd actually had the lecturer for a local guide on a Provence tour but no, not going to pay $500 for online lectures.
They do have some in the $25 category for a one-hour lecture but I've not done any of them yet.
That is absolutely extraordinary. Five hundred bucks !!! And even more shocking if, as Pam mentioned, some of the time includes discussion with your fellow “travelers” !!!
There must be somebody who pays it or I guess they wouldn’t offer it (????).
PT Barnum was right, right up til today. Especially given the plethora of free videos available online.
My opinion, and mine alone is that since they are a "non-profit" and were severely hurt during the pandemic that they are trying to make some recovery money on these programs. I can almost guarantee you they are not paying the presenters half the program fee. I don't know that to be true...just a feeling I get, along with all the requests for "donations" to this non-profit.
Last year, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Boise State University offered a three-session course (six hours total) on St. Petersburg, Russia, for $35 (plus $75 to join Osher), taught by a native of that city who has a Ph.D. and has taught at Yale, McGill and Stanford. What an incredible bargain that was, especially since I'm not sure I'll ever have the chance to visit St. Petersburg in person.
YouTube is free
I've been fairly appalled at the expense of Road Scholar's online offerings.
It sure is a far cry from its days as Elderhostel.
