In a campaign year, it’s commonplace for fictional claims to make headlines and affect public opinion. But that strategy is also being levied against online education, especially as the field rapidly and ambitiously expands in ways some people never imagined.

John Ebersole, however, is out to dispel the most common misconceptions about online and distance learning. Ebersole writes about higher education and is a regular contributor to Forbes.com. Late last month he wrote a piece about “six commonly heard myths that are often used to denigrate” online education.

Leading off the author’s list is the notion that faculty will become unnecessary as online learning grows. Ebersole explains why that’s not true by pointing to the recent Inside Higher Ed/Babson survey that shows “faculty at institutions with more extensive online offerings are more positive about online learning than those who have little or no such involvement.”

Ebersole expands on each of the other five myths, which he says are:

• All online courses are the same.
• The quality of outcomes is less for an online student than for one who has received the same instruction in a classroom.
• “Online” instruction is synonymous with “for profit” institutions.
• Credentials earned online are not accepted by employers.
• You don’t know if the person doing the work is the person receiving the credit.

It’s an interesting read. Check it out for yourself.