Watch the video above, it is about virtual schooling in Pennsylvania, which is from the February 23,2012 edition of PBS Newshour. It raises up the question " Is online schooling beneficial for students or just a fad within education?"
I think there is no significant difference between face to face learning or online learning according to many online instructors and online researchers' studies. Learning online in early age will open the doors for preparing students into professionally from at early age. We tend to agree that the development of skills online is
very important, and no matter whether we teach face to face classroom or online classroom, we end up in having to do a good
portion of online blended or flipped classroom or even integrating technology in the classroom work. It is important to remember that online is a delivery method.
"As online enrollments have rapidly expanded, so too have accompanying
concerns. Educators and parents worry about losing the nurturing intimacy of
teachers and students who are connected with each other in face-to-face
classrooms. Pundits opine that our youth are losing their ability to interact
with live humans instead of screens. Journalists report that online schooling
providers are raking in tens of millions of dollars while providing
substandard, perhaps even fraudulent, educational experiences. Superintendents
gripe that other districts’ provision of online courses results in
interdistrict ‘theft’ of students and state funding."
According to the video above, the most common problems students face is the technical issues that accompany the use of technology and the engagement part of the lessons. Here we say; that any instructional methods can face challenges, how many times we prepared lessons for face o face class, but something has occurred and we couldn't deliver it. I think the realistic problem that we consider is engagement. Engagement, and motivation are the solution for success of the instructional method. Also, we heard in the video from a teenager complains that online classes are boring, and he prefers playing games all day, this situation applies to thousands of students. Engaging students of this century, needs lots of compromising from us, in addition we need to accept the change of the way we have learned and go with the flow, that means gamification needs to be part of the lessons. Games nowadays a way to socialize; so I believe that modifying the way we deliver the lessons are crucial to suite the needs of our students.
Change Cannot happen rapidly, but at least it is improving. In our HEB district- Texas, if a child needs an additional credits they provide a transportation for this student to seek the higher education in other campuses. They do not have the online courses as part of the public system yet, but they integrate lots of technology throughout electives such as Career and Technical Education, and some other technology classes to ease the use of Microsoft office and other platforms.
I do not believe it is a fad, technology has evolved quickly in a short amount of time. Dr.'s offices are now required by obamacare to digitize all medical records. Medical practices have put a vast amount of money and training to meet these new requirements. I only see it advancing even further. I do think there is a time to "disconnect". Some people say younger people have challenges in personal communication. We often write an email that is not taken in the correct context leading to misunderstandings. Having said that, even if a student does not choose the college path, they will still need these skills for a job in virtually any job. We need to provide real-life scenarios to students can make the connection full circle that these skills are needed regardless of the path chosen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Karen all the way. Online classes has challenges as well the traditional classes has challenges.
ReplyDeleteI think with online classes and digital textbooks come great responsibility. We must put some checks and balances in place for all people using the digital classes.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, in my perspective I think the ideal learning classes are the mixed ones; 3 days online, and two days face to face classes, which I believe students should have their own devices to utilize while the teacher's job is a facilitator and instructor.
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