Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > February > 03 > Entry
Reading, writing, arithmetic and electronics?
I’m not sure if everyone has noticed this, but in case you missed it, the New York Times pointed out last week that online learning is making a huge impact on education today.
It’s not unanimous that this is a good idea. There is a lot of hand wringing about whether the quality of online instruction can possibly match that of a live teacher.
Let’s cut to the chase on that question. The answer is no. In nearly every case a teacher in front of you will help you learn better than a software program or a teacher on the other end of a fiber optic line. And, of course, there are many sketchy online “schools” out there who just want to get inside your wallet.
But that doesn’t mean online learning doesn’t have a place. For some students and for some courses, distance learning — whether today’s online class or yesterday’s mail correspondence course — works just fine.
The Times story put me in mind of Gene Maeroff’s 2003 book A Classroom of One, which was a bit ahead of its time. Maeroff revisited the early 20th century when there was a raging argument about the quality of mail correspondence distance learning classes, originally launched by Penn State University to serve the many small farming communities across its state.
My favorite anecdote in the book retells how Ben & Jerry — yes THAT Ben & Jerry — learned how to make ice cream through a Penn State mail correspondence course.
What do you think of the online learning trend? Is it mostly a good thing or a bad thing for student learning in the U.S.?
(Image credit: www.masternewmedia.org)
Permalink | Comments (6) | Categories: Online Learning
Comments
By Derwood
February 5, 2008 1:56 AM | Link to this
My wife homeschools our daughter. We use online information as an enhancement to traditional education methods. Books can be just as wrong as what’s online. Teaching the child to use multiple resources for information and to not blindly trust everything they read is just as important.By Riverdale Ghost
February 4, 2008 10:33 PM | Link to this
I thought I’d scrape up some refresher work. Foreign language, very rusty; math beyond checkbook all but forgotten; arts & crafts, practically unexplored world, etc. However, I don’t want to put money into it. What I found was that professors start things and then leave them unfinished. Furthermore, the odds are they’re using systems different from what I would normally have, e.g., Quicktime or Realplayer which just accidentally I had for other purposes (which assorted “extras,” just incidentally, lead to an endless mass of updating). Now, that’s in regard to refresher stuff. If we’re talking something new (I have the Open Office version of Powerpoint sitting at hand), the only thing I understand is that it is in English and has something to do with computers.By David Esrati
February 4, 2008 10:25 PM | Link to this
“online learning” is a mighty broad phrase- one can make an argument that a student without the ability to go online will not be adequately prepared for working. To that end, why are some enlightened people sending laptops to third world countires (www.laptop.org) while America refuses to provide every student with a laptop and a way to network? The cost savings in textbooks and paper for tests, homework etc- would be savings enough. It’s one of my goals in my congressional run- to move American schools back to the forefront- beginning with online access for all. Find out more on my site www.esrati.comBy Dave
February 4, 2008 11:49 AM | Link to this
I agree with you, Scott, but I must admit that there are exceptions to every rule. My daughter has done very will with on-line education because she is not a “morning person”. She does her work when she feels sharpest.By Oldprof
February 4, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this
Valid questions about quality of instruction, Scott. But a more crucial factor is the subject matter. I recall a conference presentation a few years back where VPs of training at a couple of Fortune 500s talked about how they expected 90% of their training to be done independently, by employees using only electronic tutorials with maybe a help line. The other 10%, however, was intensively hands-on, and that was all of the “soft” skills: communication, leadership, management, etc. Clearly, no one would want to have an IV started by a nurse who’d had only online training—some things are inescapably hands-on. But many academic subjects, and some technologies (especially electronics) can be adapted quite well to an online delivery system.By Mary
February 4, 2008 1:31 AM | Link to this
As usual, it all depends. If the teacher in front of you is teaching those behind you at a slower pace than you need or can tolerate, if the teacher in front of you does not know the material, or there are too many students in the class to ask questions anyway,I can’t see how on line is a bad idea. There are apparently some good online programs available for students who need more at a faster pace. Some school gifted programs use online at school and outside of school to supplement a student’s curriculum. I think schools like Stanford and Johns Hopkins develop some of these programs.