The You- Tube video attached is a short commentary made by experts in
the on-line teaching world. The participants in the video all agree that
on-line is the future and has many benefits. According to the video, on-line
learning is a way to reach many different types of learners (On-Line learning, 2012) . According to
Palloff and Pratt it may happen that a student that does not participate or is
introverted will be more successful on-line, they describe the learner that is
successful on-line as a "noisy learner" a student that is "active
and creative in the learning process".
Palloff and Pratt feel that on-line learning brings out the “noisy
learner” in a student who would not be as active in a traditional classroom (Pratt, 2007) .
The video states that expert
teachers feel they can reach more students and enrich their curriculum by using
on-line teaching. One example was a
school that did not offer any AP or honors classes were able to extend that
type of curriculum to its higher level students via on-line resources (On-Line
learning, 2012) . As a resource to use in schools in addition to
traditional curriculum I think that on-line learning definitely has its
place. I’m concerned that students will
lose that personal touch they get from the traditional classroom if there is
not a balance. Kids need to be efficient
with technology that is a fact. Using it
to for learning is certainly one way to help facilitate that. However, they are still kids; so as an
educator, I feel it has its place but we need to make sure that we don’t lose
sight of the social- emotional impact that teacher- student and student –
student relationships have. As far as
adults go, there are many of the same issues, but I feel in the professional
world it certainly is an important tool that is detrimental to being a successful
life -long learner.
Sources:
On-Line learning. (2012, Novenber 24). Retrieved from You-Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf1vPhXquys
Pratt, P. a. (2007). Building Online Learning
Communities. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Interesting video. One of the classes I "teach" is an online class. I have approximately 10 students who come to my classroom every day and work on anything from freshman English to Art Appreciation to Earth Science. Some of the students are taking the same class, but none of them is at the same place in the curriculum as anyone else. They move at their own pace and ability and need. One student was able to finish three full-year classes in nine weeks, primarily because she worked at home. Another student will be lucky if he finishes his semester class within this semester. Behavior is, for the most part, better than in a traditional classroom.
ReplyDelete