Some educators feel that distance technologies will greatly improve education; some feel education will suffer if they are overused. What are factors you can cite in support of each of these positions?
If I lived in a small town or a rural community, the idea of distance education would be very exciting to me, as it would give me opportunities that I wouldn't otherwise have. I grew up in Kansas, and there are so many small, rural schools that can't afford to have AP programs in many subjects, and I think distance education would be a great thing for them. I also have friends who travel for a living and educate their children on the road. Going from traditional correspondence courses to online courses has really made a difference in the types of activities that the kids can learn and also their participation in different types of classes. A lot of them are still using video-type courses, but as reliable mobile Internet services become easier to acquire, I think that will become the dominant form of distance education. Distance education allows these special home-schoolers to have opportunities that their parents can't provide and may also help them work in special learning communities for group work that they wouldn't otherwise learn so easily.
In terms of disadvantages, I think the opportunity for cheating has to be at the top of the list. In the "old days," people would have others take their tests and things like that at large universities, so it only stands to reason that people with enough money could pay someone to get the degree on line for them, too. I know at least 3 people who have gotten degrees completely online, and while I think in these cases they all did all of the work themselves, I don't think that everyone has that same motivation and honesty. In a program that is completely online, anyone can be sitting at the terminal taking the test. I also think that casual interaction with your peers, colleagues and professors can sometimes be almost as beneficial as the course content, and while I know that these programs have a lot of group activities, I don't feel like the bonds that these people have forged on line are as strong as when people meet face to face. In most careers, networking is a huge part of moving up, and if the people you network with all live in different places, it won't help much unless you are able to be very mobile with your career.
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Hello Dorothy:
ReplyDeleteWell - cheating is definitely one aspect of distance learning I had never considered. I think I have a habit of assuming everyone is like me. My theory of if I really want something why would I cheat obviously does not apply to everyone.
I definitely agree that while it is possible to facilitate groups online, there are times when meeting someone face to face gives a stronger bond. I think some companies have noted this. In the late 1980's, early 1990's, 3M corporation was making news for the design of their corporate headquarters. They purposely designed the building to accommodate people passing in hallways to have "pods" to stop and chat in, share ideas. The whole theory is that people from different departments would "cross pollinate" great ideas and perhaps facilitate a whole new avenue for the company to grow in. I think it is important to give people the opportunity to get to know one another. How many people have I met in this semesters courses that I would have never spoken with because of various activities where the class is mixed into different groups. I am a strong believer that education is about so much more than what is in the book.
Wow, Dorothy…Thanks. I would have never thought about rural schools. Being from an inner city district, all we needed to do to gather research information was to walk to the library or just catch a bus to the main library downtown. I can see how distance learning can be used to help across rural areas. That got me thinking about how service members are able to take online distance courses while they are deployed in certain remote areas of the world. Just 10 years ago, this was not an option for me while deployed. Your posting took my thoughts on the subject into a new area of discussion.
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