Online Education Tell me how you think of it

[wayne 0]

To begin, I am a teacher of Information Technology and Business Management and Financial Accounting (dual qualification), with 20 years teaching with an emphasis on Information Technology with the past 10 years being specialised Web Technologies and Multimedia. Prior to full-time teaching I held positions in accounting and systems administration after 20 years in industry.

 

Having read through the variety of responses above, and discussion centring around the worth and usefulness of online learning from individuals' perspectives, the reality is that nothing stays the same, and as the beings we are, humans adapt to their environment and the changes within - which we may refer to as the economy. Global trends and competitive factors, combined with institutional initiatives and various government influences will dictate the evolution of education.

 

At the beginning of the 20th century the economy was driven by such phenomena as greater use of science by industry; the proliferation of academic disciplines; the diffusion of a series of critical inventions (including small electric motors, the internal combustion engine, the airplane, and chemical processes); the rise of big business; and the growth of retailing. Progress for industrial nations depended on educating more people at the secondary and postsecondary levels. The western cultures established education systems that produced educated citizens and workers, enabled geographic and economic mobility, resulted in more equality of economic outcomes, and may have increased technological change and productivity (although that is harder to prove). It was largely a decentralised, forgiving education system that?in the context of the day?was highly successful. Today, however, more than one hundred years later, economic and social drivers are quite different, calling into question some of the assumptions that underlie institutions of higher education.

 

The economy of the 21st century is driven in large measure by unprecedented advances in transportation and in computing, information, and communications technologies. To be competitive, industrialised and developing nations alike are driven by needs such as greater use of science and new technologies by average citizens; more creativity and more interdisciplinary work; greater understanding of highly complex, interacting systems; new and renewed efforts at building community and solving local challenges in the face of globalization and massification; and a substantial rethinking of retailing, services, and business in general as a result of changing tools, physical possibilities, and financial opportunities.

 

Much of the rhetoric about contemporary higher education suggests that colleges and universities need to embrace change in response to advances in knowledge, technology, transportation, and more?advances that have dramatically shifted the way one functions in the modern world. But what manner of change for learning itself do the public narratives suggest? Commission reports, report cards, and public agenda profiles of requirements for higher education in many nations seem to be asking for substantial changes that will prepare learners to meet modern challenges.

 

Initiatives designed to closely associate appropriate technologies with content-specific information to achieve defined teaching and learning aims are still largely creative, experimental endeavors. It stands to reason that the activities involved in creating new technology-assisted teaching strategies are time-consuming and labor-intensive because of the personal and organisational rethinking involved in the effort.

 

From the existing platform, where re-visioning movements are institution-focused, on inputs, changing courses, curricula, programs; coverage of domain knowledge and skills is via individualistic, passive, and teacher-centered modes of instruction; students are approached and viewed as being absolute knowers; students are encouraged to develop problem-solving capabilities; teaching of skills occurs that does not lead to flexible skills or their application; skills and competencies are highly compartmentalised; and students treated as passive receivers of information and unengaged learners... the new vision requires Re-visioning movements are student-focused, on what students need to know and be able to do - competencies and outcomes are central; increasing emphasis is on hands-on, minds-on methods, authentic learning, and high-concept/high-touch capabilities; students are approached and viewed as being independent and contextual knowers; students are encouraged to develop problem-solving and problem-posing capabilities; teaching of portable skills occurs; information literacy, technology fluency, and domain knowledge are blended; and students treated as big-picture thinkers and critically engaged doers.

 

The new educational paradigm is unfolding, testing the waters and adapting... and it will eventuate for economic reasons alone (the increasing overheads and the growing demand for enrolments being retarded by budgetary constraints), which make physical classroom instruction less viable.

 

In the past 5 years, 50% of my classes have come to involve online components some completely online, and a greater focus on student ownership of their own learning (conducting research and completing assessments at home in their own time) thus reducing on campus class times and use of institutional resources.

 

In the case of courses requiring the use of specialised equipment such as Health and Recreation (Fitness courses) and Hospitality areas, for example, institutions are consolidating industry partnerships which facilitate a practical hands on and real world environment for learning to occur through work placement programs as part of the course.

 

Further, network-delivered, collaborative services provide increasingly improved unique virtual operating environments for groups to meet, share information, create content, and generally overcome time and space constraints encountered in on campus alternatives.

 

All in all, Online Education is set to become the standard rather than the exception, and yes, students will be self managed, self motivated and achievement focused in order to succeed in their chosen field. So, like it or not, online education is here to stay.

Edited January 6, 2010 by wayne (see edit history)

[rabidrabbit 0]

Online eduction is great as it takes the lesson to a person that may not be able to attend that lesson due to a number of reasons.It is also cheaper to run a online course hus making it free or cheaper than that taugh at an institution.This form of teaching also includes everyone and does not discrimnate in its teaching format such as room layout etcHowever there are downside to this form of education:1. My main downside is that of will power I am the kind of person that will be distracted by a single leaf blowing in the wind, so the internet amuses me to the point insanty, and as the lesson is online I wil do everything except the lesson.2. Sometimes you need a point to be repeated there and then and just not wait for an email a couple of hours later.3. A human face is sometimes needed to make the lesson more bearable, to be there to encourge us.4. Interaction with others make the lessons easier to understand as some of us learn in a certain amount of chunks of infomation and can relate that infomation at simple version to others making it easier to understand.So in conclusion at some point human contact and interaction would be best, even if this would be just for one day and discussional.

[kira423 1]

I am currently attending online college, and it is great!!! I am happy that I am able to go to school online, because between my newborn, and work I don't really have the time to throw in the travel time and school time for a traditional college. The tuition isn't too bad either. It may not be the right thing for some of you, but if you don't really have a whole lot of time, but still would like to attend college online education is probably your best bet, but don't just pick the first online school you see, do some research, because if the school doesn't have the right accreditation your degree really means nothing.

[akira550 0]

I used online education and I am so greatful with this kind of education because I am now more advance than to my classmates because I am learning and studying advance things that teachers in First year of college didn't teach or they teach but lately in the last month of the semester, I am very thankful because I gain so much knowledge

[Spudd 0]

You don't go to school to socialize, you go to school to learn. It's good to know how to make friends and maintain relationships without school, and yes, you CAN do that. I took online classes for Highschool, and I ran into some problems with it, but not because I didn't have anyone to pass notes to during class. I had some problems with it because, due to the flexible schedule, I was able to put off all my work until the last week, and doing it all at that point was an absolute nightmare. That's not the online curriculum's fault, of course, it was my fault for being so lazy. Either way though, it has its pros and cons. It really isn't healthy for you to spend too much time in front of a computer screen, and when both your school and your recreational time are spent on a computer, it can be VERY unhealthy. As far as the learning goes, it's not for everyone, but it does work. You have teachers just like you would in any other school, who you can ask questions of via e-mail, or you can even go visit them at the office, if a face-to-face meeting is what you prefer. It's also nice that online school lacks the distractions you'll find in the typical highschool. Anyway, it's an option. Like I said, it's not for everyone, but it has its benefits.

[onkarnath2001 0]

Well to me honestly I think online education is not a great thing to do!I mean most of the time u are interacting with the computer and if u have friends they are over the computer and not real life friend like ur school or university, but some people may have different idea over this!
Tell me what u think?

yaa,its a truth.online education is a great innovation of the computer world where people can learn while they surf the net in their home or office.it is good for them who can not either get a lot of time for study in schools or colleges by sitting there.online education is also good as your teacher is with you anytime when you need or whwn you want.
but it has a lot of demerit like these type of education doesn't provide any competitive environment in between learners also it is just like a book where your doubt can arise but you get no one at the time to solve your problems instantly.

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hi!I have taken up courses at both on-ground campuses and online programs. Online programs have the advantage that the focus is not on memorization of concepts but is rather on increasing the breadth of one's knowledge. On-ground campus programs seem to have a greater focus on memorization, though there are some that do focus on practice, such as when the course involves physically putting stuff together.Most online learners have a day-time job and try to improve their skills and improve their resume while still holding onto their jobs.

[cindyabs 0]

I prefer online education I can study at and anywhere I want I can learn and study the course I prefer.

[Iniyila 2]

I think online education is nice way of educating peoples but only for universities, i think online education can be a part of education in schools but if the whole education goes online then some bad things can happen, if some one in some stages like middle and high school sits behind a desk and uses a PC for communicating with other peoples and teachers then he will never learn how to behave with those in real world, this is very important to go to school and sit on the chair beside other class mates and feel the environment conditions and be happy from being with his friends, i think your real friends, those who will be in your home within 15 minutes after your emergency call, will not be happy from only communicating through a virtual connection. by the way i think school will teach people how to do a team work, this thing is very important for your work and daily life, you can not learn such a thing trough online education, online education will give you more freedom but these freedoms are not always helpful, you can sit on a chair and do not wear anything but in your school you can not do that (or you can ), i mean those limits you face in a school is just for teaching you how to behave as a social person. But in university everything is different, first i have seen even if they are using online education, they come to university regularly only for making some friends, they have passed those stages and they know online education is not enough and they need to be in university itself for seeing other peoples and communicating with them and just having fun. as peoples in these ages do know that online education is not enough so they can use it without any problem and they will not face any problem in their lives, yes i know that online education has many benefits like do not wasting time on the distance between your school and your home and many other benefits but if we do not waste our time on the way of school then waste it on what? we are not robots that should have efficiency of 100%, we are humans and we have feelings about each other, we can not just see each other through a 17 or bigger inches display, we need to get face to face, to shout each other and to laugh with other peoples, so i still believe online education will make situations worth and will make our peoples more depressed.

[Illustrious 0]

I believe that online school is actually pretty beneficial to many people. With online school, students who like to pursue different electives such as orchestra, band, photography, choir, and a lot of other fine arts classes. I know a lot of people whose schedules are jammed up so they are not able to participate in any of the fine arts classes that they wanted to. This dilemma was resolved with online classes. Online classes cleared up one or two classes for fine arts classes.However, many online classes offered do not offer honors/AP classes. This is a problem for many students who are planning to become college-bound through these advanced classes. Also, I saw that physical education was offered through online classes which does not make any sense at all. I do not see how you can take physical education online. It does not make sense. I realize that the classes how you to do some exercise but many people can just fake it.Overall, I believe that online classes are pretty beneficial to students. Depending on the students needs they will or will not need to take online classes. And if they do, the classes will be available for them to take at any time.

[JohnMarsh1234 0]

I like online education over all. With online school, students who like to pursue different electives such as orchestra, band, photography, choir, and a lot of other fine arts classes.

[iAssistant 1]

If you can go to school to study, I think it is better because you can be able to socialize and meet friends but if you are too busy with many things, online education is a great option.

[dylansmith088 0]

I agree. it is impossible to halt the march of technology and i feel some expensive regular education will get replaced. And i firmly believe that nothing of quality does get replaced. I think the best of both worlds will soon be available to students.

Edited April 20, 2012 by moderator (see edit history)

[mamer 0]

If you're considering to offer meaningful online education and you like face-to-face teaching as an activity the the right combination would be:

1- A good learning management system like Moodle. I recommend hosting your own system if you wan to have full control over the customization.
2- Skype for live online sessions. With Skype you can use several free tools to help you give effective live-online sessions:

Whiteboard

Desktop sharing

Co-browsing

You can have all that for free as long as your live-online classes are limited in student's number 2-3. Once your classes grow bigger you'll have to pay for using those tools.

Moodle will be always free.

[mrdee 1]

It all looks interesting, Moodle was somewhat new to me, but I did definitely think about Google for online teaching purposes.Unfortunately, due to my health situation, I have had to put my plans on ice for now, but I still intend to go ahead with testing an online teaching system.I would not be using that system in any school (I do not think I would find many schools (if any) who would allow you to teach from home or even sit at the staffroom PC to teach your class.), but I would use it for my private tuition which is mostly on a one to one basisI will have to test that Moodle system thoroughly (once I am back on my feet, of course) and see how either me or my pupils could benefit from it.Mind you, I have already done sort of "half online" teaching, meaning I used resources (which I always made myself) and the pupils/students either had to use them from a website I had uploaded the resources to, or just run them from a PC or laptop, with the resources on a CD/DVD.One example of this I remember is an online karaoke system I had put on the web, I used it for a course for disabled students, and they loved it.I have always been in favour of modern teaching methods, provided they have been thoroughly tried and tested.Anyway, I'll have a closer look at Moodle, and hope that one day soon I will still be able to teach people.Thanks for the tip anyway.