PLJ13.
As a current student, I can say that I definitely have more than one opinion or stance on the topic of online education. There are serious benefits that I agree with that the first article from Highschool.com states like providing additonal resources to students that wouldn't normally have access. And that's just one example. But in my opinion with how online education is operated today, I think that online education might be a bit of a disservice. Throughout the readings benefits include time saving and access to an abundant amount of subjects. This is true. As a Business major, the majority of my classes are based online with the tests being the only physical aspect of the course. I am able to watch the lectures at my leisure; adjust viewing them to my own personal schedule. I have access to play settings so if I don't understand a subject, I can just rewind and watch the explanation agian. I can sit in a comfortable environement intstead of a stuffy classroom. I can even take class in the summer from a completely different state! These all are great benefits for online education. Want the real deal? Here it goes...
I don't watch hardly any lectures. Nope. Nada. How do I pass my class you say? In all honesty, it's easy. It's a little thing called $20 and SmokinNotes.
Play Settings. While I do find it very useful to be able to rewind or fast forward through lectures that I actually do watch, I find the most useful play setting to be double time. I listen to my professor, he just sounds a little Alvin and the Chipmunk-esque.
Summer Financial Accounting from North Carolina? Cake walk. Should a class about financial accounting be offered online with online tests? Hey I loved that A, so I say yes. But if you asked me to describe a basic concept from that class I couldn't. Debit or Credit? Still a mystery to me, I just know I have both types of plastic in my wallet.
To be really really honest, I find all my online classes boring and unengaging. I like to think of myself as an avid proactive learner and even I find it hard to keep up with everything online. I'm not confident in the material and feel allienated from my professors. For a student how already suffers from attention issues, online classes would be difficult to master. How do you adapt the classroom for students with ADD or ADHD?
From a teacher's perspective, it's just another thing to learn and adapt with that will take serious effort to perfect. But those who have put effort into their online classes have come out with great experiences. How do we fund training and technology at schools that can hardly afford textbooks?
Now, a highschooler taking a science course online obviously wouldn't have a resource such as SmokinNotes. But when I think of my science classes, the things that really stick out to me are the lab experiments that were fun and hands on. How does an online high school student really get a good grasp of the science material without that physical aspect? No virtual dissection is the same as one in real life and I think every student should do at least one before they graduate high school.
With online education funded the way it is, I really do think that it is hindering some students education. While convenient and resource abundant these benefits do not outweigh the serious problems that are still occurring and that frustrate a 21 year old college student. Just as any other emerging technology, it will continue to get better, with good guidence that is. With technology moving the way it is, I'm sure it will live up to all of it's supposed benefits. How long till the teacher is a 3-D virtual hologram that can beam in from any location? I guess we'll just have to wait and find out.