In Moller, Huett, Foshay & Coleman's articles they discuss the need for an evolution of distance education. I teach at an alternative school that serves middle and high school students so I focused primarily on article three( K-12). In this article they discussed why the need for more distance education programs was needed. Some of their top reasons was teacher shortages, funding issues, and meeting the needs of all demographics of students. I totally agree with their position because I feel that in our society not all children are able to learn adequately in the traditional classroom. Some students benefit emmensily from online education for a plethora of reasons. For example, some of our students are considered "at risk" students because they are lacking credits or have missed school because of varying reasons. Due to this factor we offer online credity recovery classes that allow them to receive credit by completing courses through this online program. They are able to access the program both at home and at school and they can progress as quickly as they can if they put in enough effort. Many of our students have said that if they were not able to use this program they would have dropped out of school because they felt hopeless. Online education can save some of our "confused" students by showing them that they still have an opportunity to be successful if they put in the hard work that is needed.
http://dx.doi.org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1007/s11528-008-0199-9
I completely agree with you that some students benefit more from online education. Traditional education is not for every student. I was reading an article in the newspaper, The Arizona Republic, last week about cheating that is occurring by students taking online courses. The reporter interviewed a student who was previously enrolled in public school but was struggling. He is now enrolled in an online program and has learned how to cheat the system (and seems quite proud of his ability to do so). What do you propose is the solution to cheating that may occur?
ReplyDeleteBrandi and Lauramae, But what is the definition of cheating being used? Is it cheating if I form a study group outside of class that meets once a week in the school library? Most would agree that it is not. Is it cheating if I form a study group on FaceBook that is available 24/7? Ryerson University thinks it is cheating and threatened a student with academic misconduct when he did just that. I think he got the charges dropped, but would be happy if anyone could update us on that.
ReplyDeleteThere is indeed a need to evolve education! We have been thinking about education happening in a certain place at a certain time with a cohort of people our age. That worked well for preparing people for the industrial age. The focus was on mass production of many people to man the factories and it worked well. But we are in a different era. The purpose of education in this era is not to mass produce stand-alone content areas, like the humanities or the sciences. The purpose is to augment the curriculum in the easiest way possible and with a minimum of time invested by the instructor. The focus has shifted from mass production to mass customization.
As Gallo explains that, “Reframing demands a tolerance for ambiguity.” (1993, p.27)
Gallo, J. V. (1993). Teaching about reframing with films and videos. Journal of Management Education, 17(1), 127-132.
Lauramae thanks for commenting on my post. I believe that cheating is something that is difficult to prevent in the online community because no one can watch everyone's moves on the Internet. The only thing that can be put into place would be some sort of monitoring system that tracks users uses on the site but even that is not a fail safe method. Good question though. I will definitely have to ponder more on that one!
ReplyDeleteDurff thanks for commenting on my post. I believe you bring up many intersting points. I agree with you that educational importance needs to shift to what is needed in our society today not the status quo of yesterday's past. In regards to cheating that is such a subjective topic because one's viewpoints on cheating may not go with someone else's. Good points again!!
ReplyDeleteBrandi- I am totally impressed that you use on-line for your 'at risk' students. It's great to see that their interests were held in the program. Congratulations for your school coming up with the idea and apparently it works!!!
ReplyDeleteBrandi-Great post! I am full agreement with you regarding on-courses for "at risk" students. I teach fifth graders and at times wonder if anyone whom I recognize as being at risk would benefit from it at the middle school level?
ReplyDeleteThe other agrument I would like to address is that on-courses seems to be the way out for students who are "confused" or "lazy" for that matter. Do you think students at the early stages of their education would benefit from attending a virtual school or would it do more harm?
Brandi,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post. I work with middle school exceptional needs students, and often times these students are "at risk" due to a learning disability and/or a physical disability. If distance learning will meet the needs of these students, I would encourage them to do so. The only concern I have is that it will hold their parents accountable to ensure their child completes the necessary requirements to achieve success in distance learning. Do you think these students will be successful in distance learning?