</spelling nazi> <grin>
Posted on 02/04/2014 1:38:28 PM PST by freedom462
I know that dissatisfaction, or rather, deep, deep hatred, for public schools and universities is fairly commonplace around here and the need for massive overhaul in the educational system from kindergarden to the graduate level is one of the top priorities for many Freepers. And so there has been talk about the rise of online educational systems, to use as key examples Open Course Ware, EdX and the Kahn Academy. There has been talk of the extent to which they will replace teachers on other forums and so I figured it was worthy of a separate thread.
This is also for those who have used these online educational systems and/or have extensive knowledge. What is your prediction about the future of these online education systems? Do you think that
A. They will have only a limited influence on primary and secondary education and classroom teaching and union dominated schools will be prevalent
B. They will lead to classroom teaching become 100 % obsolete and replace classroom teaching to the point that for Kindergarten through to graduate education, classroom teaching sill simply not exist anymore.
C. It will be between A and B, in that it will serve to complement classroom teachers, from Kindergarten through to the University level, who do their jobs effectively while exposing the teachers who are doing a substandard job. In this scenario, naturally, it would still be considered a serious threat to the teacher's unions for obvious reasons.
D. it is simply too soon to predict the extent of their impact in 10, 20 or 50 years or later.
I was wondering because there has been extensive debate over this. There have been calls for it to replace classroom teaching entirely, to be sure. And it has already had effect in terms of getting students to take university courses online, thereby massively cutting down on the out of control costs. But at the moment, universities and colleges are still flooded with students who want the full classroom experience; online teaching may lead to more of them opting out of it but universities still have more students than they know what to do with. And as for replacing high schools and middle schools, it appeals to many who have dealt with awful public primary schools. But even some of those who invented the online systems, for example Salman Kahn, have said that these systems as they currently exist could at best complement properly done classroom teaching, not render it completely unnecessary.
So for those who have experience in this, what are your reflections and predictions on this?
</spelling nazi> <grin>
How can online courses possibly replace classroom courses when the primary purpose of classroom courses is to babysit?
Figured I would also ping some of those who were discussing this and debating it on another technology thread and those who have discussed and shown themselves to be knowledgeable on this subject in the past.
C: I teach in a public high school (I’m trying to get into online private ed), and I earned my master’s degree online. If done properly, online ed is the future. Brick and mortars will still be here, but they will be for the “underprivileged”. Big Gov has to get the kids their “free” breakfasts and lunches!
The future of online education is wide open. Universities will have to offer online degrees in every greater numbers (even on the PhD level) in order to compete.
That is actually something many have probably not thought of - if elementary school, middle school and high school was no longer taught in classrooms, where would all the kids go for 8 hours a day and how would parents be able to deal with them? It would require a two parent system where one parent works and the other stays home all day - and an education system that requires this, at least in our times, would simply not be tolerated at all.
If the primary goal of classrooms is to teach not just the material but also genuine problem solving skills and how to think for oneself and to teach all the skills needed to be employable, could online teaching replace that entirely in the near or distant future?
I believe that eventually, instruction will be separate from certification. Instruction will be widely available and at low cost or free. Certification of knowledge will be the measure of a “degree”. By that I mean that you will go to a testing center and will take a test that if you pass, you will be certified as knowing that subject.
Complete the set of certifications for a HS Diploma, AS, or BS and you will be granted that “degree”.
Much of the class time for the rest of the semester will be spent on tasting various wines. Reading assignments, course projects, and quizzes are all online. Three major tests will be in the testing center.
Used properly, technology can augment the learning experience. My concern is that educators will rely on technology to the detriment of actually teaching the students. For example, project based learning is IMHO a crutch used by teachers to reduce the effort they have to put into teaching.
So as a public high school teacher, do you consider the expansion of online education a good thing for you and other effective, public school teachers? Do you think that in a future educational system, good teachers such as yourself will still have teaching jobs, but that these jobs sill simply function differently than they used to? I know some public school teachers, and tons of private school teachers, including private Christian school teachers, fear that they will become completely unemployable if what the most ardent proponents of online education are saying is true.
so yer sayin' that passive/aggressive approach didn't fool anybody, ehh ? fofl
They will be strangled in the crib by unions and traditional universities with so much turf to defend.
And until you can convince the bulk of employers to break away from the propaganda that they are a value-add, it will stay that way.
I think that schools will be completely replaced, not by online schooling but by the eventual economic and governmental collapse.
Whether the replacement will involve online learning depends on whether the internet survives that collapse in a reasonable working order.
Assuming it does, locally controlled schools will use online learning for reasons of economy and efficiency. This will be especially true at the secondary and post-secondary level if there is a labor shortage due to a booming recovery economy or a large population reduction from violence suffered during the collapse.
Minimum wage and teens with nothing to do will be a memory, as will public employee unions.
As someone that as experience teaching adults, I can say that people don’t learn the same way.
They are broken down into three groups.
1. Tell me.
2. Show me.
3. And a combination of #1 and 2.
Online education lacks the feedback mechanism for most people.
When I was teaching, I could tell, by their body language, if someone didn’t get a certain concept. This allowed me to re-state the concept so they can move to the next phase.
Some people can read stuff and learn a great deal. Some people can hear the same stuff and would understand it more than if they simply read it. Some people need to be shown what is what.
The nation in general, and 98% of BAers in particular, would be MUCH better served with trade school diplomas.
I think it will be much slower for K-12 to go that direction, although that is available here. I just don't see a lot of students that age with the discipline to self-direct their instruction.
I presume that in your prediction, in the economic recovery phase there will be so much work to do and such a dire need for everyone to be productive that the idea of anyone not being able to find a job will be a complete non-issue. Not only will there be some sort of job for every single able bodied American who can work but the society will leave its current entitlement phase entirely and demand that every American, who is capable of working, goes out and gets the jobs that they will be most productive in. Is that a correct assessment of what you are saying?
Your lists might be interested in this.
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