The anti-manufacturing education rackets will be broken by the default process.
I’m a retired educator that taught with the Dept. of Defense Dependent School system (it’s now called Dept. of Def. Ed. Activity). As someone already posted, there are systems that give individual feedback. We had what we called distance learning teachers, especially for high school students. Say a military parent gets transferred to a more isolated location where the DoDEA high school was small an only offered basic courses or languages or in some cases, the student had to attend a local (German, Italian, French, etc. )school. This is where the distance learning teacher could help those students complete their credits and continue in their chosen language, higher math class or whatever they lacked but needed.
Different learning styles and maturity levels impact these types of on-line education opportunities as has been mentioned. I think what’s needed is some kind of clearing house for each area of the elementary and secondary curriculum. It could be done by the state government or by private enterprise. Either way, the best of the best recorded lessons with different approaches could then be screened and chosen by parents, students and regular schools. This is already happening, of course, as teachers are joining groups that “sell” lesson plans and actual recorded lessons to anyone interested. One of the benefits is that these alternative systems tend to impact the hierarchy of current systems. I think Stanford Univ. offers an on-line course for free on how to program for the iPhone. I see this breakdown or disruption of the current hierarchy as a good thing. It’s still a mixed bag as to outcomes but look at what the computer did for the (desktop) publishing industry. We still have the traditional systems but things just got ramped up quite a bit and ordinary people could do a decent job on their own at a much cheaper cost. To me the students that could benefit greatly by these alternate approaches are the extremes in the student body - the more gifted students and the students that struggle. Both groups tend to be negatively impacted by the traditional school system. My niece home schools her 5 children and does a great job. They’re spread out from college to 3rd grade. Home schooling won’t work for everyone and that’s the thing you have to keep in mind with all these alternative approaches. Most home schoolers don’t have to spend all day to work through that day’s curriculum - as do their traditional school counterparts. Many have small jobs or get to engage in ed. activities that are just impossible in a traditional school. I guess what I’m saying is that I see more and varied opportunities as a good thing for everyone. I think what we’re seeing is very similar to the advent of the internet itself. The information is out there and the cost is getting cheaper and the lessons and systems of delivery/feedback are getting better and better - it’s up to you to use it and take advantage of it. For some… that will be the problem.
Another ping for both lists.
Well, first off I don’t “hate” the government schools. I think they’re substandard and a form of welfare but they do fulfill a purpose for providing some level of education for those who would otherwise receive none. I definitely favor their abandonment by those who have other options, but I don’t favor them closing per se unless and until there is a private sector option that would take care of those kids who would otherwise have no other options.
As for the choices above, I pick “C.” Old habits die hard. I also think that personal interaction with kids is important; a teacher/ classroom setting is not a bad thing for younger kids in my view. While I think that homeschooling is a great option, not everyone can homeschool.
For older kids (say high school), I think electronic means will take on a much greater role and perhaps eliminate the traditional school for some kids. It’s not going to happen overnight, but the trend is already that way.
The problems will arise when they are overused, when governments set up too many rules, when people figure out a way to exploit them, and when they're used in situations where there is no parental supervision. I'm not going to express exactly what some of those potential abuses are.