I think online schools are fantastic, provided that the students get as good, or better, education than the brick and mortar.
I wish I had that as an option.
“Professor Gary Miron.....uggested that online schools in Ohio may not be properly serving their students due to a lack of state regulation.”
Uhmmmm.....Sir, isn’t state regulation responsible for the present state of education?????
Oh!!!!.....you see it as a viable system....Hmmmmmm?
What’s that adage....doing something over and over again expecting different....
You can apply that to socialism and every failed version of it.
Another brick in the wall.
There are considerable waiting lists for cyberschools here in Michigan.
I think I would have done far better if something like this had been available back in the 80s.
Computers don’t pay union dues.
That is ALL the teacher’s union care about.
Not if these schools are actually doing a better job.
There’s a place for online schools, but I like the structure and the organization of traditional classrooms.
It is good to be forced to meet at a certain time or place to study a subject intensely for an hour. It is a plus to have a knowledge area expert leading and explaining.
I’ve tried both, and I definitely prefer the traditional format.
Unfortunately, the new format is the avenue that will free students from the burdensome liberalism hawked in so much of higher education.
Online needs to work harder at both student accountability and communication/teacher access.
I received my masters online, for me the best option.
Now, they would not put self interest ahead of the needs of the young people, would they? /sarc>
Hubby is a prof. and just had a seminar this week about this very subject. I could care LESS about what the unions think.
MY concern is....text books are going digital. Call me a ‘fuddy duddy’....but I like PAPER in my hand. Digital can be erased. Over a period of time....all books and materials are ‘digitized’....which is where we are headed. Where is the ‘backup’?
Second.....if there is a hacking or power outage.....the server goes down. Then what? Is the student re-reimbursed?
Also.....SOCIALIZATION. Students interacting with PEOPLE....IN PERSON.
Just a couple of concerns I have with this. JMHO.
I think this is the wave of the future. I would like to see them put all possible classes online free of charge. To get credit you would have to go to your university and pay to get tested. Save the going away to school for the classes that require lab time and more complex studies. It is senseless to pay tuition for basic courses.
My boy attended a virtual school this past spring. He had wonderful grades and finished the courses weeks ahead of time.
But he missed his AFJROTC class and is back in a brick and mortar school again.
Yep... technology will tear down the brick-and-mortar school in the same way that technology is eroding away the power of the mainstream media. (Interesting how we have a term for both of these institutions to distinguish them from their Internet-based counterpart, isn’t it?)
In any case, I think my story is typical. I’m an English teacher at an Alaskan Bush school. I wanted to earn a master’s degree - which the University of Alaska Fairbanks was more than willing to provide at confiscatory rates after years of study. I found an online school sponsored by DePauw University in Chicago that gave me the education I wanted for one-third the cost in 18 months, and, most pleasantly, with none of the politically correct crap which floods the education classes at UAF. In fact, the classes were well presented and gave me lots of good information.
I can easily see most post-secondary degrees being awarded this way in the near future. Certainly there will be a need for hands-on classes in disciplines where it is appropriate, but other classes which are based on reading, research, and discussion have no need for a physical location.
I like where we’re headed. It was great living in the Alaskan Bush and still working alongside folks in New Orleans and Wisconsin, with the professor in Florida. Competition is excellent for my profession - someday we’ll have real choice - but until then, this is a great step in that direction.
Despite “Public” Union Resistance
Public unions are the scourge of society, and should be illegal.
Private sector unions are a different story.
I’d have liked online skewling.
Oh wait! I’ve got FR!
JR owes me a diploma....