Internet Schooling
The internet has a bountiful amount of information that exceeds all other sources. Take for instance this blog, any person in the world can read this blog and learn the second semester of calculus without ever setting foot in a classroom. If I wanted to figure out how to use the slide rule, if I wanted to learn Spanish, even if I wanted an in depth analysis of Hamlet, I could find that online. In fact I have used Google to figure out how to make soda from a guy who lives in Indiana and made it as a kid with his parents. It has never been so easy to gather or share information. No longer do you have to go to the library to get a book, it is there on Google Books, three feet away at your desktop computer.
There is one simple flaw to this avalanche of information called the internet. Students are not interested in simply learning, most kids go to school because they have to. On the internet what will stop them from playing games, checking Facebook, or looking at a more interesting site? Students already have a hard enough time completing the assigned homework, part of the force behind doing homework is that the students will see the teacher and their disappointment the next day when they don't finish their homework. Anything that a student doesn't understand in class but needs to know to complete the homework can be found online, I don't think that is should go any farther. The internet is not as good at teaching as a human, and not as demanding.
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Flying Slug,
ReplyDeleteYour post is thoughtful and well written. I especially appreciate the insight of your last statement, suggesting that learning involves social interaction. However your post will receive an "F" rating because you have not labeled it correctly. The 3 required labels are:
1. Your pen name.
2. Forum Post.
3. The title of the Forum Question. (This is the label you have incorrect.)
Cheers, Bru
Great. Now that the labels are correct...
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that because of the internet we no longer have to go to a library in search of information. Curtis J.Bonk in his book "The World is Open" emphasizes this dramatic change in the way information is shared by saying that the World Wide Web represents the next step in the evolution of human “his-story” (passing down of stories and information) that began with the spoken word, followed by the written word, and then by the printing press. Each of these methods created a fundamental shift in communication which completely change the world by extended the wealth of human knowledge to a wider circle of the human population. Bonk states that the internet has had the same revolutionary impact on human society as each of these methods before it.
I agree with you that the internet offers a plethora of tempting distractions to learning. It takes self-discipline and a strong work ethic, together with intrinsic motivation for a person to sit in front of a computer focused on a subject. For many learners the distractions are too great and lack of interaction with others too isolating. Perhaps herein lies one of the benefits of formal education. Schools provide the structure needed for learning to occur. In addition, schools provide the opportunities for social interaction which develop collaborative and interpersonal skills needed to live and work within a group. Relationships established with classmates and teachers create a community in which everyone is learning and growing together.
Thanx for your thoughtful post.
Since, online education are very much easy to access and to avail the different educational course program because the only main requirements that are needed are the computer gadgets and internet connection. With the convenience of online learning, it also offers an affordable educational expenditure rate compare to the campus based schools and for that, it allows individuals who came from a family of low income learners to forego their higher educational learning.
ReplyDeletewww.sangambayard-c-m.com
You make a very good point Anthony, I must say that I hadn't looked at it that way. But I think that because most people in the United States have access to public schools, I think that those schools are a better option than the online education. Granted it could help people without access to the schools, but the people without access to schools are usually the people who also don't have access to internet, so the online education doesn't apply to them. Either way, if the people are going to the high schools are not they are paying taxes. As for college it could be a good option, but I think that if somebody is determined to get a college education they should be able to get it at a college not online because the value would be so much more. I am not saying that this is always true, but there are plenty of community colleges, and bigger colleges that have scholarships or financial aid packages that would allow the student to get a better education, and be involved with a community that would further their education, for a reasonable price. But for those that this does not apply to an online education could be a good option. Thanks for the comment.
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