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Technology caught up with our business and industry. They installed robots and computers and managed to downsize and streamline their operations.
Why hasn’t the technology, that our schools love to teach, caught up with education? It is the next logical step. I know that there are some free online courses already available. However, nationally, we fight against taking the next step.
We should get rid of the “No child left behind” policy and thinking. We want our kids to reach for the moon and not be held back by others.
We need free, nationally accredited, online courses available to anybody at anytime in their life. We should team up some of our best computer game programmers with our educational programmers. Thus; creating exciting and challenging educational software - so that everybody wants to learn. These courses should cover every subject from grade school through college.
I am not advocating scraping our entire traditional educational system. Some students would still require remedial work. Some would require access to the computers. Our schools could still be the place for physical education and to hone social interaction. Finally; traditional education could verify the scores of any online system. The net effect would be a downsized and streamlined system.
Our taxpayers have shelled out trillions over the years for education. What we need now is quality education at an affordable price. We need a smaller, smarter, educational system. I know that there would be tons of problems - such as: copyright, legal, unions and unemployment. If we really want to compete; we have to think outside the box. It is long overdue to take the next step.
Online education isn't right for every student or every student learning style, and actually works pretty horrible for many learners who feel like they need group work or other high levels of interaction to learn best. (And no, software options don't always make up that gap, no how many online forum posting you make for the class in question for that population.)
Where I work our online courses actually cost us more to offer than traditional on campus courses. They also don't work for a lot of students because they have to be extra self-motivated to stick with it. I don't know a whole lot of younger students that can handle the responsibility.
Ok, so lets say they don’t always work. If a forth grade student can pass a fifth grade math course; should they be forced to sit through the forth and fifth grades? This gets back to the NCLB. Why can it not be that every child can go as far as they can possibly go?
With national accreditation and challenging (free) courses there will be some that succeed. That means fewer students in any one given class. With the financial realities today; is that a bad idea?
Online classes suck... Last one I took about half dropped it
Sent from my autocorrect butchering device.
I’m not proposing just any online course. I want us to create new courses that combine the computer game technology and our best educational programming. I want courses where students want to learn.
I have a computer course on sentence structure - I play it when I want to go to sleep. This is not what I am endorsing. We do not need lectures. I am looking to interactive courses that are challenging and exciting. I have heard from some home schooled parents that do think some of these courses already exist.
I’m not proposing just any online course. I want us to create new courses that combine the computer game technology and our best educational programming. I want courses where students want to learn.
I have a computer course on sentence structure - I play it when I want to go to sleep. This is not what I am endorsing. We do not need lectures. I am looking to interactive courses that are challenging and exciting. I have heard from some home schooled parents that do think some of these courses already exist.
I like lectures. They suit my learning style. Are you trying to do away with a time-honored method that works well for a lot of people?
I like to watch and learn a lot before I try something. I prefer not to learn by doing, but by observing and studying. Once I'm comfortable and confident to make my first effort, I don't usually make many mistakes. I like that. Putting me in a situation where I had to learn from my mistakes makes me freeze up and want to not try again. Is mine not a valid learning style?
I like lectures. They suit my learning style. Are you trying to do away with a time-honored method that works well for a lot of people?
I like to watch and learn a lot before I try something. I prefer not to learn by doing, but by observing and studying. Once I'm comfortable and confident to make my first effort, I don't usually make many mistakes. I like that. Putting me in a situation where I had to learn from my mistakes makes me freeze up and want to not try again. Is mine not a valid learning style?
I am not proposing scraping everything. If it works for you - great. I am proposing evolution.
I also had some very interesting and informative college lectures. It’s just been too many years - I forgot what they were about!
We need free, nationally accredited, online courses available to anybody at anytime in their life. We should team up some of our best computer game programmers with our educational programmers. Thus; creating exciting and challenging educational software - so that everybody wants to learn. These courses should cover every subject from grade school through college.
The few responses that I did read prior to this reply pretty much prove that different people learn differently. By creating a "one size fits all" approach to education, you are doing some segment a disservice.
Actually, I read an excellent book that cites a study which shows that learning something from an electronic device does not create the same neural pathways to the brain that reading something from a book does. You cannot retain (in the instance of information) nor envision (in the instance of instructions), as well. Oddly enough, this includes the written word (i.e. electronic readers).
If electronic education were the key to success, then it would stand to reason that people would be generally smarter now than they were in generations past. While I will grant you that they are smarter in areas dealing with ELECTRONICS (i.e. working a computer, etc.,) they are definitely NOT smarter when it comes to basic educational skills (reading, writing and math), and history, and almost all other disciplines that DON'T have to do with electronics. Ergo, it's not better. It's definitely not better.
Not to mention the fact 90 percent of the population does not have the discipline to learn on their own through online classes.
The few responses that I did read prior to this reply pretty much prove that different people learn differently. By creating a "one size fits all" approach to education, you are doing some segment a disservice.
Actually, I read an excellent book that cites a study which shows that learning something from an electronic device does not create the same neural pathways to the brain that reading something from a book does. You cannot retain (in the instance of information) nor envision (in the instance of instructions), as well. Oddly enough, this includes the written word (i.e. electronic readers).
If electronic education were the key to success, then it would stand to reason that people would be generally smarter now than they were in generations past. While I will grant you that they are smarter in areas dealing with ELECTRONICS (i.e. working a computer, etc.,) they are definitely NOT smarter when it comes to basic educational skills (reading, writing and math), and history, and almost all other disciplines that DON'T have to do with electronics. Ergo, it's not better. It's definitely not better.
Not to mention the fact 90 percent of the population does not have the discipline to learn on their own through online classes.
20yrsinBranson
Isn’t “one size fits all” what we do with NCLB? I am not suggesting changing everything instantly. Evolution takes time.
We are loosing ground on the world stage. I am not playing the blame game. I am looking for direction. How can we improve? Just because one program does not work with some individuals today; is it possible to make it work tomorrow? Don’t forget that today’s online education is in it’s infancy - compared to our traditional educational system.
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