Okay,I guess it's not as extreme as that...but as I was watching TV this afternoon, there was a commercial for a virtual learning program. I thought this was interesting and related well to the things we discussed today, so I checked out the website. You can read over some of the curriculum for the different grades (K-5 and 6-12) if you would like, but basically I got the impression that the students take online along with some off-line classes but also have the opportunity to interact with other kids through extracurricular activities and fieldtrips.
Online classes are becoming increasingly popular, especially in college and sometimes even high school. It was surprising that the commercial showed younger kids participating in the program. The website explains how they will be well prepared for their post-secondary education. It sounds like the programs use a variety of different technologies for different types of learning, which I think can be really beneficial for kids, especially in their futures. They also emphasized that the kids (in the commercial) were interacting with other students and meeting them through fieldtrips. I think marketing the social aspect of the virtual learning program is important because I'm sure the parents fear that a program such as this can take away from the child's social skills, which could be potentially harmful for their future.
Overall, I think the program sounds really cool... but looking back at high school and even to middle school, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much as seeing my classmates everyday!
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9 years ago
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ReplyDeleteI agree. I would hesitate to put a child into this program. Most of my friends right now were my friends in elementary school. I really think kids need to be in the classroom. They need to have that social interaction with other students as well as with adults and "authority" figures besides their parents. They need to get off the computer and go to school. However, I would be interested in seeing statistics comparing children going through this program compared to those going the usual route.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you....this sounds like a very good program for students, but seems to be aiming at mostly the academic factors and neglecting some social and behavioral ones. Not only do they need to be with other children for play and to make friends, but we begin our problem solving skills at a very young age and you can't resolve and work through those kinds of problems with other students in a computer! I think the people who developed this program had their ideas with good intentions, but other things need to be thought through....or maybe it's too early to introduce this much of an advancement in technology and learning for little kids. Seeing the statistics would be very interesting, I agree, but it would be hard to test and controls the environments throughout that child's experience.
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing us this Izzy. :)
I also agree on this situation because the other day when we were talking about technology, i was thinking to myself that one day there will be no more teachers teaching physically and that everything would be done on the computer. Then we saw that Miller's movie and that totally expressed how technology has grown in the last couple of years and that universities need to catch up to it. I predict the same thing will happen so here we go with the new technologies
ReplyDeleteI share many of the concerns stated above in regards to social interaction; however, I do see a lot of potential for this sort of learning method. Like Izzy, I recognize that in today's job market the technical skills that online learning contribute to a person's employability. I also agree with Izzy that these classes should mix online and classroom-based education. It seems, especially at the younger ages, that students need the social environment of the classroom. However, I also recognize that the longer you wait to introduce a new skill, the harder it will be for the student to begin learning it; younger students (even pre-schoolers) need online education within their curriculum. With that said, I noticed that the major concern with online education seems to be maintaining social continuity. However, these sorts of learning tools can also facilitate social continuity for children. For example, the child of a person who works in a foreign country (be it business, military, etc.) would be able to use online learning to prevent major readjustments to their education path (particularly in remote or economically depressed areas) and they would be able to keep in touch with their friends in the US.
ReplyDeleteVirtual learning and online classes have really blossomed and spread in the recent years. I too have seen this same commercial, and also commercials for other online schools. My main complaint with this more streamlined internet education is the huge lack of "face time" with REAL PEOPLE! I believe one of the biggest and best things I learned in middle school, high school, and my years of college is how to interact with others in different situations. This is something that cant be learned from a book, computer, or professor. The only way to improve someone's social and people skills is to actually be with people.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this whole online education boom is someones idea to make money in a low cost, small operation to the masses kind of way. How many teachers, professors, or educators are actually behind these online schools?