So, I've been thinking about Will Richardson's blog article, "So What is the Future of Schools?" He quotes Michael Horn, one of the presenters from Microsoft’s School of the Future Summit, as saying that "within 15 years, almost 50% of all courses will be delivered online." I don't know if he meant just high school classes, or college ones as well.
I found this not necessarily encouraging, but rather sad.
As much as I can see great possibilities with the advent of technology, as evidenced by the "Hole in the Wall" studies done in India by Sugata Mitra (The Child-Driven Education), I have seen the repercussions of online classes at the high school level. We offer a variety of online classes each year, including Virtual High School classes, and Academ-e classes through UMO (these semester classes count for college credit - a big bonus for many students).
Drawbacks I have seen:
Except for the most well organized, meticulous, attention-to-detail oriented individuals, students at the high school level struggle with online classes. Their feedback, again and again, is that it wasn't what they were hoping for, or they didn't learn much, or it was way too hard. Many struggled with the amount of organization they needed. Some just missed having any interaction with a teacher. Many have told me they have no interest in taking another class online, even with the offer of college credit for some of them.
For the most part, students who have been successful with online classes would be successful with any type of learning, whether teacher-oriented, hands-on, or completely independent. This makes up a small portion of the school population.
By the time we hit college, many students (like us) now have the ability to multi-task, to work collectively or independently, to follow through on the many requirements and deadlines of an online class. Just this first week has had a phenomenal amount involved, and I am only just finishing the last few of those requirements!
So, if the vision for the future involves lots of student involvement and technology in teaching, I think that is great. If, instead, the vision involves slowly phasing out real live teachers in favor of the virtual, I think we are doing our students a terrible disservice.
As I was reading your blog entry I started to think about the article that wanted to get rid of high school. If you are seeing that high school students are struggling with college classes then is it a good idea to abolish high school for everyone? If they are struggling with organizational skills then that should be part of the curriculum expectations. I completely agree that we would be doing a huge disservice to students if we eliminated teachers. I think we need to incorporate technology but not replace teachers with technology. Thank you for sharing the drawbacks you have seen first hand. It was interesting to read about.
ReplyDeleteJamie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for you response to me blog. It is my first ever!
Much appreciated.
Ok, here is my take on these issues. I love teaching online after teaching face-to-face (F2F) for 40 years not because it may be convenient or comfortable for me but because I honestly feel my students learn more this way. Now, the research is fairly clear that a hybrid (some F2F and some online) promotes the most learning, but sometimes the F2F just isn't practical. In EDC 533 I estimate that only half of our 14 students would have taken the course if offered on campus...access, time, etc.
ReplyDeleteSo, the kicker is that I think using tech means that we need teachers MORE than ever. This isn't about getting rid of teachers, it is about expanding their skills to mentor, advise, (and yes) teach students in different ways. And that won't happen without teaching students how to learn in this way too. Frankly, many high school students and college students say they don't like online classes because their experiences were not good ones. Courses more like correspondence courses than interactive courses...the way they should be.
And I will take this one step further, B. In my humble opinion, too many students expect their teachers to do much of the work for them. Online learning does require a greater degree of student involvement and commitment.
Sorry for the long response but you asked some critical questions. Would love to talk with you more about this.
Ed,
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your feedback here! I do believe that the online classes I have taken in the last couple of years as an adult have challenged me well, because I was willing to immerse myself in them. And like I said, the students most willing to do this at the high school level are students who would naturally be successful with any method.
I have noticed that many students, regardless of their ability level, struggle with thinking for themselves, actually learning outside of class time instead of just doing homework. This year in Precalculus, a fellow teacher and I tried a "flipped classroom" for part of the year, with short video assignments they needed to watch, take notes on, try some of the homework problems, and come prepared to class to discuss all of this in greater depth.
Assignments were posted on Google Docs, with all included links. Even though all students have a school g-mail account, and all but one had Internet access at home, a number struggled with doing anything other than "bookwork" outside of class. Assignments that should have been at least viewed before class were often not even looked at for more than a week. This interfered with the "flipped classroom", as some students had done all of the work, and some had done none. It was split about 50-50.
Hence, I returned to regular classroom teaching, but continued to post supporting links and assignments on Google Docs. This worked as a great support system for students who missed that class, or for students who wanted a more in-depth review of the material. Some students said they liked it; some said they hated it.
That said, I am not abandoning the idea of encouraging students to be self-instructed, self-sustaining, self-motivating, and creative! I will try this all again next year, from the beginning of the year (we started this at Chapter 3 this year), and see what I get for results.