I feel that online distant education takes away from social learning. Learning in a classroom where students and teachers can interact I believe is very important. Students need to learn material presented by the teacher, in the books, or online YES, but there is another kind of learning that is just as important and crucial for the working world and that is social.
Interaction and communication with other people is extremely important and classroom settings allow students to learn these vital skills over the years they are enrolled in school. If all classes were held online than all the interaction with peers and authority figures (teachers) those skills would not be learned.
I believe that classroom settings teach students so much more than just material presented for students to acknowledge and accept. Classrooms are meant for discussion and peer and teacher relationships develop and intimacy happens in classrooms when exploring and discussing one’s own ideas, thoughts, and ideology. Take away the classroom, teacher, students, and replace it with a monitor that you can only type to… well a lot is lost.
Using TOPIC, MOO’s IM’s or Second Life as a teaching tool and strategy I do not find helpful, especially for student s who already have trouble focusing in a classroom due to a learning disability. People need interaction and connection to other humans and I believe these tools for learning provide the opposite. I think those specific tools should be used for free time and adolescent development on their own and not the teacher’s involvement.
Did I find the MOO liberating from the classroom or more confining… more confining. I was one of the few who were not goofing off and I actually tried to put good ideas and information out there and I felt that no one was even reading my responses. In a classroom setting when I am talking it would be considered rude for others to carry on conversations while I was expressing my ideas and beliefs, but in the MOO there is a completely different set of rules and procedures that develop. I felt disconnected to Mr. Garrison and everyone else in the classroom.
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Well It took like I forgot to put the L in LIBERATING! wow good job ME!... anyways you guys are smart and I'm sure you understand!! hahah.. I tried to change it but I can not figure out how to do it..
ReplyDeleteI agree that online classes take away from the social learning that occurs in a classroom. I think it is important for people to learn how to properly interact with each other. I sure you’ve been in one of those situations where you’re talking to someone and they say or do something that is just TOTALLY inappropriate or unacceptable! Well, I know I have at least. I feel like classrooms teach students a lot about interaction and compromise because you don’t always get what you want and life isn’t always fair.
ReplyDeleteI think that social learning is just as important as obtaining knowledge on different subject matters. You always here about those really smart students who have a 1600 SAT score but cannot get jobs because they have no communication skills. Without being able to communicate effectively, what is the point of having all that intelligence?
ReplyDeleteSocial learning is VERY important... one of my instructors was telling us that she went to college with a girl that had been in an all girls school for most of her schooling. She said that when that girl went off to college that she got around the guys and just went completely nuts.... that is a little different, but as the same time, learning to be around the opposite sex is a way of social learning. I would never want to keep my kids out of the schools... that is when it would make it hard on them in the "real world" when they are out trying to find jobs........ how would children learn to grow into functioning members of society if they are never interracting face to face with others? Just an idea to think about.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded of the commercials for online degrees from places like the University of Phoenix. I cannot imagine taking every one of my college courses online and "never setting foot inside a classroom." I do think it's great that there are programs out there to help people get educated and find better jobs, but I would be super pissed if me and another guy who graduated from an "Online College" were up for the same job and he got it. I don't think that would ever happen, because I would like to assume my people skills would be much better than the online degree dude.
ReplyDeleteI agree that online education takes away from learning. You lose a lot of that interaction with your teacher. I’ve taken courses online and ended up hating them because I feel like I learned nothing from the course. It mainly consists of reading and memorizing a book because you don’t get the teacher lectures that further explain the subject.
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