Its a brave new world! A lot of worry, anxiety, and doubt accompanies great change. But do you want to be on the leader of that change or do you want to be the follower? Columbus sailing into uncharted areas, was accompanied by more nay-sayers than followers. Our founding fathers called themselves patriots and founded a new nation, against the violent retort of the British government and its loyalist followers, people told Lewis and Clark that the Louisana Territory was rife with man-eating serpents, demons, and giants. Space exploration, Impossible!
There will always be those who resist change and those who embrace it. The people who embrace are honored as the visionaries and heroes of our heritage, those who resist it are names long forgotten, and when the erosion of the earth sands away the names on their tombstones, the story of man will forever delete their existence.
Education must progress into the information age, to resist such change would be paramount to self-destruction.
Over 50% of the courses I took to earn my Master's Degree in Education was taken online. Some classes were excellent, I felt a real connection with my professor, with the classmates, and my learning was rich with application possibilities. Mirroring my experiences with the traditional classroom environment with desks, an overhead projector, and fluorescent lights - I have also had bad experiences. The experience of the student in a classroom, rather that class is in person or online, depends solely on the skills of the teacher to make that environment engaging and rich. The skills needed by the teacher are vastly different from the online environment to the traditional classroom, as an educator it is our responsibility to meet our students where they are at, not to expect them to come to us. I am the Catcher-In-The-Rye, and I move side to side to rescue my kids before they fall off the cliff. I do not watch them run into oblivion and blame them for not finding me.
When it comes to online instruction, facilitators must have an entirely different approach to engaging learners in deep dialogue. But the goal is the same - deep dialogue. When it comes to online instruction, facilitators must have an entirely different approach when engaging learners in collaborative projects. But the goal is the same - the students will collaborate successfully. So as educators, the online environment does not change our goals for students, it simply changes the environment our students learn in. It is our job to control, manipulate, and modify that environment so that it works best for our students.
The challenge for online learning is the same challenge educators have always been required to meet. How do we meet our kids where are kids are at? How do I make this lesson, this environment, this experience enriching and inspiring. The online learning environment should only be challenging to those teachers who do not embrace change.
There will always be those who resist change and those who embrace it. The people who embrace are honored as the visionaries and heroes of our heritage, those who resist it are names long forgotten, and when the erosion of the earth sands away the names on their tombstones, the story of man will forever delete their existence.
Education must progress into the information age, to resist such change would be paramount to self-destruction.
Over 50% of the courses I took to earn my Master's Degree in Education was taken online. Some classes were excellent, I felt a real connection with my professor, with the classmates, and my learning was rich with application possibilities. Mirroring my experiences with the traditional classroom environment with desks, an overhead projector, and fluorescent lights - I have also had bad experiences. The experience of the student in a classroom, rather that class is in person or online, depends solely on the skills of the teacher to make that environment engaging and rich. The skills needed by the teacher are vastly different from the online environment to the traditional classroom, as an educator it is our responsibility to meet our students where they are at, not to expect them to come to us. I am the Catcher-In-The-Rye, and I move side to side to rescue my kids before they fall off the cliff. I do not watch them run into oblivion and blame them for not finding me.
When it comes to online instruction, facilitators must have an entirely different approach to engaging learners in deep dialogue. But the goal is the same - deep dialogue. When it comes to online instruction, facilitators must have an entirely different approach when engaging learners in collaborative projects. But the goal is the same - the students will collaborate successfully. So as educators, the online environment does not change our goals for students, it simply changes the environment our students learn in. It is our job to control, manipulate, and modify that environment so that it works best for our students.
The challenge for online learning is the same challenge educators have always been required to meet. How do we meet our kids where are kids are at? How do I make this lesson, this environment, this experience enriching and inspiring. The online learning environment should only be challenging to those teachers who do not embrace change.