A historical role in shaping a society to function by its traditional
value system, school has been the collective learning and life experience
to generations of students. But it is also the education essential
to our progress and our progress is integral to our survival. However,
our tradition of constant change has also adapted our learning environment
from a one-room schoolhouse to a global virtual classroom.
Providing us a lifelong education without ever leaving home, on-line
learning has presented a new school of thought: Re-learning the
role of education.
The Classroom Evolution
Education has always maintained its role in providing learning
that is relevant to the workforce and rather than changing the
content, it has adjusted the approach to delivery. Initially based
on the rigid work roles of the industrial age, the original classroom
required teachers with specific, task-orientated instructions
and assessed students on their ability to follow them correctly.
As the economy shifted to a corporate structured workforce, classrooms
also became where students trained to work in a team environment
and assessments were based on both individual and group performance.
The information age of flexible and innovative workers, however,
now requires students to teach themselves specific information and
to be efficient at researching this information in a self-directed
way. The emphasis now, is to assess the students’ ability
as independent thinkers, as well as their ability to communicate
ideas through collaborative teamwork. What began as the classroom
tradition of reading and writing with pencils and paper, is now
transformed into a preparation for multimedia self-publishing delivered
through Internet mediums.
The On-line Learning Curve
A US study conducted by CAST (Center for Applied Special
Technology), assessed five hundred students in seven urban
school districts and compared work of the half with on-line
learning to the half without. The results indicated on-line
students scored significantly higher in information management,
communication, and presentation of ideas, which proved
them as more independent and critical thinkers. Citing
a British Educational Communication & Technology Agency
study of sixty UK schools that found high information communication
technology users scored a grade higher in all subjects,
the British government promoted it as an enhanced learning
tool and increased it’s availability to ninety-nine
per cent of their schools.
The Canadian government has also implemented a “SchoolNet” program
to provide e-learning in elementary schools, and while Ispsos-Reid
reported that eighty-eight per cent of the nation’s schools
have internet access in the classroom, there are already 3,700 home
schooled students in British Columbia alone. No longer requiring
access to the regular classroom, this significant number of children
represents a growing population in areas all over the world.
A System of Balance
Providing the innovative learning strategies required for today’s
workforce, on-line education is also increasing performance and decreasing
the amount of learning time. However, the technology that has maximized
education efficiency is also minimizing the social experience associated
with fellow classmates, recess breaks and recital rehearsals. And,
along with the issues surrounding a child’s social growth in
the virtual classroom, computer ergonomics and information overload
are other factors that also require consideration.
If the current role of education is to meet community objectives,
then it requires a vision for on-line learning and the virtual classroom
in order to achieve them. By assessing our learning imperatives,
perhaps we can design a model to incorporate social development
in the home school environment, and provide a balance of technology
and tradition in the classroom. Today’s challenge is to use
our level of efficiency to maximize the value of education in our
children ’s lives.
|
