As on-line learning is directly related to secondary and post
secondary level objectives, we can certainly recognize its value
in education. How it measures up to the quality of traditional education
and the standards of our workforce; is what remains unclear.
Getting online in High School
With students at their most variable stage of development,
resulting in a wide range of courses designed to meet their individual
needs; secondary schools are already seeing the benefits of on-line
learning. However, a recent report from the British Columbia College
of Teachers (BCCT) explains there is a need for regulation of
on-line delivery models.
Citing remote locations, illness or smaller School Board districts
that are unable to offer program choices as reasons for distance
and on-line learning to replace a regular classroom, the
report added that distributed learning in schools needs to
be regulated as well. Even though on-line classrooms are intended
to enrich
the
learning experience, the BCCT warns that on-line education
requires students with developed reading skills, discipline
and self-motivation
before the learning method can be successful. In addition
to assessment criteria for selecting appropriate individuals,
they suggest that
to ensure quality on-line courses, the education system should
implement regional development models that include the following:
1. A direct link to the provincial curriculum
2. Constructivist pedagogical approaches
3. Relating content to pedagogy
4. Access to existing “learning objects”
5. Assessment practices
6. Technology infrastructure
7. Technical support for teachers and students
Higher learning by virtual degrees
For nations as geographically large as Canada and Australia,
distance education has been in progress for quite some
time. But while it had initially been structured for local
public systems, the UK and United States have followed
with an on-line education marketplace that competes at
an international level. Recent advertising for “University
degrees online” promotes a faster, easier way to
get a college education and is appealing to a growing market.
Not only to students in remote locations, but for the special
needs, employed, mature, part-time and graduate students
requiring the flexibility a virtual classroom will give
them.
According to the Sloan Consortium (US organization for the quality
of learning), the number of US students taking at least one online
course last fall was already at 1.9 million. The survey results
also indicated eighty-one per cent of all higher education institutions
now offer full or blended on-line courses and sixty-seven per cent
consider it to be a critical long-term strategy.
But evidence of definite quantity does not suffice our concern
with the quality of on-line education. While fifty-seven per cent
of the US faculty responded that it was already equal or better
than face-to-face learning, a Canadian study of MBA students at
Athabasca University confirmed that both on-line and campus-based
students had similar learning outcomes. The Canadian researchers
concluded the difference between learning methods is directly related
to what different people prefer or require for an equally valuable
learning experience. Weighing the virtual odds
So, technology is making a difference in the future role of
university. Contrary to teaching in solitary learning environments
of traditional classrooms where the teacher is center of attention,
instructors are evolving into team leaders of a collective process.
Increasing the opportunity for students to collaborate on active
learning techniques and to explore their ideas independently, on-line
education is likely to become an essential part of the traditional
system.
While students should determine the value of their learning experience,
employers still need to recognize the actual degree. Logic can tell
us why virtual credentials are better than no credentials and why
accredited institutions are worth more than the virtually unknown
ones advertised on television and the Internet. But, logic does
not always ring true.
A Vancouver-based human resource professional explains that on-line
degrees have credibility, only if the school offers traditional
programs as well. “Although they are more likely to need verification,
many companies now see equal value and in certain professions, even
more than a traditional education.”
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