When the
concept of online learning first came into popularity it was for college
students. It made perfect sense to me as
many college students, particularly graduate students, couldn’t make it to a “brick
and mortar” classroom due to jobs, distance, and other circumstances. I then began to hear of K-12 experiences and
remember the fight that went on in the state house in Indiana over whether
schools could be 100% online or what percentage online was appropriate. I had very mixed feelings about this and
still do.
The typical
student that I felt would benefit from an all online school setting was the at-risk
student who had been unsuccessful in the traditional classroom due to
behavioral issues, bullying, pacing (too fast or too slow), family transience,
and other special circumstances. I
thought, “Wow, if these kids could be taught from home, online how great would
that be?” Then about two years ago I
began to get students back from the main blended school in this area. They had failed miserably due in part to the
same factors that I thought would have made the online school a perfect fit for
them. Parents wanted to have an easy out
from traditional school and instead found that their participation in the
process was much greater in the blended environment. They became the one responsible for making
sure their child was doing schoolwork and not playing online games. Cyberbullying happened just like old
fashioned bullying and sometime the bullying was even worse.
After this
experience I began to question how completely online learning would work for
students. I certainly believe that there
is a place for distance learning and that the 21st Century Student
is a natural for this type of instruction.
I also believe education would be remiss not to teach students how to
work in this environment as they will be required to use these technologies in
college and in the workplace. I just
feel that there must be a discussion about how to best do this to enrich
students’ learning experience.
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