Can't be any worse than the pubic schools we have now.
I don’t know that they are motivated to “learn something.” I think that perhaps they just want to get through it, the quicker the better, which is okay, I guess, because sitting in a classroom with an unenthusiastic, untalented drone of a teacher is a lot worse.
I think this is a good thing. It keeps the students out of the toxic public school facilities while giving them privacy and some level of time flexibility.
I didn’t read the whole article (it’s the SLimes after all), but a true “on-line course” requires more than simply cutting and pasting articles and sending it to a teacher! Just as those on free-republic comment and discuss articles, on-line courses require such discussions as well as responses in essay form. A good teacher comments on essays and requires rewrites...the only way to truly learn to write.
Just as in any school, the “learning” is dependant on fair and demanding teachers and willing students. It’s not the whole answer, but for many kids who do not do well in traditional classrooms OR for assistance to home-schooling, a “digital” approach can be a great alternative. For many reluctant learners, they can thrive on the visual and interactive nature of computer learning.
I taught “To build a fire” through the old movie narrated by Orson Welles. My students really enjoyed it.
Technology and the free market are threatening the Government-Education-Teacher’s Union-Democrat Fundraising Complex.
We’re going to see more and more attacks like this.
Ping a ling!
Maybe the monopoly of the Commie Public schools will end. Thomas Sowell, Ph.d spoke of the usefulness of online schools in breaking the PC monopoly.
The reason the establishment is worried about online education is because it exposes just how awful the government schools are. When people realize that they can learn what they want when they want, nobody will want to be tied to a school desk in a windowless school for 12 years.
If we had the kind of progress in transportation that we have had in education, we would still be riding in horse-drawn buggies. When the dinosaur school system becomes extinct, we will have an explosion in innovation and progress in education.
I have taken many college level online courses and found them to be just like building courses; some were very tough and some were so easy it was silly to get credit for them. I imagine online classes that are properly accredited are the same. It depends on the instructor as it always has.