Textbooks May Be So Yesterday, But Tomorrow Doesn’t Come Cheap
Posted on July 2, 2009 by Mark Schlesinger | Leave a Comment
Here is a fine article by Juliet Williams of the Associated Press covering California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s suggestion that the state could save part of its $350 million a year school textbook budget by putting content online. This announcement has made news everywhere. But before delving in to the subject, I want to give Ms. Williams credit for the headline on this post, which I borrowed from her opening paragraph:
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — In the state that gave the world Facebook, Google and the iPod, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says forcing California’s students to rely on printed textbooks is so yesterday.
To the casual observer not necessarily familiar with online education realities, the idea seems to make sense. And in the long run, it is a good idea. But you don’t have to read very far into Ms. Williams’ piece to find the many contemporary gotchas. She reports, for example, that only one in four students in California has access to a computer in the classroom. Others who are quoted note that students in poorer schools and neighborhoods without access to technology would be severely disadvantaged. Still others note that even if textbooks go online, the publishers and content providers aren’t going to make the material available for free. In short, it could cost more – a lot more — than the current $350 million a year to rid the state of hard copy textbooks. Finally, I suspect that those who look to online education primarily as a means to save money a) find that they don’t save money, at least quickly, and b) tend to overlook the substantial educational reasons for online teaching and learning. These two possibilities go hand in hand. Quality costs money. Read more…
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Skills and Technologies Used by Online Students Important Workplace Skills
Posted on July 1, 2009 by Jennifer Brady | Leave a Comment
Obviously, what you learn is important to your career aspirations. But how you learn – using online technologies, systems, tools and techniques – is becoming important, too, if you think IBM is any indicator of what life in the corporate fast lane now favors.
While some may question the value of social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, profile pages, instant messaging and so on, IBM is assembling variations of all these things to advance its business worldwide. Specifically, in this press release, IBM is announcing a new social networking community designed to help its employees and partners more easily connect and collaborate.
I have to share just a couple of snippets from this release because in them, you’ll quickly recognize aspects of online student life. This means that now, while online students are mastering course content, they are also mastering some technology skills that will be valuable in the workplace: Read more…
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Character Education in Online Education
Posted on July 1, 2009 by Li_Feng | Leave a Comment
Recently I read an article (in Chinese) in which the authors explain their perspective in online education in China. I found the following viewpoint, which I translated into English, interesting:
Currently, there are still some issues with the development of online education. First of all, there is a lack of proficiency in internet technology and educational philosophy among online educators. At present, online education in most universities is limited to videotaped lectures or lecture notes that are shared online for students to browse. In this sense, the advantage of interaction which is unique to online education is not given full play. This is partly because technical staff tends to lack in-depth understanding of education whereas many educators lack knowledge of network technology. Secondly, online education is not comparable with traditional education in terms of character education. The role of a teacher is not only to teach a subject, but more importantly to educate a person. It is hard for an online instructor to set a moral example by words and deeds, thus lacking the ability to help students form noble personality.
The first issue with online education pointed out by the authors concurs with what we saw during our visits in China, although in some universities interaction is built into their learning management systems. It would be of interest to examine whether and how students enjoy and benefit from the interactions they have with the instructor and their peers. Read more…
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“Jetson Students in a Flintstone’s World!”
Posted on July 1, 2009 by Mark Schlesinger | Leave a Comment
The headline on this post comes from the title of a speech given by an online high school teacher named Pam Birtolo. The teacher and her recent talk received coverage here in this article in the Herald Online. While it is a memorable speech title, in the talk itself she paints a stark contrast between the technology skills and interests of students versus teachers. In my opinion, this is a bit of a stereotype that’s quickly going away. But I have a UMassOnline faculty perspective versus that of K-12.
More important in Ms. Birtolo’s speech, I believe, is her impression of the most important thing she’s learned as an online instructor… Read more…
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