Journal #5

Title: The New Gold Rush, Establishing Effective Online Strategies Author: Ferdi Serim
Learning & Leading with Technology, September 2007

This article discusses the current concerns surrounding the ever growing online learning industry. On the one hand the author remind us of online learning’s potential to deliver on the age-old promise of student centered education and in the case of online learning, student paced also. On the other hand, he warns of the glut of profiteers lying in wait hoping to clean-up, financially, in the push to attain the goal of student centered learning through this medium. With this in mind he warns educators of the pitfalls that can present in online learning. He shares a rubric which can be used to evaluate and categorize methods in an effort to predict a successful implementation.

The article is brief in its treatment of the subject but he does have some useful examples. The most valuable section of the article is the rubric. The fear the author brings to the text is intuitive and because of that it rings true. In his forewarning, he states the obvious but the often unspoken; how quick and cheap can we educate our students? He clearly communicates to us that online learning, as wonderful as it is, is no panacea for all the woes in education. He reiterates that it is a miraculous tool but not as an unrestrained application in a capitalist society.

Question #1
In an online course, is the teacher a teacher, or a facilitator? The article alludes to a potential for teachers to get lost in the maze of online education. After all, online learning is self-teaching. So if online courses are successful the student is engaging in self-taught education and the teacher therefore takes-on the role of facilitator. This is further shown by the goal and intent of online education. It is to provide a medium for students to teach themselves. Therefore, if the teacher were to interact as teacher, it logically follows that the online format was a failure. Therefore, in an online education format the teacher must be a facilitator.

Question #2
Does online learning really decrease the cost of education delivery to the student? I say no. After reading this article, it appears that a room full of students with one teacher and a teacher’s aide is too costly for our society. This model is costly in monetary terms and in the failure to achieve the expected results. Because of this we embark on more cost effective avenues such as online learning models. But what is the overall cost of going this course? The facility, the hardware, the software, the power, the endless software updates and revisions, the limitless supply of yearly security updates, the repairs, the viruses, the replacements, the technical experts, etc… However, looking at the cost of a decision without balancing it against the value it can bring is shortsighted. Therefore, I will keep an open mind but my inclination is still that it is not a cost effective approach to educating students.