Journal #9

The New Gold Rush: Establishing Effective Online Learning Policies, Ferdi Serim, Learning & Leading with Technology, September/October 2007, Pages 12-16.

Online learning has become probably the fastest growing area of education. On one side we have the development of a learning process that allows any student, anywhere to self-pace their learning. The article also looks to the possibilities for abuse in the system. The article states there is a “…temptation to replace highly skilled professionals with scripted, mass delivered “content” as a means of reducing costs and /or maximizing profits is a contender for the worst reason.” The author talks about the promotion of, or the prevention of, online learning will depend on whether the experts approve or disapprove of its use in schools. “New policies at both district and state levels will either promote or prevent effective online learning, depending on how well they are informed by professionals who have already spent years working in this field.” From the authors point of view the best way to teach would actually be a combination or hybridization of both types of teaching. He feels that a combination of online and face-to-face is needed to best educate students. Take the quality elements of both types of education and combine them for an optimal learning experience. The teachers can provide effective facilitation of the subjects and their needed methods for being taught and the online instructors can offer a specialized instructional design and the implementation skills needed to create a top learning environment. He is not advocating the replacement of face-to-face with online learning, but is adamant that a combination of skills is needed in order to best educate students.

Finally the author has developed priority issues that need to be addressed when understanding and evaluating online learning situations. The first part he addresses are policy issues: costs and benefits, quality and equality of programs, funding, accountability, assessment, state or district planning, coordination, support, evaluation, and teacher certification and licensing. The second set of priority issues are for teaching and learning. They include: Professional development, Constructionivist teaching practice, Philosophy, best practice, quality assurance, and technology equality.

Do I agree with the priority issues the author outlines? The fist part of the authors issues concerning policy in general I think are well done and a good start for establishment of a good networked learning environment. The second set of priority issues concerning teachers themselves worries me a bit. I think the guidelines are rather esoteric and broad. Professional Development is hard to define, but necessary to the ability to run a educational program. The part that is concerning is the remaining parts of the teaching requirements. Constructionivist and philosophical, best practices need to be defined as well or the program parameters are too broad.

What kind of learning do I think is needed? Face-to-Face, Hybridization, etc… I like the idea of combining the expertise of a teacher with the expertise of a computer user. There are many subjects that I think a student could benefit from in a self paced learning environment, which still has the traditional face-to-face encouragement of a teacher for help and guidance. Students all learn differently and at different paces, by combining the methods of learning, I think education has a chance at producing well rounded students. We will still have students that are better in some areas than others, but we may also be creating an environment where they are able to learn more that they might have in a traditional teaching environment.