Today I read an interesting article entitled "More Pupils Are Learning Online, Fueling Debate on Quality" published in the New York Times on April 5th. Though the article seemed to provide several different viewpoints on the issue of quality in online learning environments, the conclusion seemed to be that the quality is sub-par compared to traditional means of instruction. Since my school is currently using an online platform for credit recovery, I am especially interested in this issue to see if further research confirms or questions the effectiveness of online platforms for high school students, especially after the opening anecdote:
"Mr. Hamilton, who had failed English 3 in a conventional classroom and was hoping to earn credit online to graduate, was asked a question about the meaning of social Darwinism. He pasted the question into Google and read a summary of a Wikipedia entry. He copied the language, spell-checked it and e-mailed it to his teacher."
If nothing else, it does serve as a reinforcement that I need to be sure to offer instruction that surpasses that which students can just get by listening to lectures online through reinforcing problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration.
Monday, April 11, 2011
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