It has been an interesting experience over the last few weeks taking the side of a debate I had very little belief in. Having said that, I may have started to convince myself that I did have some good points regarding the benefits of the more traditional teaching methods. I feel like it has been a good challenge to try and put forward arguments against e-learning to a group of students who are essentially doing this course because of its online benefits and flexibility. Needless to say I was up against it from the start.
The first points discussed by Dayle and I were some of the problems/limitations of e-learning in terms of issues associated with technology. I argued that glitches in hardware/software were quite common and can result in an unproductive experience for the student. Microphones drop out, likewise internet or skype connections etc. Dayle conceded that technological problems do occasionally occur, but life goes on and we find ways to get around it. I would agree with that as we seem to get around any issues with our week-to-week skype sessions. I still believe that if it was a one off class, for example a full day session for a particular subject, I might be a bit wary of relying on technology when there are no more opportunities if things were to go wrong.
The second point I raised concerned the issue of authenticity. I argued that it is more difficult to determine if a student was really producing their own work using an online environment than by attending a face-to-face class. Plagiarism to me was a concern especially in the TAFE environment where students will try and get away with anything. There really is no guarantee that a student on the other side of skype or any other program is who he says he is nor that the work being produced is not being written by another person. The same can be said for students doing a standard essay and then submitting it to their teacher (on campus). The general feedback on this issue from Dayle and the others who posted comments was that we as teachers need to find ways of appropriately assessing our students so that cheating can be minimised, whatever the teaching environment. This might include collecting various forms of evidence throughout a course and trying to “get to know” your students so that you can easily detect if a piece of work submitted is theirs or not. Yes, I agree that we need to tailor our assessments to blend in with our style of delivery. But what about an online course that is totally asynchronous? How can you then get to know your students and verify their work? Still a few question marks for me and I am leaning towards my own ideas here.
The next angle I took was regarding e-learning as being a lonely and quite solitary experience. I stated that a lack of social interaction associated with e-learning could produce a number of side effects such as a decrease in the effectiveness of any online course, a student’s motivation to complete the course and the enjoyment of the online learning experience. I was quite happy to receive a few comments from people actually siding with me on this one (to an extent). A few people said they have at some point felt isolated in their course except during the synchronous skype sessions that we have each week which would not be a part of every online course. I believe a fully asynchronous online course would be very isolating no matter how you look at it. Thank goodness for skype and messenger!
Dayle put forward an idea about getting students to post photos and information on a facebook page as an activity to break the ice and allow social interaction to take place. A great idea in my opinion and I have thought about doing something similar except that I know a few students who are not actually on facebook (yes I know it is hard to believe), and might object to having images or information of themselves displayed in a semi-public domain.
The final post was interesting with Dayle explaining the concept of a free university where all the materials are made available online and students can study whatever and whenever they like. Despite the ‘University of the People’ not being accredited at this stage, I can definitely see some potential with this idea as a way of granting students access to an education. If there were a system of nationally accredited assessments that students could pay to undertake, these could go towards making up a recognised qualification.
In summary, this debate has been a fun and interesting journey which has answered many questions, yet left many more lingering. I do not know that we as teachers can ever get our assessments or methods of delivery exactly right (if that is at all possible). And anyway, how can you really say that one method will ever suit all members of a particular class. We can only try and do our best and experiment with different techniques as we strive to make education engaging, relevant, productive and useful.
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Phil, I applaud you for having done such a brilliant job at your debate despite having such little faith in your side of the argument.
ReplyDeleteHaving grown up in a family that hosts quite a few generations of teachers, I do believe that I myself am leaning towards this side of the debate. While I am a child of technology and am unable to leave my fancy iphones and laptops for too long, I frown at the constant usage of technologies that students seem to be constantly immersed, at least that seems to be like in my school.
Of course there are benefits of technologies, one cannot deny that. But I think the biggest part of your argument that struck me was the fact that e-learning is lonely. School and learning is supposed to be a social outlet, a place for students to not only learn academic skills but also to learn social skills. (which is another reason as to why I'm not fully supportive of home schooling unless there is no other options available). Schooling shouldn't be just about the covering and absorbing of vast knowledge. That is not what the entire school experience is about.
Perhaps which is why at some point I found it a little hard to connect with this subject. Other than the skype and messenger component, everything is done via online means and not having met any of our fellow coursemates so far into the course, it doesn't seem 'real'. At least that's how it felt like sometimes.
I think I'm old school. I like my technologies, but bring on the pen and paper and the good old classroom learnings anytime. If I cannot see my classmates, my teachers, then it all seems slightly surreal and it is easier to not care about them and forget. It all becomes rather impersonal and slightly cold.
Thank goodness I don't see myself ever teaching an instrument online. There'll always be (at the very minimum) 1 student in front of me at all times.
Thanks for sharing your debate, it's been a pleasure to read.