Online Learning: Evolving Niche or Hype?

Home sweet home. (2013)

Diogenes of Sinope, an ancient Greek philosopher, made it his life's mission to challenge customs, values, and social constructs. He purportedly lived in a giant jar or barrel to demonstrate his disgust for Greek values. While a homeless educator, like Diogenes, is not far from our current economic reality, what about a classroom-less educator? Do we currently live in a time when it is viable to challenge the operation of an institution deeply entrenched in our culture, to challenge the notion that you have to be in the classroom to learn? If a classroom-less education is a technical reality, does that make it culturally acceptable, or will proponents be steamrolled, like Diogenes, by conventions?

A recent blog post by Larry Cuban (2013), featured in the Washington Post, highlights the current divide between the traditional and the online education. Cuban (2013) suggests that the promise of online learning is similar to the "history of exaggerated claims for earlier technology." Cuban remarks that online learning tauts promise, but advocates of online learning offer no concrete proof such learning provides an advantage to the traditional classroom. Cuban (2013) reminds us to consider the hype of yore: "distance education, instructional television, and desktop computers."

It is not difficult to imagine that Larry Cuban has an antagonist. Michael Horn (2013), a contributor to Forbes, points out that Cuban's astute observations of technological hype plays no significant role in the current and future promise of online learning. Horn (2013) sees online learning as a supplement to teaching in the lower grades, with its full implications being felt in the secondary and postsecondary levels during the next decade, providing a student-centric approach that will "reinvent the learning model as we know it." Some of the shift is already here, according to Horn (2013), and more is on the way.

Cuban and Horn can agree on one aspect of the debate: how do we separate the chaff from the wheat when it comes to online education? Cuban (2013) suggests more study, while Horn (2013) assumes a marketplace approach with the best ideas winning. Both approaches sound laissez-faire.

It makes more sense to consider the issue from the middle rather than either extreme. Doing nothing is not an option since the online world has arrived in many classrooms. Committing limited resources to expensive and unproven technology seems equally illogical. The obvious solution lies in the hybrid or blended environment.

As Horn (2013) acknowledges, online learning is best done under the right conditions. It is difficult to imagine that a young child could be solely educated with present technology or without intense parental support. The parent must also be acutely aware of socialization. A traditional education provides a level of interaction hard to duplicate in an online environment that approximates a homeschool environment.

In the secondary and postsecondary environment, the necessity for socialization is somewhat negated by the assumption that prior schooling has provided needed interactions with peers; however, there is importance in collaboration that mimics the corporate or nonprofit world. Will online environments leave students unprepared for the "real world?"

Is our educational future like Spock's? (Abrams, 2009)

There are, however, advantages to an online education under certain circumstances. It should always be assumed that technology is not a panacea; it does not and can not solve all educational problems. For the student having problems in a traditional high school, an online education may provide an environment conducive to success. For the college student unable to afford a traditional college education, the price may be right, but are the skills equivalent?

Certain subjects seem conducive to the online classroom: could all the core subjects be taught online? Do you really need to be in a physical classroom to learn English, math, or science? Only time will prove or disprove the theory that an online environment is equal or superior to the traditional classroom. We can assume, however, that with current technology, many of the subjects requiring hands-on interactions are best accomplished in a real classroom. Reality, as we know it, cannot be simulated, yet.

Maybe the day will come when we put our children into pods, and computers will simulate learning experiences similar to the education a youthful Spock received in the Star Trek reboot. Maybe. To say this is the future might be akin to deciding that a giant jar makes for a good home. Until then, online learning will provide an important niche in the continuing evolution of education, but it does not provide all our educational needs.

References

(2013, June 7). [Web photo]. Retrieved from http://www.beyond-the-pale.co.uk/diogenes.htm

Abrams, J. (Producer), and Abrams, J. (Director). (2009). Star trek [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

Cuban, L. (2013, June 1). Online instruction for k-12 [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/online-instruction-for-k-12-part-1/

Horn, M. (2013, June 6). Avoid the hype: Online learning's transformational potential [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelhorn/2013/06/06/avoid-the-hype-online-learnings-transformational-potential/