Monday, January 3, 2011

Online learning trends

Many public schools in the United States are offering online classes to reach potential drop-outs and to supplement instruction on snow days. Recently, the natural inclination of many education institutions is to offer online learning opportunities, with the hybrid approach winning the hearts of those who are skeptical of online learning.

Advocates of online learning continue to point out the benefits of asynchronous education. The challenging aspect of online learning is one of those benefits! Online learning is not easy. It takes self-discipline. Online learners are forced to learn time management skills and they begin to appreciate the value of the internet. For distance learning advocates, the challenge of online learning is beneficial and a selling point of the proposal. The challenge, according to a recent report by Digital Learning Now, is to create effective high-quality online lessons and make those lesson accessible to those who are eligible.

While no one would suggest that online learning could ever be a replacement for connecting with a teacher or doing group work, online learning can enhance knowledge and provide opportunities to practice learned skills. With this in mind, the hybrid approach is the acceptable approach to online learning. Most schools, who would otherwise be unwilling to offer online learning, are willing to compromise by allowing online learning to act as a supplement to traditional interaction with teachers and peers.

A massive upheaval of education and forcing students to take online courses is neither necessary nor desired. Rather, those who are naturally inclined to teach online courses and those who are willing to take those courses will emerge. Such persons should be given the opportunity to do so, as stipulated by Digital Learning Now.

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/T6jVx and the writer of this article is Dominick Inglese.

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