What if we're wrong? What if everything we believe in and work for and do day-in and day-out is wrong?
Then we're wrong.
There isn't much that we can do about it once that conclusion has been reached. Perhaps what's more important is: what did we do to get there?
I believe (perhaps in opposition to Ben, author of the original post) that there is something missing in online learning. I believe there is something lost between a physical classroom and a virtual one. Maybe it's not even the interaction; you can network in either sphere. Maybe it's not even the presence of an instructor; online classes usually have at least some sort of mediator for the content. Perhaps, then, it's my prejudice for flesh and blood. Maybe my traditional background has made me narrow-minded and biased. I just can't discount the feeling deep in my gut that teachers do more than mediate content. They are mentors and role models. They teach more than chemistry and provide more than their job description requires. They help us discover our potential and teach us how to believe in ourselves what they saw all along.
But, maybe I'm wrong. I have no proof. I've read no research and have no personal experience with online learning. All I've got is an ill-informed preconception and some fluffy words. So, if someday I'm proven wrong, knowing that how I got there was a result of ignorance and self-deluded beliefs, (and, assuming I don't change my ways) I'll accept that fate with a bit of self-indulgent sulking. But, if someday Ben is proven wrong, because he has had to justify and defend his beliefs all along, maybe he'll be a little less wrong. Maybe because his beliefs are more than an initial gut reaction--maybe because he's willing to put in the work to give that belief every chance at being right--maybe his "wrong" more closely resembles a "right."
Maybe what we really need to ask ourselves is: what am I really willing to be wrong for?
(Check out Ben Wilkoff's blog at learningischange.com)
I completely agree that something is lost in online learning. I don't believe there isn't a place for it, but I don't think it's ideal, either. As you said, "teachers do more than mediate content." I think that's really well said. A good teacher can motivate his or her students in ways that are simply impossible to recreate in a digital format. A good teacher creates an atmosphere... in a classroom... that is conducive to learning. A good teacher might be able to make one online course better than another, but they could never do as much as they could if they were in the same room as their students.
ReplyDeleteLike you said, maybe we'll be proven wrong. There is no doubt in my mind that online classes will become way more common in our digital world, and that may lead to a complete redefinition of what it even means to teach. But until such classes are the norm, I'm not worrying about losing any students to the internet.
"What am I really willing to be wrong for?" has such resonance. Love your thinking.
ReplyDeleteMy mentor, Fred Goodman, used to tell the MAC students that they would be paid (underpaid, but still...) to keep learning, every day of their professional lives. Nice, eh?
ReplyDeleteIn any case, you seem ready to see the potential of this opportunity, Amanda. Sometimes it's the orientation that makes all the difference...opportunities, not problems.