Final Thoughts... Perceptions of Online Learning

I think that as standards are being implemented and improved, the perception of distance learning is improving. There was some bad publicity concerning online universities where it appeared that if one could finance the degree, one could earn the degree, whether qualified or not. Certainly in some of my online earlier online classes at other institutions, I met up with classmates who were in no way qualified to be in any graduate program, due to their lack of even the simplest writing skills or their inability to grasp and apply complex ideas. The result of the bad publicity was, in the end, positive, as it compelled online schools to improve their standards, and made potential online students aware of the differences between poor programs and more robust, demanding curricula worthy of a college education. I believe that because of this crisis of public perception, online learning experiences have undergone constructive change; as a result, opinions are gradually changing and computer-based education is finding growing acceptance.

Popularity Will Follow Availability

Parents have been seeking better choices for educating their children for many years. Twenty years ago, as a homeschooling parent, I was part of a small minority with few resources to choose from. Today homeschools and home-based online schools are much more commonplace, as parents realize that the traditional public school does not fit every child. I believe that this will continue to grow in the short term and be considered much more “normal” within the next 10 years. Colleges may take somewhat longer, again because of public perceptions. As the major colleges begin to offer online courses, however, it will be more acceptable to have a distance education. Harvard and MIT are offering online courses that mirror their traditional offerings (Lewin, 2012). Stanford has offered a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), albeit without Stanford credit (Carey, 2012). There is movement, even while there is resistance; I believe that before another 20 years pass, we will see major universities offering full degree programs that carry the same prestige as attending the ground campus currently hold.

Institutional Resistance to Change

Online schools focus on teaching and learning. There is no sports agenda, and there are no corporate or federally funded laboratory complexes. Learners do not have to find themselves in second place to a professor’s research and textbook authoring schedule. Given the cost to maintain the major institutions of learning, one would suppose that online education, with its ability to cut costs through technology and economies of scale, would appeal to cash-strapped brick-and-mortar schools. This has not been the case until recently. I suspect that the biggest reason for traditional colleges and universities to oppose online learning efforts is, as Steven Pearlstein (2010) noted, “…that they would disrupt just about everything – routines, hierarchies, to say nothing of the incomes and job security of the tenured faculty” (p. 1). In spite of the resistance to change, however, the Sloan Consortium’s eighth annual survey reported that online enrollments enjoyed a 21% growth rate for the 2010 school year, compared with 2% growth for traditional schools; furthermore, almost 30% of all students in higher education now take at least one course online (Allen & Seaman, 2011). Clearly, a movement for distance learning exists, whether the traditional educational establishment wishes it or not.

Consumer Demand

George Siemens (2010) states:

“Growing acceptance of distance education is fueled by:

·         The increase in online communication

·         Practical experience with new tools

·         Growing sense of comfort with online discourse, and

·         Ability to communicate with diverse and global groups.”

I see all of these factors at work in my own life and the lives of my family and friends. As an example, consider how I use the Internet on any given day:   

1.      I keep a grocery list on my smart phone, complete with estimated cost and the capability to enter the actual cost. While I’m out, I can check my bank balance and all recent activity, so I know I can pay for the groceries. While I’m standing in line, I can check email and send out a message telling my family where I am and how soon they can expect me to be home. 

2.      I’m sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for my appointment. Earlier, I downloaded my course readings to my iPad and made sure they were in the machine’s memory, knowing I would probably not have a connection at the clinic. While I wait, I read, and the application on the iPad allows me to add comments, highlight text, and even write in the margins just as I would do when I was an undergraduate with hard text books in the 1970s.

3.      I pay every bill except my rent online. I could use my bank’s online bill pay feature for this last one, but I like my landlord and enjoy seeing him once a month when he comes by for the check.

4.      In my house, we never, ever watch a movie or television program without a computer handy; we use it to look up trivia, fueled by questions like “Wasn’t that guy on the Stargate series?” “Where was this filmed? The scenery looks like Moab,” or “What year did this movie come out?” We are so accustomed to having information at our fingertips that we feel deprived when we go to the movies in a theater and don’t have the answers right at hand.

I am by no means alone in this continuous-connection existence. Everywhere I look, people are connecting with their stored information, and with one another, using their Internet connections. As the newer generations are born to this lifestyle, the notion of school online will become more and more acceptable, and demand will overcome resistance to change as it currently exists. In my own role as an instructional designer, I will use my variety of social connections to advocate for online education, both in the higher learning venue and in the realm of P-12 (preschool through high school), where I believe there is great potential to improve the “school” experience for young people.

Changing what Education Means

Education as we have known it consisted of a teacher having the information and the student learning it. The structure of traditional education was formal and hierarchical. Students were assigned to their learning peers based on age, not ability, and location of school district rather than choice of venue. It did not matter if these age-peered students from the same neighborhood had the same interests or needs; the educational system determined for them what was needed and how it should be taught. The future of learning, I believe, will be much more open and learner centered.

Particularly at the high school level, where students are developing self-awareness and a sense of the future, courses will no longer be taken as part of “college prep” or “vocational” tracks, but as a body of interest for the individual student. The teenager who once had to choose between higher mathematics for college and “shop” class for welders will be able to combine those interests for a practical connection to structural engineering. Students whose learning world is a blend of online and face-to-face courses will be able to move effortlessly between these worlds to meet the objectives they set for themselves. My intention is to provide the online portion of this learning experience, while encouraging students to look outside the expected norms and find the network that fits their interests and plans, both in the virtual world and in their everyday “real world” lives.

A Focus on the Learner                             

One area where I see a serious need for improvement is the education of the brightest and most intellectually gifted individuals. My experience with so-called “gifted” classes has, for the most part, consisted of “harder” classes with more work added, but no real connection to what the students wanted to explore, or encouragement to seek information on their own. There is no value in adding on work to keep the bright student occupied while the others struggle to catch up. In an online learning environment, the student can be set free to discover the wide world of information available from experts all over the world. Rather than closing students into a test-driven box, I want to offer a relevant opportunity to seek out answers and connect with others of similar interests to create communities of practice where participants work together to achieve new levels of learning. Stephen Downes (2008) proposes informal learning, where

“People pursue their own objectives in their own way, while at the same time initiating and sustaining an ongoing dialogue with others pursuing similar objectives. Learning and discussion is not structured, but rather, is determined by the needs and interests of the participants” (p. 14).

This is precisely the kind of education I want to offer students as I move into the arena of distance learning. I picture myself as a guide, directing learners in one route or another to get them started, and then providing an open map for them to follow in any direction they choose to achieve their personal learning goals. I believe that each person has within himself or herself the thirst for knowledge. Traditional education has not quenched the thirst so much as attempted to convince the learner that the knowledge only comes in one flavor. My wish is to open up the learning “cooler” and let the students choose the best flavor for themselves; in other words, I want to offer all the world has to learn and let the learners decide which portions are relevant and applicable to their individual lives.

A Lasting Legacy?

I spend a lot of time sharing my ideas on education with my grown children; two of them are in college now, one online and one in traditional school. They both intend to pursue secondary education as their career field, so these talks are not just my rambling on about what I am studying; our exchange of ideas is relevant to them, and to the students whose lives they will effect in years to come. So, while I intend in my own career to be a catalyst for educational change, I also hope to pass on my dreams to a new generation of educators. I suppose it could be said that I am “walking the talk” in my pursuit of my own online degree, but I believe I will be most effective in the future by becoming part of the online collaboration of educators, instructional designers, and other advocates for using technology. I am gradually building my own network of likeminded people and organizations, exchanging ideas with some of the finest minds in distance education and advocating for open learning for everyone. I see a day when everything we know will be available to anyone who wants to know it; the online world will be the neighborhood library of the distance learner of tomorrow.

References

Allen, I., & Seaman, J. (2011). Going the Distance: Online education in the United States, 2011. Sloan Consortium. Retrieved from http://babson.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6Xpu84FGPyTh6CM&SaveButton=1&SSID=SS_0Bw5T45abJ3su0c

Carey, K. (2012, May 14). Stanford's credential problem. Retrieved from The Chronical of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/stanfords-credential-problem/46851

Downes, S. (2008). The future of online learning: Ten years on. Retrieved from Half an Hour: http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2008/11/future-of-online-learning-ten-years-on_16.html

Lewin, T. (2012, May 2). Harvard and M.I.T. team up to offer free online courses. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/education/harvard-and-mit-team-up-to-offer-free-online-courses.html

Pearlstein, S. (2010, August 11). Despite scandal, for-profit education offers valuable model. Retrieved from Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/10/AR2010081006390.html

Siemens, G. (2010). The Future of Distance Education. Laureate Education.

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