I had some really mixed feelings about this subject. First off, I (like the article points out that many others did) pictured a lonely student sitting all day in front of a monitor reading endless pages of text and typing in answers every now and then. Then, I remembered how far our technology has come and that teachers can communicate “face to face” with their students using web cameras and microphones for their computers. I then thought about how many families don’t have a computer or the Internet and wondered how their children might go about attending online classes. The article mentions that the schools supply not only computers, but also materials for certain courses such as chemistry labs. It also mentions that certain schools and community centers have computer labs set up for online classes for students who can’t use a computer at home. I also wondered what kind of social life these kids might have, thinking they must have the social skills of a rock after years of online classes. This article once again proved me wrong by including students’ and parents’ reactions. The students can work at their own pace and even make their own schedule to suit their needs (instead of being required to be locked in at a traditional school for 6-7 hours straight, five days a week). This allows the students to tend to their own needs and even make time for friends and family. A thought that crossed my mind was that these students’ social lives were as good as mine (or even better since I go to a traditional school for a good part of the week) because in today’s age of computers and Internet, we have social networks such as MySpace and Facebook to communicate with people of all kinds from around the world. In the “old days”, before computers, to communicate with someone you had to meet face to face, write a letter, or call on a phone. This was very limited compared to the Internet. With these online schools being so flexible, kids today can get their work done more efficiently and be able to make more friends than ever.
As far as the debate between traditional “brick and mortar” schools and online schools goes, the two are actually growing closer. As the article points out, in the earlier days of online education, teachers and school officials were totally against this alternative learning, but after a while they lightened up and eventually accepted the online education. Many teachers even see how it could benefit children more than traditional schooling and are pushing to expand online education. Many traditional schools are even housing computer labs for students to use for online classes away from home. I think that with the big push in the federal government to restructure the education system, and with the new president’s connection with the younger generations and newer technologies, we may see a time very soon when most students in the country are enrolled in online schools instead of traditional schools. With more and more people (parents, students, lawmakers, and educators) acknowledging online schools, the future looks bright for online education.
Of course, there is one obstacle that online schools must overcome that may be a little too tough in this economy and that is cost. In the long run, it may cost less to convert solely to online education since facilities would have to be set up for people who can’t afford to have computers at their own home, and of course the cost of computers and technology to supply to the students. There also may be a problem with power (blackouts, especially in winter in areas such as southwest Virginia, can be a really big and unexpected problem). You wouldn’t want to be in the middle of a lesson and have the power go out, cutting off your computer. However, with technological advances coming faster and faster, this may not be much of a problem in the future.
In my opinion, online schools are just as good as, if not better, than traditional schools. Of course, it would be hard for some to let go of the traditional way of teaching (math and science are pretty easy to teach over a computer, but art and music just aren’t as fun unless you’re actually with a group of people, in my opinion). There is proof, however, that some students have learned better with online schools than with traditional schools, so I would ask the question “Why not at least give it a try on a bigger scale than what is being done now?” Maybe if the economy gets better and laws are changed so that it would be easier to set up online schools, we could then try it on a nationwide scale and see which type of education is really better.
