So? What might online delivery accomplish that geographically based programs cannot. Here’s one idea:
Why NOT?
In our examination of the scope of distance education, we want to spend a little time talking about what we aren’t doing — or aren’t doing very well. Almost 20% of people older than 25 in the US don’t even have a high school diploma. Is that ok? One in five? Only 23% have a bachelors degree or higher. In the US economy that’s the base level credential that lets you apply for a job. But three out of four people don’t have one. So what? When you finish your MA’s you’ll be part of the rarified group 6% of the population with an advanced degree.
My perception is that the general consensus is that “online is better than nothing” and the face-time issue will inevitably come up. My opinion is that face-time is overrated and the opportunities that online delivery provides to differentiate instruction for individuals and to amortize the expense of development across many more students not only makes it “better than nothing” but actually makes it superior.
The issue, of course, is that so many people do online delivery so badly. But that’s another issue.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:00 am
If you look at Eastern, KY the numbers on college degrees and even high school diplomas are equal to or worse than the national averages you mention. However, one point that I keep hearing from alot of students when I was in the classroom was that degrees beyond a high school diploma was not useful in this area because the jobs requiring those types of credentials were simply not there. I do not know how familiar you are with Eastern, Ky but most counties have relativley small amount of industry and most of the industries that do exist are labor intensive. Therefore high school students often lack the desire for a broader education unles they have plans of moving elsewhere. Many students figure if they get their high school diploma or GED they be able to find just as good of a job here as their more educated counterparts. I have found alot of this to ring true as most of the jobs postings for our area require only minumum education with the ones that do require education being medical or working for the school system or community college in a faculty position.
I personally wanted to get a higher education regardless of my intent to stay or move from the area simply because I felt it important and would be the first in my immediate family to go beyond high school. Have I found a job that requires my degree here? No. But money was not my only motivation. I know that I have an education and should an opportunity arise here or elsewhere I may well be qualified.
On the topic of online delivery, I feel this is becoming more acceptable. There were times when I was first getting into college that the registrars frowned on some online classes, feeling as if the coursework would be substandard or that the schools was not legit. There have been many news stories about online diploma mills and life experience schools that will evaluate your work history and then award a degree, with substantial payment ofcourse. However, through checking accrediations I beleive tha online delivery format is just as good if the professor sets the course up in a way so as to offer geniune experiences, rather than just fact finding on the internet.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
I chose to go to college because I wanted to teach. Getting an AGR job in the Army National Guard pays almost double what teaching pays and has more benefits. I have never been about the money, but it does pay the bills,
. What motivates people to get a high school diploma, BA, or beyond? I see that people are content with below average. Just getting by is fine, no motivation to work for it. There of course are jobs that pay just as well, if not better without the degree. Those jobs are out there, usually not in our area (Eastern Ky). I never wanted to be a teacher because it would be my job, I wanted to teach because I knew I would wake up every (almost) morning and be happy with where I was at and where I was going. I have friends that make triple what I made as a teacher, and they are miserable. Always looking for the next best thing. I know that I want to teach and retire from it.
I also think that fear holds people back from diving into classes. Online classes can offer something that the traditional classroom cannot. It allows them the privacy of their own home, where they can complete the class at their own pace. Of course this class requires so much more than just a read and regurgitate question/answer. It is very challenging – but what better way to go for it.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:26 pm
The reason that most do not graduate high school is family life. It is not instilled them. Welfare is an evil cycle that a lot of low socioeconomic families can not and do not want out of. Why…. they don’t have to work, they have better health care including dental and vision than me. Don’t get me wrong that they don’t bring home much but on the other hand they don’t have many expenditures. I hear it in school and I see it in my second job as a paramedic. “Take the ambulance to the ER and you’ll get in faster and we won’t have to use our gas money” But… if they graduate and begin to work, then you are busted. You will have to work for the rest of their lives.
Another reason people do not graduate high school is due to IEP’s/ 504 plans. In elementary school, I was labeled as special ed. WELL, what they didn’t know is that I could read, I just didn’t want to. Students have hard lives sometimes and the last thing they want to do is to read something they are not interested in. So then they are stereotyped… one thing we try to teach students not to do. Behavior problems are labeled as troubled children with no hope of reform. All stereotyping. So they think they can’t succeed and no one will give them a chance. Once stereotyped always stereotyped. The only way I got out of my situation is my family life changed including a change in schools. Thank goodness.
Moving on…. Online classes offer people to stay at home and continue their educations. But whoever says that everyone can afford to go to college is crazy. But quality education online depends on the professor and university. If you have the money, then you can buy a degree. Some you have to work for and some you don’t… we all know it.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:57 pm
The concept of an on line high school dimploma is one that I have never considered. As many times as I have thought about the adults, many in my family, who lack education needed to make a decent living in this world, and the security of on ine classes, putting the two together just didn’t occur to me. There are so many issues that stop people from finishing high school and going on to college. We all know that home life and economic issues play a huge role in what we choose to do with our lives. It is an intergenerational cycle. There are also social issues that stand in the way. Some people deal with problems that many of us could never understand that lead them to insecurities that they never overcome. An online class just seems safer…not EASIER. I know that I feel better about not knowing the answer, talking with classmates and sharing ideas in this environment, than in a traditional classroom.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:28 pm
That’s incredible that we are in a state of uneducated people being so populous throughout the country. People do have obstacles that they must overcome to receive an education, but online classes help alleviate some problems.
I think that online classes allow for those who don’t always have the opportunity for education due to location or time restraints. In Eastern Kentucky, there aren’t many choices when choosing beyond a high school education. With online classes, people can receive an education comparable or even better than face to face instruction.
I disagree that online is better than nothing. You can receive high quality instruction online with the correct way of instruction.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I am from Eastern Kentucky too. I know growing up there, there wasn’t much available. After high school I was one of the few from my graduating class that left and went to college. I know of many of my classmates that dropped out of school due to the fact they thought it wasn’t important to get an education. They thought, well they didn’t really think they actually dropped out and got a job making money. So being at a high school age and already having a job and their own money, they thought they had it made.
I am now living in Somerset and teaching 8th grade. I decided that I wanted to get away and make something out of myself. I wanted more. I decided I wanted to go into teaching so I could make a difference within a child’s life. Now I see what happened back then still occurring today. I have a student right now that has failed many times and is a lot older than other students in the class. This student is wanting to drop out. I have been working to change this student’s mind due to the fact without an education, they don’t have a future. I mean besides living on a welfare check which I have heard from parents that that is what their children is going to do in the future. Don’t you think that is sad? I have had parents say that their child will not finish school and will draw a check and live with them. That is setting them up for failure. But anyways back to my student, this student says that it is hard to go to school and be ridiculed each day. In this case, online education would be a blessing for this student. It could be the answer to all her problems. So in situations like this, online classes would be wonderful. It is a way for those students that are bound to fail, succeed.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Hey Nate – was reading some different sites for funsies and came across this. One interesting “argument” I’ve run into as of late is that distance education is a last resort choice. The point inferred in the “better than nothing” mentality seems to be of that same variety. This mentality is precisely what’s at the root of much of the bad distance education that exists today – it’s viewed as some sort of ugly step-sister to the much-preferred face-to-face classroom environment. Truth is, all learning environments are designed. They are designed well or poorly, but they are designed. And the fact that we get used to and even expect bad design simply because it’s standard practice isn’t really something to write home about. You and I both know that just because somebody is being called a teacher and saying things in a room that looks like a classroom doesn’t necessarily mean learning is taking place.
The real discussion that should be taking shape around distance education (and didn’t it start out this way but get drowned out somewhere lo these past years ….) is how we build “better than what we have.” How do we improve what we deliver to our learners, formally and informally, and do we know when choose and un-choose distance education as a part of that solution set? Conversely, do we know when to choose and un-choose face-to-face education as part of that solution set? The medium is not an end unto itself – and this is as true for classrooms as for online environments. They are not ends unto themselves, and to pre-select them (or pre-de-select, haha) is to limit what we can accomplish before we even identify what we want to reach.
September 9th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
That’s pretty much what I’ve seen as well – the ‘education of last resort’ -
And you make a good point about a person standing in the front of a room that looks like a classroom.
Just like teachers really need to be trained to use a classroom environment (and many are not) they likewise need to be trained to use online tools. How many fewer of them train to that level?