Excerpt
Jack London was the subject in Daterrius Hamilton’s online English 3 course. In a high school classroom packed with computers, he read a brief biography of London with single-paragraph excerpts from the author’s works. But the curriculum did not require him, as it had generations of English students, to wade through a tattered copy of “Call of the Wild” or “To Build a Fire.”
Mr. Hamilton, who had failed English 3 in a conventional classroom and was hoping to earn credit online to graduate, was asked a question about the meaning of social Darwinism. He pasted the question into Google and read a summary of a Wikipedia entry. He copied the language, spell-checked it and e-mailed it to his teacher.
Mr. Hamilton, 18, is among the expanding ranks of students in kindergarten through grade 12 — more than one million in the United States, by one estimate — taking online courses.
Advocates of such courses say they allow schools to offer not only makeup courses, the fastest growing area, but also a richer menu of electives and Advanced Placement classes when there are not enough students to fill a classroom.
But critics say online education is really driven by a desire to spend less on teachers and buildings, especially as state and local budget crises force deep cuts to education. They note that there is no sound research showing that online courses at the K-12 level are comparable to face-to-face learning.
Here in Memphis, in one of the most ambitious online programs of its kind, every student must take an online course to graduate, beginning with current sophomores. Some study online versions of courses taught in classrooms in the same building. Officials for Memphis City Schools say they want to give students skills they will need in college, where online courses are increasingly common, and in the 21st-century workplace.
But it is also true that Memphis is spending only $164 for each student in an online course. Administrators say they have never calculated an apples-to-apples comparison for the cost of online vs. in-person education, but around the country skeptics say online courses are a stealthy way to cut corners.
“It’s a cheap education, not because it benefits the students,” said Karen Aronowitz, president of the teachers’ union in Miami, where 7,000 high school students were assigned to study online in computer labs this year because there were not enough teachers to comply with state class-size caps.
“This is being proposed for even your youngest students,” Ms. Aronowitz said. “Because it’s good for the kids? No. This is all about cheap.”
In Idaho, the state superintendent of education plans to push a requirement that high-school students take four or more online courses, following a bill that passed the Legislature last week to provide every student with a laptop, paid for from a state fund for educators’ salaries.
Chicago and New York City have introduced pilot online learning programs. In New York, Innovation Zone, or iZone, includes online makeup and Advanced Placement courses at 30 high schools, as well as personalized after-school computer drills in math and English for elementary students.
First, I too wonder if online-courses are good for K-12 education. Having said that, this MAY be a good idea as a supplement or homework.
K-12 education is more than just teaching subjects; it also includes socialization with other students, cultures, and ethnic groups.
Also, public education needs to take into account, IF the online course is taken off-campus, the the person at the keyboard is actually the student and not a ringer while the intended student is off playing "hooky."
Second, for higher education; the real problem with online courses, is PRIVATE "diploma mills" that run online courses as a way to make money. Especially those to hire salesmen to hunt up students eligible for government education funding.
The most reliable computer courses are run by accredited colleges and universities, where the courses are run by the professors. They may include live online video streaming of a class as it is held at the collage. The best even provide online interaction with professors via eMail or chat. They may include a requirement to occasional actually attend a class in person, and the online portion is a supplement.
This could be a model that K-12 education could follow fore grades that use course-based education (Math class, English class, U.S. History class, etc.). Online courses WITH video of actual classes, but attended from home WITH interaction with teachers via eMail or chat. But this model SHOULD include a requirement to occasionally visit the school and teacher for face-to-face evaluation.
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