Abstract: Recently, there has been a rush to create web-based instructional courses. The approach that is being taken to create web-based courses is to create websites that will function as the central distributors of information and materials. Based on the format and content of the course, the student is to go through lesson by lesson to complete courses. In this paper, I address some of the problems inherent in this approach, especially with respect to 18-22 year-old undergraduate education.
Introduction
Technology has had a large impact on the field of education. The proliferation of multimedia resources and limitless amounts of information available through the Internet has fundamentally affected the learning process. Students no longer search through cards and stacks for magazine articles; almost everything is at the click of a finger. Multimedia resources are increasingly utilized in the classroom to help instruct students. Some professors are making conscious efforts to use new technology, so as to introduce and familiarize their students with it. The significance of technology in education is now being elevated to a new plateau. Education through the Internet, the great equalizer, may make it more widely distributed through the phenomenon of online courses. It is the thesis of this paper that online courses are not an effective means to educate traditional undergraduate college aged students (people from 18-22 years old).
In the undergraduate educational setting, student proficiency and comfort with technology are stressed, but the essential mission of most undergraduate institutions (especially, liberal arts institutions such as Dartmouth) is on the development of the individual. The nurturing and supportive environment of most undergraduate institutions helps students mature and develop. The rave and fad of online undergraduate learning causes students to miss out on too many intangibles of an on-campus education. Our current theory on education hasn’t adequately dealt with the intricacies of a web-based education, and therefore the effectiveness of such is highly questionable.
Initiative
One of the most essential ingredients to an effective instructional environment is the initiative of the student. For the traditional undergraduate college student, this is one of the areas in which most problems exist [2]. The ‘traditional’ undergraduate college student should be construed as an average male and female between the ages of 18 and 22 who is at a transitional phase in life and learning to deal with independence.
The article, “Critical Thinking? You Need Knowledge” by Diane Ravitch, discusses how in the past people have been deprived from the thinking process and abstract thinking skills. Students need to be given more retainable knowledge by their teachers to improve their critical thinking skills. (Ravitch).
Many colleges have failed in achieving the perfect education by the excessive use of technology. Hacker and Dreifus support the use of technology in many cases, such as having interactive question where the software can give the chance to review your work or giving hints to find the right answer (182). Nevertheless, they are completely aware that the use of technology needs to be supported by a good instruction inside the classrooms (183). The University of the Ozarks’ technological resources out of class are a great advantage to improve the learning process in students’ free time. Online discussions, submitting assignments, and taking online tests are the most common online activities for students in this university, this activities challenge the knowledge acquired in class. Moreover, using technology outside the classroom provides the opportunity to use all the class time to go on new topics, to discus, and to answer questions. Nevertheless, the University of the Ozarks is not using all its technological resources appropriately. Most of the classrooms are provided with interactive boards, speakers, and projectors that are hardly ever used. If the university used every technological resource at its maximum, the positive results of learning would
The past two decades have seen an almost exponential rise in the availability and popularity of online college classes and degree programs. Their pervasiveness begs the question as to the difference in a credit or degree earned in an online setting versus that of the traditional classroom. These two educational delivery systems will be compared from the perspectives of flexibility, the student experience, the impact of technology, and the issue of acceptability of online classes and degree programs.
Is technology helping or hurting people learn? Technology is increasing every day, and is soon going to be a big part of everyday life. The change of teaching students on online class is way different to what they are used to, and will take awhile to get used to. There are disadvantages, advantages, opportunities, and challenges in the technology in education. The role that teachers play now will change in the future when the major demand for the use of technology hits. There is a big change in the way that students are learning with this new online learning. Technology is changing the learning of students in a big way. Some ways are positive, and some are negative but either way there is a big impact on the way students learn. Sometimes it just depends on the student’s way of learning. Those kind of students should have the choice of what they would rather use a book, or a computer. Students need to be able to decide the type of learning that they want to do to help them learn. Students need to know which way it is that they learn the best. Each person has to find out which way they learn the best to better themselves. Find out the best way that they learn so that it can benefit them in life.
Critical thinking can be used in certain aspects of problem solving and requires various types of skills. People must be motivated and not afraid to use their critical thinking skills to solve various troubles that can and will arise.
When students are deciding on where to go to college, they have the option of choosing between online classes and the traditional classroom classes. Today, some students are finding it much easier to maintain a job, family and start a college career, all by taking online classes. Although some students still prefer to stick with the traditional classroom classes, they still have the option to take online classes. Both online and the traditional classes will provide the educational requirements needed to obtain a college degree and opportunities in the work field. Although the online classes offer just as much as the traditional classes, they are completely different when it comes to teaching methods, course material and time.
Online education, while offering clear advantages such as supporting a self-paced learning experience by allowing learning on an on-demand basis rather than a strict class schedule, also has significant drawbacks. Students in an online only course may struggle with structure and content without hands-on instruction, which can help motivate students who otherwise may be distracted or have difficulty working independently. The traditional structure of classroom education is effective, but also comes with a set of obstacles, particularly for nontraditional students. The best way to bridge this gap is hybrid education, which combines technology and personal interaction to support efficiency and self-paced learning while keeping students motivated, social, and connected to their professors and their peers through face to face interactions. While this newer learning model is still under investigation, there is evidence to prove that hybrid courses can lead to academic success.
I began attending this class, with little understanding about leadership and its various ethical challenges, before any leader can make decision. I am now have a better understanding about the proper definition of leadership with its four main components, as it involves a “process” of “influencing people” to achieve a “common goal”, and something that can be learn and develop overtime (Northouse, 2015). It generally involves a two way process of leaders affecting the followers and vice versa,
Mupinga, D. M., Nora, R. T., & Yaw, D. C. (2006). The learning styles, expectations, and needs of online students. College Teaching, 54, 185-189.
Technology is a key element in the world today. It plays an important role in almost everything. Education is no exception to this; technology has been present in education for many years now. The purpose of this paper is to discuss why education is better with the addition of technology. More importantly, I am talking about this so that my audience will become more aware of how technology supports what is being done in education.
Today’s generation is like no other. The nation as a whole has completely evolved from past times, with technology being one of the greatest improvements. Traditionally, schooling takes place in a classroom setting, but, with the many modifications in our world’s system, we are able to assimilate more modern means of education, such as online learning. However, with many changes comes differences and requires adjustments. The online learning system has proven to be just as effective as traditional learning, with some minor differences, however, nothing of great significance. A few of those insignificant differences include online learning being convenient, especially for the non-traditional students,
Many people think online education can be more expensive than a traditional school setting. Previous generations did not have the option for online learning experience, so why should we start now? An interesting point about online education is that LeBaron (2010) states, “The largest school in the U.S. is the University of Phoenix Online, with a whopping 380,232 students. That’s over 5x more than the largest public school, Arizona State University, which has 68,064 students” (para. 7). Despite the cost effectiveness, distance education is becoming the educational model of the future.
The object/goal of online courses is for students to learn independently in the virtual environment without the “on-the-spot” help of the teacher. The indications are that involvement is a powerful means in the improvement in most of the aspects of undergraduates’ cognitive and affective development. In theory, the author believes online pedagogy would address the problem of students retreating to self-gratifying internet sites where they spend a great deal of time shopping online, chatting on social networks and playing online games. The author states (paraphrasing) “Until now, little at...
Online Instruction has produced a tremendous amount of attention throughout various college campuses in the United States. The traditional norm in the interaction between teacher and student has been a hallmark of the education experience for many years. This connection is now being challenged by the rapidly growing number of online courses and degrees as many students demand a better convenient way to earn one. According to the article, ‘Online Teaching’ author Al-Asfour, claims that teaching methods have undergone many changes due to the progression of modern technology. For example: students attending class on a set schedule, listening to lectures, handing in assignments, and testing, have all successfully transitioned to the online world. Over the last few years, education has witnessed an acceptance in regards to the use of technology in the classroom. Today, we live in a very exciting era for students who enjoy using computer related
Some students within society need to have online learning to complete college degrees due to their lifestyles. While it is good to have online learning as an option if one chooses, it should not be the only option available to some students. Some may argue that online education is not creating discrimination within the educational environment. Furthermore, some may suggest that online learning is benefiting our students in society. There has been a breakthrough in time and geographical limitations of education via online courses (Ho, 2009).