Are online classrooms the future of schools and colleges?
I am wondering if online classrooms are the future of schools and colleges. Bill Gates and his philanthropic arm is making huge investments to promote online education. While we can make arguments for and against the overall usefulness or effectiveness of online education; no one can deny that it's an excellent business opportunity. You will see the big businesses pushing for education delivered online - through distance education courses, courses delivered over mobiles and tablets and in near future using virtual reality.
I do not deny the advantages online education offers: you get the opportunity to learn from the best people from the world, you can repeat the course as many times you want, learn any time convenient to you, learn from anywhere in the world without needing to travel and so on. But what worries me is that it will take the human element out of the entire learning process.
For me, it's the friendships I made during my school days continue to be lot more important and relevant than confirming Pythagoras was right by proving his theorems using steps dictated by school teacher. I'm not comparing apples and oranges; but citing just an example (may not be an apt one) to stress my point that social element is a HUGE one. I've tried learning Guitar using online courses but it doesn't come anywhere close to going to my Guitar class, spending time with my tutor, interacting with him and learning from him.
Love it or hate it, mega corporations are going to push for online classrooms because it will make money for them. But do you think 50 years from now, the education will primarily be delivered online? Will it just be as effective?
I do not deny the advantages online education offers: you get the opportunity to learn from the best people from the world, you can repeat the course as many times you want, learn any time convenient to you, learn from anywhere in the world without needing to travel and so on. But what worries me is that it will take the human element out of the entire learning process.
For me, it's the friendships I made during my school days continue to be lot more important and relevant than confirming Pythagoras was right by proving his theorems using steps dictated by school teacher. I'm not comparing apples and oranges; but citing just an example (may not be an apt one) to stress my point that social element is a HUGE one. I've tried learning Guitar using online courses but it doesn't come anywhere close to going to my Guitar class, spending time with my tutor, interacting with him and learning from him.
Love it or hate it, mega corporations are going to push for online classrooms because it will make money for them. But do you think 50 years from now, the education will primarily be delivered online? Will it just be as effective?
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