The Online Classroom

The emergence of the online classroom has had a major impact on education.

When I mentioned to a friend of my parents that I was going back to school for teacher training, he *no joke* tried to cajole me out of my decision by trying to convince me that in the future, all education will be done online, and there will be little to no need for teachers anymore. He straight-up believed that whatever accredation you would need in life would be available online, for free, to everyone within the next 20-30 years.

I was dumbfounded.

While it is true that the online classroom provides has many benefits (listed below) there are certainly some aspects of the essence of education that tends to get lost in online environments. To me, there is something sacred about the pursuit of knowledge, and the mentorship realationship between student and teacher, that does not translate easily to a digital setting.

This being said, and keeping TPACK in mind, here are some things you should know about Online Learning...

Online education involves several major concepts:

Distance Education & MOOC’s: A method of delivering education over large distances, times or sometimes both. Massive Online Open Courses are large scale, open access courses delivered online. Lectures are usually filmed and posted, as well as readings and problem sets. Types of accreditation, start and end dates and pacing options vary.

Blended classroom/learning: Traditional face-to-face instruction is “blended” with an online/virtual component to the lesson. The learner in this respect has slightly more control over time/pacing.

Flipped Classroom: A type of blended learning where instruction/ lesson is delivered online, and assignments, groupwork or homework is done in person, in the classroom.

Pro's of the Online Classroom

- Increased accessibility for learners who do not have access to higher education

- increased flexibility for learners pursuing part-time education

- increased learner autonomy

- access to information is faster and more readily available

- help from the instructor is more formalized and immediate

- some studies have shown increased interest/ engagement with the learning material if it is presented online.

Cons of the Online Classroom

- Loss of student/teacher relationship

- loss of engagement and discussion of content with peers (to an extent)

- a more superficial understanding of the lesson material

- false/hollow accredations for completed coursework

- opportunity for fraudsers and scam artists

- possibility of cheating and plagerism increases