http://www.charlotte.com/408/story/557432.html
This is an interesting article I found about the introduction of cyber schools into the state of South Carolina. These cyber schools are providing children the luxury of learning in the convenience of their own homes via internet. South Carolina is expected to open three full time cyber schools soon to meet the demands of students wanting to take classes from home. These cyber schools must follow the same guidelines as that of normal schools, including certified teachers and curriculum standards. The hours, however, are flexible. Students do more than spend their time sitting behind a computer screen. Included in this curriculum are traditional textbooks and other materials such as microscopes and art supplies. If this is what the future holds for education, then I wonder if teachers will eventually be removed from the classroom due to popularity of cyber schools.
6 comments:
I think this is really cool. I would loved to stay home and have flexible hours while I was in school. It does seem that socialization as the purpose of school has been removed. Although they are talking online and may have field trips together, real life interactions have been reduced. Perhaps the increase in work-from-home jobs has influenced this change.
I personally think students will be missing out on the important social factors in public schooling. It also appears there could be a credibility issue as to weather the student is actually doing the assigned work or if they may be receiving a little too much help at home. I guess we will just have to wait for the standardized test scores.
Interesting concept, but I think there should be some sort of criteria or extenuating circumstances for enrolling in a virtual school since there are not but so many slots available. I did not see anything in the article regarding that. I have to go along with what Rebecca and Dave said. Socialization is being subtracted from the experience and there is the possibility of the student receiving too much help at home and not actually doing the assigned work. How can this actually prepare students for anything other than distance learning courses in college?
I also think that this concept is neat because as mentioned in the article, technology does surround us. However, I do not think that this solution is for everyone and I think this almost encourages students to be lazy in a way. They won't be getting the social skills needed to be a well-rounded person and will miss out on that student-teacher relationship of a real classroom. As mentioned in Dave's comment, what if the students aren't the ones actually doing the work? How will anyone know until the testing takes place and by then is it to late? I think this idea is neat but scary at the same time; it almost makes teachers seem a little useless.
It's an excellent post that sparks this much discussion.
Is it possible that teachers are not being eliminated, but the role is changing?
(as a note, almost every technological change since radio has promised to eliminate the teacher).
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