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| Subject: Task 4 - First Version | |
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Author: Luciano Valadares |
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Date Posted: 15:39:34 09/04/10 Sat Online Education: opportunities and challenges It is undeniable that modern society is facing the empowerment of high technologies. Among these, the virtual world with all its sources and equipments is imposing new methodologies on the educational field. However, the so called Online Education, that follows these transformations, brings together many controversial issues. This process is unstoppable and like many other transitions it brings approval from some and disapproval from others. Even so, it is imperative that people should acquire new technological skills if they intend to belong to the virtual world. The internet can offer great educational opportunities, and for this reason it is becoming increasingly popular among people around the world. Well established universities are reviewing and looking for different ways of teaching. Some of the strongest pressures for changes are coming from students. However, besides the demand for increasing the number of online-courses, the society is not totally ready to receive that technological education yet. A point presented by some critics is that, except when the studying is made with visual contact through some specific media like webcams, the teacher has no efficient way to be sure about who is really doing the tasks. For that reason, the online education suffers a lot of prejudice from big companies, that claims that it is not reliable, once the students could have paid somebody to do the tasks for them. (citação) Another point is that some people do not seem to be able to manage their time by themselves, they prefer to take classes in the traditional way. Furthermore, many courses are not available online yet. If there is an interest in a more unusual field, it may be difficulty to find a source for online education. ( http://gradschool.about.com/od/distanceeducation/f/onlineadv.htm ) According to the article Ethical Issues for the Virtual University by Philip Brey from University of Twente - The Netherlands: “virtual universities can not offer a wide range of extracurricular activities and social services because many activities and services cannot be reproduced in the electronic form.” In addition, “many authors have stated that a profound learning experience, which includes the transmission of academic values, requires a real-world setting in which people engage in face-to-face.” Moreover, The New York Times has reported that “ the American Federation of Teachers”, concerning the distance learning, noted “All our experience as educators tell us that teaching and learning in the shared human spaces of a campus are essential to the undergraduate experiences.” On-line education is positively beneficial to all age groups searching for a way to engage on a formal kind of qualification and also promises to attend to a bigger public rather than a traditional one, for instance a disabled person or a housewife could easily study from home at their own pace instead of following a fixed timetable. On the other hand, some virtual students find that the online environment limits their ability to learn in a way that matches their learning style. Especially for visual and auditory learners, who need the presence of a spoken word. Another positive argument is that online education decreases the costs of the study compared to classical campuses, since people can access the courses from home or even work. But for some schools, online education is even more expensive than campus-based courses. For reasons of their own, many schools use their non-traditional and distance learning programs to subsidize their campus operations. However, in the interim, there are relatively few low cost alternatives among the top-name, accredited online schools. Along with new opportunities to study online, distance education also presents challenges to the students, that not necessarily overshadow the prospects of distance learning. The point is, if the society is dealing with a process that is far beyond its decision making, it is extremely important that this society together with government commissions and academic communities come up with valuable alternative mechanisms to cope with this critical situation. References: [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |