The Future of Education: Online? Or “on the line”?
Written by: Kamron Wixom
Educators may now be discussing how to spend such a sudden surge in revenue with the stimulus monies, but are they taking into account a more fundamental change on education’s horizon? Online enrollments grew from an estimated 45,000 in the year 2000 to more than a million by 2008, according to eSchool News April 2009. Clayton Christensen, with his new book, “Disrupting Class” estimates that more than half of all instruction will take place online within the next 10 years.
What does this mean for educators, staff and administration of our nation’s school districts? It means that their livelihood may be on the line if they cannot embrace technology in the classroom. We’re not just talking about electronic whiteboards, computers and projectors—for which there are plenty of advertisements clambering for stimulus money.
What’s in the future? Education, not technology, is always the future of education. In other words, no single device can ever replace effective teaching methods. The way students learn has not changed over the years, but there is a conflict between how schools have traditionally had to teach and how students learn most effectively. Students have always learned at varying paces—and learn best one to one. The demand of being in 32 places at once has long been a core frustration of classroom teachers.
Self-paced, online learning has come of age and parents, students, and a growing number of school districts, are discovering its advantages. Schools, districts and bona-fide teachers DO NOT have to become obsolete or replaced by the online revolution. Christensen does warn that school districts may need to change their “business model” in order to stay with the shift that is underway. Likewise, teachers must shift their teaching models to embrace the online advantages.
Schools were quick enough to accept computers into the classroom in the late 1980’s, and soon came computer curricula to learn how to use the new desktop devices. However, even today, many teachers would classify as barely computer literate, perhaps some could even be considered “technophobes”. LearnKey can almost guarantee to get people from digital incompetence to digital literacy through our newly released Computer Foundations and IC3 training. These teachers may be absolutely brilliant teachers. They may have that magical quality that engages students and may have genius lesson plans in their toolbox, but are afraid of mice—so to speak. Those who choose not to make the jump to digital literacy risk their careers for ever-obvious reasons.
Another group in the teaching profession could be classified as digitally literate, but not exactly proficient. According to the trends, this group is also in danger of losing their career in education over the next 10 to 15 years. This would be the group that use computers to track grades in Excel, or use Word to write up a great lesson plan, but would not think to use a computer for the lesson delivery except maybe as in a simple PowerPoint presentation. If they do think to use technology into their lesson plan, they will be the ones that always ask, “How do I make ‘this’ do ‘that’?” LearnKey has long been providing just the training these teachers need to develop their own skills with Office 2007 training (and more). Do they know it’s here? If implemented, online training in these classrooms may have filled in the knowledge gaps that the teacher was not able to provide.
A third classification is teachers who would be considered “technically savvy” and proficient with the use of computers. While these teachers may be great at computers and “tech stuff”, they may be horrible teachers. They do well with students that are as “geeky” as they are, but may leave a majority of their students behind. Self-paced, online training may be able to pick up some of the slack in this kind of teaching environment.
Christensen argues that schools have done very little to adjust the old teaching methods to the new opportunities available with computers, the Internet, and now mobile computing.
What does the new teaching model look like? What does the super-hero hybrid teacher look like that is both tech-savvy and an excellent teacher? We know they are out there, but our goal is to help all teachers become super teachers for the future. In subsequent newsletter articles we will explore what these new teaching models might look like 5 to 10 years down the road—and what barriers currently stand in the way.
Conclusion: Change is indeed coming to education. Technology is pushing the revolution whether schools are ready or not. Students (learners) will increasingly take up the growing option to go online with or without the school. Schools have an unprecedented opportunity to spend stimulus money on technology and/or services that may or may not ensure their place in tomorrow’s “business” of education.
