Hi Samuel, I do too! You are correct about the fact that demand and need will make it necessary to deliver education online; however, it is a different way of learning and will not meet the needs of all learners. Tina
Hi Cynthia, I agree. In addition, many online universities don't accept learners under the age of 25 because a traditional f2f environment is much more supportive for the younger adult. Tina
Although the market for online learning continues to grow, I don't believe that it will replace the traditional classroom. Personally I'd rather the traditional classroom because of the ability to ask questions and receive feedback in a timely manner.
I hope that there will be a place for both forms of delivery as well as blended. I feel that, as a society, we are moving away from the simple face to face conversation and hand shake towards the impersonal usage of texting and chatting. Our traditional ground based instruction provides personal interaction and growth that are difficult to replicate in an online environment.
I do see online instruction continuing to grow and evolve in order to meet the educational needs of our society. Our traditional colleges and universities cannot meet the demand in a traditional "brick and mortar" system. The demand will drive more research and investment, which, in turn, will improve quality. This will yield more respect for the delivery method and further growth.
I don't think online learning will replace the traditional classroom. There is a certain level of prestige that comes with attending a brick and mortar institution. While I believe that online learning is an excellent option to most who don't have the time to dedicate to sitting in a classroom setting. it will never eliminate the need for traditional classrooms.
Hi Marcus, well put! I think it depends on the instructor, but there is no comparison between the way information can be delivered via lecture and the written word in an online environment! The energy in the class has a huge impact! Tina
That's like saying email will replace writing a letter. Yeah, the email is convenient to send an email, but there is much more involved in writing a letter that adds something extra to the message that makes a letter undeniable. The movie “Good Will Hunting†touches on something similar to what we are discussing. Robin Williams’s character has a conversation with Matt Damon’s character (paraphrased)
“If I were to ask you about art, I’m sure you could tell me about every book written, but you’ve never smelled or stood in the Sistine Chapel to actually see it with your own eyes.â€
-Good Will Hunting
He then goes to explain more differences like reading about war and being in a war, I feel the same for traditional vs. online instruction. Reading and watching a lesson, as opposed to sitting in a lecture hall with peers and the instructor, all sharing the same air and a form of tactile and intellectual ownership of the learning experience. No, I don’t believe traditional will ever go away.
Hi Tim, I agree; however, the cost of keeping up f2f classrooms is great, so there are advantages to offering more classes online. At some institutions, they are offering most of their f2f classes to freshmans and sophmores and moving juniors and seniors to the online environment. Tina
I disagree. I think there will always be a place for classroom instruction. However, I think that we as instutitions of higher learning will soon get away from the terms online and classroom learning in the very near future as the 2 will be merged to be one. In other words, all classes will have an online component to them to the point that there will not be any classes that are necessarily 100% in a classroom and/or face to face.
Hi Jenny, my kids are home from college this week and my one son who is a sophmore is telling me that next year all of the classes he has to take will be delivered online! This is at the University of Central Florida and they are using their f2f classrooms for Freshman and Sophmores and once they become Juniors, they move them to an online delivery!! Tina
