Blog Post#13

My Teacher is an App:
The Article by Stephanie Banchero and Stephanie Simon is about the reality of online learning. Like it or not, we must acknowledge the internet’s daily role in the education of young people all over the world. However, the question remains, should all learning be done online?

The authors give great statistics from both sides the argument. Online learning is especially beneficial to the student that learns at a faster pace. Learning online allows that student to take classes at a higher grade level. Online learning is flexible, and allows a great deal of parental involvement. And finally, it is cheaper. But, have you ever heard the phrase “you get what you pay for?” Several statistics demonstrate low test scores among students of online schools. Those in charge say they are used to this. One reason is that many of the students enrolled are not the type of learner that online learning is built for. Banchero and Simon believe that the effectiveness of online learning depends on how we approach it, and students cannot do it all by themselves; in order to learn, they still need to be taught.

I believe that the authors are very open minded and present great evidence. They allow the reader to think about all possibilities. I feel that online learning is still evolving and should be monitored closely. With that being said, I would like to see more online learning incorporated into the traditional school. It would have helped me so much more if I had been given the opportunity to experiment with virtual learning in my younger years. My college professors expect me to be familiar with web enhanced classes. I do not care what it costs to educate a student. I dislike the argument that something is cheaper. You should not put a price on a child’s education. If we truly care about the student, then money should not even be part of the discussion. Bottom line, we need to do all we can to help students get ready for adulthood, whether it is more or less web enhanced learning.