Ouch
I will begin here with my complaints, numerous as they are, for I wish to end on a positive note.
There is nothing "live" about some of the models out there. In these instances, we are looking at paradigms which simply trade an inordinate number of posts, papers and feedback. I say inordinate because that is one of the hallmarks of this model, it seems to need to justify itself, so it puts a heavier burden on the student. Basically, twice the work for half the experience.
This also corrupts the learning process in innumerable ways. Whatever interaction we find variously shows itself stilted, postured and a place to hide. I am sure that for some it is cause to diminish the importance of the experience and/or their participation.
One expression of significant consideration is about employment today and the capacity to network. Despite these typically being a group of ostensibly bright people, paying significant money to be “around” each other, there is a strong tendency to overlook simply participating in shared information. Consequently, it is entirely possible to experience a class, even at the doctorate level, and have it end without having any way to be in touch with a majority the colleagues you paid so much money to share such time.
I taught online at another institution that had a somewhat different set up. There was a designated time for an online experience that constituted the class. Everyone had at least the speaker and microphone, if not a Webcam. This would have worked out better, but in so far as this institution also recorded the class (which, of itself, is fine), and made the recording available after the fact, no students ever showed up for class. As an instructor, I still had a commitment to be there. Week after week, I found myself speaking to my monitor, teaching the class to no one. Obviously, this could have been better but for the logistical nonsense. Retrieving the recorded class after the fact should not eclipse attendance in the class itself. Unfortunately, that institution had actually championed this "convenience" to its tuition dollars... oh; excuse me, its students.
The Upside
I am also aware of institutions that only make online classes available by faculty who teach the same class on ground, with a twist. Baylor, for example, has its ground classes video recorded and integrated into the online experience; also including Webcam. We see a pattern here, where the more muscular the technology used, the closer we get to a ground interaction. Perhaps this is the best we can hope for at this time. I sense this is a direction that most good schools could easily move in the direction of, strongly need to consider, and will eventually have to move in (the sooner the better) to stay competitive.
The primary irony here is this writing is by a business major. It is not lost on this student all the iterations and layers of fiscal value to have this structure in place. For every good business reason online education is here to stay.
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(consider this a text box, narrative continues below)
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Holography
CNN Hologram TV First
and
1 min 28 sec - Nov 4, 2008
Minolta and the Milo Venus
Related 3-D spatial: THIS is complicated
Holophone’s true and false
related information
Almost Genius: An AR Interface for Drawing in 3-D
Fast Company
A Vision of K-12 Students Today
seadragon photosynth
be aware – what photography can now do
Wear-able technology breakthrough (via MIT)
Talks Pattie Maes & Pranav Mistry: Unveiling the "Sixth Sense," game-changing wearable tech
an annual contribution from Sony Corp. – Did You Know
2007
Why we’ll be students the rest of our lives just to be competitive
2009
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From the needs perspective, ground classes should never go away. However, a quality online educational experience augments educational need as well. Moreover, the better the delivery system is developed, the better the augmentation is. The future is bright. There has been a recent commercial renaissance with a 3-D experience; arguably, the turning point was the movie Avatar. We are now seeing 3-D televisions making their way into homes. I see this as a transitional stage to holography eventually becoming pedestrian. I am including a text box with a collection of links that highlight various approaches and applications for this technology.
While it is likely entirely possible to have this technology within the next 5 to 10 years integrated into the online experience of education, I imagine it may actually take a generation. Nevertheless, this is inevitable. In addition, once this takes place it should collapse all that griping and whining made earlier, out of pride for my school (or any educational experience) being all that can be.
That would normally be the concluding statement. Yet, I cannot help but indulge myself for a moment. Imagine a time when you would attend a class, literally global. You enter a virtual classroom. There may be parameters regarding the degree to which your appearance may be you yourself, an avatar, or some combination thereof. Regardless, your voice is live, and so are your physical actions. That which is virtual, would in every way echo a ground class, as we know it today. Would this be the end of hollowed brick-and-mortar institutions, such as the ivies? Actually, possibly; and I can only trust that their individuals that are writing papers, as this paper is being written, reinventing themselves for the future.
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