Earlier this month, PBS Learning Matters sponsored a discussion about online learning for students. I was asked to contribute a short piece. Here’s a paragraph from my response to the question, Is online learning beneficial for students?
As online enrollments have rapidly expanded, so too have accompanying concerns. Educators and parents worry about losing the nurturing intimacy of teachers and students who are connected with each other in face-to-face classrooms. Pundits opine that our youth are losing their ability to interact with live humans instead of screens. Journalists report that online schooling providers are raking in tens of millions of dollars while providing substandard, perhaps even fraudulent, educational experiences. Superintendents gripe that other districts’ provision of online courses results in interdistrict ‘theft’ of students and state funding.
You can read the rest of my post and those from others at the PBS Learning Matters web site. There’s some interesting conversation in the comment area too. Happy reading!
