Standing in the middle of a cyclone: online education comes of age

Technos: Quarterly for Education and Technology, Winter, 2002 by Gene I. Maeroff

I wasn't planning to write a new book just yet, certainly not one about online learning, but curiosity got the better of me. I kept reading and hearing about the topic and my interest was piqued. I wanted to know more about it. I wondered how the process worked and what impact it was having. After all, how often does a new way of delivering knowledge come along? The more I found out, about online learning, the more appealing the idea of writing such a book grew.

I knew from the outset that I didn't want to trash online courses. Others have already done this, repeatedly. It is too obvious a slant to take. Almost everyone harbors suspicions at the very mention of e-learning. Online learning is the proverbial fish in the barrel. How can any criticism of online learning miss the mark? To give critics their due, many honestly believe that online learning undermines education. Teachers and students don't see each other--a situation ripe for exploit. The work can be insubstantial, the credentials at the end amounting to little more than a sham. At first blush, it all seems so secret and suspicious--no One to check up on anyone else. Online courses pose new challenges for both teacher and student. And, while online chat rooms and threaded discussions may advance knowledge, they also may degenerate into computerized versions of talk radio, trite and banal, hardly what one calls educational.

Profits & Problems

There was another way to approach the subject, I decided. Describe it. Discuss the possible impact on classroom-based courses. Raise policy implications. I thought the book would be more effective by staking out a point of view. I settled on presenting a somewhat sympathetic description of this phenomenon, recognizing that to do so would risk controversy and censure. Online courses threaten established interests. Some providers view such courses as vehicles to (Dare I utter the word?) profits. My book admittedly gives online learning the benefit of the doubt. Does this mean that I see no flaws in online courses? Of course not. I point out shortcomings as I go along, trying to avoid the obvious. Only a fool could fail to recognize the difficulties that arise in delivering learning from afar.

On the other hand, as I mention throughout the book, one should not presume that teaching and learning in classrooms has achieved nirvana. I chose an irreverent path in my exploration of e-learning. I cite the downside of traditional classroom learning--not because I think that online courses are necessarily better, but to emphasize that education must be open to new ways of doing what, on close examination, has sometimes been less than a rousing success. The problems of the classroom are legion and it is not as if online learning intrudes on an otherwise idyllic setting. There is room for another approach, another way of learning, possibly an improvement under some circumstances if done well. More importantly, students and the educational process itself can benefit from efforts to overcome the strictures of time and place.

I have chronicled events in teaching and learning since 1965, writing articles for newspapers and magazines as well as books. The classroom has been the focus of action in education all that time, as it was previously. My investigation for the book assured me that the classroom will retain its centrality, but online learning almost certainly will find a place for itself. Such courses logically succeed those offered by correspondence, which also permitted students to sweep aside the obstacles of time and place. Online learning differs, though, in its enormous potential. Its biggest impact will be in classroom-based courses, the vast majority of which will almost certainly take on elements of the technology that makes online courses possible. Hybrid courses, combining features of the classroom and of online courses, will become the rule in higher education. Instructors who in coming years ignore the potential of Web-based embellishments will be as remiss as their peers of past years who did not expect students to enrich their learning by consulting sources beyond textbooks.

Secondary education and, to a lesser extent, elementary schools are also headed in this direction, but more slowly and with less commitment. Some of the growth in online education below the college level has been fueled by efforts to build a conduit to public funding for home schooling, and that goal adds a layer of controversy to the programs.

Potential & Perspective

Nonetheless, online learning is dynamic, changing even as you read these words. My challenge was to take a snapshot of a cyclone while standing in the middle of it. I tried to adhere to the big picture, using examples and anecdotes to illustrate facets of online programs. These courses will flourish only to the extent that they serve the needs of students. One hopes that this will mean more than simply fulfilling the wish of some students to accumulate quick and easy academic credits. There are already more than enough opportunities to do that in classrooms. Online courses can contribute to the totality of education by overcoming the limitations of time and place without surrendering academic rigor. Will they fulfill this potential? Who knows!