Comments on: Not Detached?

By: Shaun Loeppky

Shaun Loeppky — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:15:04 +0000

Online classes have, in my opinion, have 2 unique challenges. Both benefit the university institution

1.) Money(from the article) …”Some in academia also say that online learning has created a second tier of instructors who work hard but are paid less than traditional professors.
While some colleges report paying teachers up to $4,000 a course, that’s not the norm.”

2.) Intellectual property… You develop the course, use an online tool to deliver the course. You leave. Where does the course go? Who owns it and the content? Comments?

By: Mathman33

Mathman33 — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 15:45:27 +0000

This is my second online class and I have had two drastically different experiences. I am enjoying this class because the professors are using the technology to engage all of the students in the material. At no time have I ever felt that my professors have not been available, in fact some times it is hard to separate the professors from the students. In my other online class it felt as if the professor was distant and disengaged from our class.

By: Kate Olson

Kate Olson — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:59:13 +0000

Thank you SO much for sharing your positive experiences in an online learning environment, it’s imperative that the thinking change on this as more and more people are looking to e-learning for quality content. I look forward to reading the article you referenced……….

By: Richard schwier

Richard schwier — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:58:44 +0000

Speaking as one of those professors, I feel the same way. I feel like I know you better than most of the students I used to have in lecture environments. We encounter each other in a diverse range of learning environments, often with other students and instructors, where it is impossible to distinguish teachers from students. Everyone is a learner, and the boundary between formal and informal learning disappears. That’s not just fun–which it certainly can be; it is powerful, and goes far beynd what we can accomplish in any bounded classroom. How impoverished we would be if we were held captive in those four walls.

Thanks for the reminder that there are a lot of educators who just don’t get it. But isn’t it exciting to be part of the redefinition of what it means to educate?