Distance Education

Exploring Distance Education
After having explored several virtual classrooms online, I am intrigued by the concept. Instead of going to a public of private school throughout your K-12 experience, it offers students a different environment for their learning. Thinking back to my own schooling experience, I would not give those times up for anything…but I can completely see why some children would appreciate the alternative learning.

One plus that I can see from having these virtual classrooms as an option for learning is that it offers student flexibility. They are allowed to take their learning into their own hands, and I can see that this would give some children a feeling of ownership and pride. It would also be very convenient for students that are not physically able to attend a school. Although accommodations could be made for these students, sometimes it is simply easier for all involved for the student to take this alternative course and go to school virtually.
There would be some fallbacks to virtual schooling however. For example, students probably would not be able to experience the same level of social interaction as students who attend a public school. These children may not learn the necessary social behaviors that guide our everyday actions. They may become overly withdrawn or shy because they have not experienced real child-like behaviors.
Both the good and the bad possibilities are not necessarily concrete. As with everything else, the outcome depends on the particular person and situation.

Being a “virtual,” or online, student would be challenging. Students who take this unconventional learning course would have to be very self-motivated and organized. In order to maintain the pace that the curriculum requires, students have to be their own time-managers and they must hope/know that they can be successful in a completely independent environment.
Personally, I do not know if I would be capable of teaching an online course. I would need to have guidelines and specific ways to communicate with my students. I would feel lost and out of control in an online classroom, because I am the type of person that really likes to monitor a student’s progress and make sure that they are on the right track to succeed.