In part #1 we discussed the virtues and advantages of in classroom instruction. It is the most reliable form of pedagogy to ensure a student attains effloresce [ef-lə-RESS] – Reach an optimum stage of development. I should point out that some educators believe that blended learning or blended education, eLearning, and remote learning does not include classroom instruction. This definition is supplied by “teachThought”, updated May 18, 2020. This is a website that touts teaching teachers in how to educate students. This is the latest exigency [EKS-i-jən-see] – A crisis that requires immediate action in education.
I am also referencing an article from “What Blended Learning is – and is not”, from March 4, 2016 so my readers can measure the difference in definitions and how Synchronicity [ˌsiNGkrəˈnisədē] – The state of two or more things or events being in perfect sync are NOT happening now or in the immediately future. According to the author, Clifford Maxwell, there are 3 definitions of blended learning. They are 1st, “blended learning is any formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online learning, with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace”. The 2nd definition, “the student learns at least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home”. And 3rd, “the modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience”.
I included these two definitions because they are tendered by Academy [ uh-kad-uh-mee ] – “a group of authorities and leaders in a field of scholarship, art, etc., who are often permitted to dictate standards, prescribe methods, and criticize new ideas”. The point I am making is that the definitions have potential to be Deleterious [del-i-teer-ee-uhs] – Harmful; injurious: deleterious influences” on education in any form! The reason I state this is because of what Clifford Maxwell includes and the latest definition does not; some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace! Online learning institutions do NOT allow for this type of instruction to ANY STUDENT at any level of education in this country!
Let me illustrate with a personal observation of my 10yrs of online matriculation. And at this point let me state that NO student receives the education that they pay for. Let me concentrate on the element of student control. Let me state very clearly; “there is no control over time, the place you learn at, the curriculum (path) and certainly never the pace” the students need to learn at. It is an advertising tool to Placate [plā-ˌkāt] – “To soothe or set at ease another person”. All these expectations are advertised by many colleges, and now many high schools, (those that are online), as what is offered at their institution. I would like to illustrate my statements using what I call, “factual logic”. The cost of online learning is the same as classroom instruction. You do not get to use the teacher resources at the brick-n-mortar institution if there is one available in your state. I was having trouble with Algebra and was taking classes from an institution in my state. My teacher was a doctorate in math who could not convey a clear thought if his life depended on it. I went to the college to seek help from another resource because my teacher lived in Illinois and was only available for help during scheduled classroom instruction. The head of the math department told me that since I was an online student that he could not help me according to institution policy! If I had not been a disabled vet and promised him, I would camp outside his office for the rest of his life; he would never have helped me. Any younger student would not have received any help from the highest grossing college in America!
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Dr. Edward J. Files, AGS, AAS, BSM, Emba, Ed.D. (dual concentrations in Organizational and Leadership Development)
References
Clifford Maxwell, (March 4, 2016) “WHAT BLENDED LEARNING IS – AND ISN’T”, https://www.blendedlearning.org/what-blended-learning-is-and-isnt/
teachThought, (May 18, 2020) “The Definition of Blended Learning”, https://www.teachthought.com/learning/the-definition-of-blended-learning/