Teachers often make this task easier by using group work or asking students to discuss ideas in partners. Some who believe that online education is not as beneficial as land-based education often suggest that this type of discourse is unavailable in virtual classrooms. This, however, is not the case. Virtual classrooms often have discussion boards on which students can post questions and topics and respond to other students. Just like they do in land-based classrooms, teachers in virtual classrooms often give a question or a prompt, students answer, and then students are required to respond to their peers' responses. Some even argue that this processes, which is often held in discussion boards that work like message boards, is better than the discussions held in land-based schools. These people say that online education gives the students a degree of anonymity, allowing them to express what they really think or feel. Land-based education, they say, is still intimidating, making it more difficult for students to say what they mean. Finally, while skilled instructors and discourse are necessary in higher education, a third and essential component consists of tasks that stretch students' abilities to think and reason. In the land-based classroom, these tasks are manifested as group work, projects, presentations, and papers. Teachers ask students to write thinking papers where they sketch out an idea, do research and present findings to the class, or work in groups to discover a problem and how one might solve it. Those who believe online education is far inferior to land-based education argue that it is impossible to assign these same tasks to students who are working online. Furthermore, they argue that students working online will not get the benefit of presentations, learning technology that allows them to complete presentations,...
Once again, however, online education has managed to achieve a new way for students to participate in these tasks that stretch students' abilities to think and reason. One way in which online education typically assigns these tasks is through papers, which can be submitted to teachers on the online forum, and can be presented to other students via the class's discussion board. Thus, students can showcase their critical thinking and reasoning skills through these papers. In addition, many online interfaces allow the instructor to assign students to groups. Each group can have a project to complete and a private message board on which to communicate. Class members in a group can arrange to chat online or call each other on the telephone to come up with ideas. Also, many online universities partner with land-based universities, so students can make a presentation or take a test through another, perhaps closer, university. Thus, online education gives students the ability to perform tasks that showcase their critical thinking and reasoning skills just like land-based university students do.
According to both testimonials and statistics, educated people report higher levels of personal happiness and job satisfaction. In her book, Nickel and Dimed, comfortably wealthy author Barbara Ehrenreich reports being taken out for a "$30 lunch and some understated French country-style place" and discussing "future articles I might write for [the editor of Harpoer's] magazine" (1). It is lunching with this editor from Harpers that she decides to take on
Policy Issues in Education Settings AB Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU). (2010). "A-P-L-U-Sloan National Commission on Online Learning" Retrieved from: http://www.aplu.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=311 "The A-P-L-U-Sloan National Commission on Online Learning was formed in May 2007 to engage the A-P-L-U Presidents and Chancellors in a discussion about the utility of online education as a means to achieve broader institutional priorities, such as diversity, retention, internationalization and accountability." This resource specifically examines the policy and
Cross-Sectional Study to Determine Factors in the Educational Advancement of the Licensed Practical Nurse to the Registered Nurse in the State of North Carolina According to the Harvard Nursing Research Institute, United States nursing school enrollments dropped by 20.9% from 1995 to 1998 (Healthcare Review, 2000). Behind headlines such as this one are the overwhelming issues which threaten the nursing workforce: 1) staffing cuts, 2) mandatory overtime, and 3) the
Base ten number system and on common misconceptions, which young children might develop when trying to learn about the use of numbers. What is Place Value Notation Place value notation, also otherwise known as positional notation, is a system of encoding numbers such that it simplifies the arithmetic. It is the basis for understanding arithmetic and is essential to the way we read, write, speak or use whole numbers. Another important
An English classroom can be carefully designed to cultivate an atmosphere conducive to multiple literacies. The key elements to classroom design include overall design elements including layout of furniture, lighting, and the controls on sound and noise. Other critical components include technologies and tangible tools to encourage hands-on learning and interactive engagement with material. The curricula, pedagogical tools, and learning strategies might be able to inform some elements of classroom
Education and computers [...] college or university with no desktop computers for students to use, and how this wireless and LAN environment would change the educational process. The traditional educational process is brick-and-mortar based, and depends on classroom interaction and discussion. Classrooms of the future could be virtual, and the need for traditional college campuses might fade away. Education and Computers The absence of desktop computers in the educational environment might
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