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Chapter 7, Question 1. By: Susan Marshall, Holly Matthews, Tracy Robart, Terra Saulnier, and Cindy Smith. Question.
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Chapter 7, Question 1 By: Susan Marshall, Holly Matthews, Tracy Robart, Terra Saulnier, and Cindy Smith
Question • In Aoun’s (2011) article, “Learning today: The lasting value of place,” he notes that “Bill Gates predicts…place-based activity in college will be five times less important than it is today, due to the ever-growing popularity of online learning.” Gates said, “Five years from now, on the Web – for free – you’ll be able to find the best lectures in the world. It will be better than any single university…College, except for the parties, needs to be less place-based.” Make a table of the pros and cons of leaning at a distance versus learning in a physical location. Analyze your table in order to address the question, “Is Bill Gates’ prediction correct?” is the answer different for k-12 students than it is for college students?
Learning at a distance vs. learning in a physical location Pros Cons • Accommodates the needs of working students • Helps students keep down cost • Allows for experiential education • Lack of peer learning • ie. discussion groups and informal conversations • Lack of opportunities to share perspectives, disagreements, and emotions about what they are learning • Lack of exposure to diversity
Pros Continued Cons Continued • Access to courses and lessons not locally available • Flexibility in physical location • Lack of significant research infrastructure • Lack of campus and community engagement • Lack of chance encounters • High dropout rates • Funding and governing policy for maintaining quality • Digital Divide
Is Bill Gates correct? • According to Aoun, Bill Gates’ prediction is over simplified • It appears that Bill Gates is correct that online education is going to empower new generations but it will be pared with other delivery styles • A healthy mix of campus based courses, online learning, and terms spent at domestic satellite and international campuses. - Aoun • The best aspects of a diverse delivery system come together to meet our students’ needs most effectively - Aoun
Resources • Learning Today: the Lasting Value of Place by: Joseph E. Aoun • http://chronicle.com/article/In-Learning-the-Lasting-Value/127378/