On-Line Education

Dartblog author Joseph Asch is a tiny bit of a Luddite in his comments about on-line education at Dartmouth. In referencing a New York Times article in his recent blog, he points out, as does the Times, the repeated current failings of this new approach to education … see: Dartblog Opinion.  I, myself, have often seen shortfalls in the massive open on-line course's (MOOC's) approach whilst tutoring at a high school west of Boston.  However, I believe that MOOC is an economic necessity and must eventually win out as the preferred mode of pedagogy.

For this to occur, I believe that the following wrinkles need to be ironed out:

-        The courses need to be better attuned to the potential of the on-line environment.  This includes instructive animations/videos, hyperlinks to vetted sources, and oral questions and feedback responses.

-        There also needs to be better paced instruction, peer-reviewed content, and testing that stays within the boundaries of the course material.

-        I also believe that Skype-like and even social-network-like interactions with the instructors and other students will greatly increase the learning potential.  These interactions can be in real-time or even on a scheduled-delay basis.

-        The use of celebrities and well-known-experts (ala Sesame Street and Jeopardy) to capture the imagination of the on-line student might bring greater focus to the subject at hand.

-        A feedback mechanism for MOOC students need to be more obvious.  Perhaps a running ranking of a given student versus his/her peers?  Or a monetary reward in the form of a scholarship for outstanding achievement?

-        MOOC courses also should be constructed with the intent to encourage students to strike out on their own to do independent research or make real-life connections with a view toward a career (even in such things as the traditional manual trades).

-        And lastly, there also needs to be a face or fingerprint type recognition system to verify exactly who is on the receiving end of this on-line instruction.  Otherwise there is too much opportunity for fraud

And there will be other improvements that evolve here.  Much of on-line instruction that I have experienced has been class-room instruction shoe-horned into a MOOC environment … and this has often been very frustrating … to both the tutor and the student.  Too much of MOOC today is just going through the motions by those after a fast buck.  But, Joe, don’t give up on the potential of this on-line educational environment.  This does seem to be clinging to the past … in my opinion.

Re: Cursive

I recently received a note from a fraternity brother of mine written in a beautiful cursive script.  Now, I am a tutor in a MetroWest school system outside of Boston.  I have taught many students in Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, History, English, Physics, Biology, and Chemistry.  To my shock and disappointment none of my students has been able to write in longhand.  They all print ... usually very slowly and often so illegibly that they cannot read their own notes.  A few say that they did learn cursive writing early on in school but can no longer perform it due to lack of practice and pedagogical focus.

Can I be a little dogmatic?  I think that this failing on the part of our nation's schools is a main reason for our educational degeneration.  The simple ability of students to take notes quickly and efficiently while in class or on the computer is a big step forward in their learning process.  Too, too many of today's students cannot do this and therefore have lost a tempo in what was once the traditional educational experience.  And learning script writing was a second- and third-grade rote exercise that I also believe helped reinforce our children's  hand-eye coordination, hand-eye-mind connection and, even more importantly, non-oral communications skills.

How about it Arne Duncan, our Secretary of Education, can you spend a few billions of your huge yearly budget to re-introduce serious cursive writing practice into our children's early educational experience? I can even suggest a slogan for this effort: "Writing is also fundamental!"

Added thought: I did not mention that, if a student cannot decipher his/her own printing, how is his/her teacher supposed to understand and/or fairly grade such student's essays, exams, and other written communications?