“Students will suffer” if e-learning replaces classroom learning, says the author of a report that examined thousands of online classroom discussion threads. Beyhan Farhadi, who wrote the paper, was an e-learning teacher with the Toronto District School Board in 2010. Her study is summarized in an article in National Observer.
(Article continues below photos.)
Before Ford’s announcement…
Before the Ford government announced e-learning would become a core part of education, the website of the Ontario eLearning Consortium said it “may not be [for] everyone.”
After Ford’s announcement…
All of a sudden, just before the e-learning announcement, the website changed to remove the disclaimer.
E-learning will create inequality and lead to increased alienation and anxiety, the study says. “The assumption that e-learning can serve students on a first-come, first-served basis contradicts the politics of access, from which inequality emerges,” it says.
“Twenty-first century education is supposed to be about problem solving and creative solutions and those things don’t get developed when you’re online,” Farhadi told National Observer in an interview. “If the government heads in this direction, students will suffer.”
Please visit this link to read the entire article in National Observer.