“I don’t want to go to school” I used to hear this word from my neighbor’s son when a school bus picked him up every morning. Actually, I also felt the same as him when I was a little child “could I just stay and study at home?” this question had always come to my mind, and at that time the answer was always “never”
Around two decades ago, nobody had known about computer or internet, but these things nowadays have played a vital role in our society. Many people can connect to the internet at home, and use it for many reasons such as shopping online, watching movies online, communicating with other people and so on, and what’s about study online?
Actually, this news doesn’t surprise me because we are living in the world that everything might be possible due to modern technology, and I have heard about study online before, but this just raises a question about the necessary of going to schools.
It is understandable that students need to go to school to get a good education for their future career, but I just think that if every university and school provided online programs for many students as the Exeter University will do, so it might be unnecessary for students to go to universities or schools. They could just sit in front of their computer and study via the internet, and also get a degree for their career as well.
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My question is:
Do you think going to school or university would be important if we could study via the internet?
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Reference
When I read Patt's words "everything might be possible due to modern technology" above, I was reminded of Punn's blog post which I commented on yesterday (Have you commented yet?).
ReplyDeleteNext, and relevantly, I thought of an online course I did earlier this year. It was a course in teaching run by Coursera, which is one of the largest online providers of courses from universities around the world. That was an interesting experience, and I did enjoy the flexibility of doing the work when it was most convenient to me, provided I met the deadlines for handing in written assignments. Now, I'm thinking of doing another (free) course in an area I'm interested in - perhaps behavioural economics, or archaeology - there is a wide variety to choose from.
To answer Patt's question, I'm not sure that it can (yet) completely replace going to university, but putting more material online can probably reduce much of the need to attend lectures.
Another example that comes to mind is the brilliant series of lectures by Harvard University's Michael Sandel to which I've put a link on the right. This is a high quality, professionally produced video of his entire series of lectures. It is well worth listening to if you would like some extended listening practice, and to practice your critical thinking skills.
But were I a Harvard student, I, too, would probably have crammed into the lecture hall to experience it live, and be able to ask him questions - that's something that the internet can't do yet. You can't ask immediate questions of a video of a lecture, and an students do need to ask questions of teachers.
But perhaps in a few years, this too will be possible.
well, I just have an (crazy) idea that if we could use a video conferencing tools such as Skype to study AEP, so we do not worry about being late to attend the class, and no fare for the bus or fuel for our car to go to AUA.(I'm just kidding ) lol
DeleteActually, I think that schools give students more than just an education because another benefit of going to schools is socialization, which i think it is really important. As my reply to Union's answer "our lives always depend on other people", they have to learn how to working with other people and create friendships or relationships with them. They probably won’t met if they don't go to school.
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ReplyDeleteThat's very interesting. You can save your money not just a tuition fee but also a living cost that remind me of London uni British student who live in Poland, since the money to earn a degree is rising every year and harder to afford for younger generation. This alternatives could be possible for those in need.
But to answer the question, I don't think that the uni experience could be replaced by online course at least for scientific degree. Because you need an experiment to finding an answer. You may say we can have an virtual experiment, but I think that cannot be counted as a methodology. Your own direct experience is worth than any other things, which also include the humanistic education too. The way you discuss or the lecturer talk about the knowledge or even the human make a relationship might replaced by the internet but not whole experience.
At least, you should also ask any enterprise is it OK to hire an online graduate for instead.
I agree with you haha, i think that although study online sounds interesting,but it also has a limit. as you mentioned some programs cannot study via the internet. Moreover, it is clear that our lives always depend on other people, although we can contact our friends via social networks, but it is also different from face-to-face communication, which i think our relationship builds much stronger.
DeleteAnyway, study online just might be another choice for those who don't have a time to study to improve their knowledge.
Much as I like technology, I'm a bit Socratic at heart.
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ReplyDeleteStudent commutes to University of London from Poland to save money on accommodation rent
ReplyDeleteStudent commutes to University of London from Poland to save money on accommodation rent
It’s rather difficult to answer clearly; it should depend on individual demand, conditions, and necessity.
ReplyDelete- Accessibility: The internet signal and services are not available in some remote areas.
- Money: someone cannot afford or does not want to pay for high speed internet fee or high-tech devices, but other can and do. Moreover, learning at home can save student’s cost of transportation, while learning in the school requires this.
- Social activities/Interaction: Traditional school can make student learn how to live and interact with others.
- Flexibility: Quite fixed schedule for learning school vs flexible schedule for online learning.
I think there are still more aspects beyond what I said such as atmosphere, resources, and the like. So, answering this question is associated with several factors and conditions.
It's the interesting question, I also agree that there are more schools or universities in the world that can register and take courses online as a result of the incline in using internet in the world today. Definitely, it's very easy to comfortably study anywhere you want with your interesting field. Chulalongkorn university now also has the course called Cerlic which is a mini-MBA course online that teach the basic background about business administration. Unfortunately, it's allowed for only Chula students at any degree.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Feem's idea is quite strong in terms of the reasons which argue that no matter there are lots of online studies today or in future, it has to have schools, universities, or communities basically for people who need not only knowledge but also systematic learning to live with interacting with society.
Thus, I think that going to and learning at schools are still important for all of us (human) because of their systematical and practical knowledge.
I think studying online is good for people who don't have time to attend school during regular time.
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