Digital Classrooms

There have been a lot of predictions that the digital world will make it easier for you to be in an independent place and still 1) communicate with friends 2) go to work and now 3) go to school. This section of the class is really interesting because digital classrooms have already started to become popular - classes you can log into, class discussions that can continue online, etc. I found an article that talked about the pros and cons of communication mediated education and thought I would add a few ones from the standpoint of a college student:

Pro: You don't have to show up to class anymore - you can access the material, discussions, and homework on any day and any time of day.
Con: For some of us procrastinators, this gives a lot of freedom to continue ignoring assignments and "skipping class."

Pro: Students get the most benefit from being taught by a forerunner in the specific field. But those industry leaders typically have a lot of work to do besides teaching and giving out homework. This education system allows the professor to continue making strides in his field without sacrificing the knowledge of the minds of tomorrow.

Pro: Researchers have found that these digital classrooms actually encourage class participation. In class you can always nod along or answer in as few words as possible, but online they found that students are more likely to type more about the subject than they would have said in class.
Con: Based on what we talked about yesterday, about how digital writing has become more and more relaxed, casual, and conversational, you have to wonder how much actual substance can be found in those longer paragraphs. Especially when you consider how many kids ramble in their essays just to fill the word count.

Pro: Sometimes students don't speak up in class for fear of the teacher or the other students judging their comment. With this new educational system, there will be no way to tell that because there will be no body language to interpret and no way to hear the snickers, so more shy students will feel comfortable sharing their opinions.
Con: Not having a physical face to talk to (no facial cues or tones of voice to go off of) does cause people to learn differently, and in some cases, less than they would have. It also opens the door to "flame wars" which we discussed yesterday - when things you wouldn't read into too much if they were said in person, when read online make you mad.

So, is it the way of the future? I actually think yes. It will definitely change things: classroom discussions will be more casual, we'll have more opportunity to follow career paths and go to school simultaneously, and there will more student participation. However, maybe we have to take a step back for a second. After all, we've already dismissed cursive from school curriculum, as found in USA Today, and added LOL and OMG to the Oxford Dictionary, as found in The Huffington Post. Kind of does make you wonder though, is all this change too much, what was really that bad about the old systems? Are we encouraging kids to go to school by sacrificing the standards of education?