Our latest class discussion covered a lot of topics – but mainly focused on the idea of online learning and what the pros and cons are. We all experienced at least a couple weeks of online classes due to COVID, and many of us have had other experiences with online learning as well. We began by brainstorming the pros and cons of online learning.
The Cons of Online Classes
- It can be isolating, missing face-to-face connections
- We can be easily distracted from listening
- Some teachers struggle to teach as effectively online
The Pros of Online Classes
- You can sleep in, and roll out of bed five minutes before your class starts (synchronous classes). This also means we can save a lot of time spent traveling to and from class (and gas money which is crazy high right now!).
- You can multitask (though this is where distraction from listening can come into play)
- Flexibility in schedules with asynchronous classes
- You can still attend class when you’re sick (especially important in COVID times, when we need to stay home even if we are the tiniest bit sick)
- Some courses become graded differently to accommodate online learning (eg more participation-based)
The pandemic has shown us that online learning is possible. We are more adaptable than we may think. We see what we are capable of when we have to.
What is the Significance of This?
Given that there are pros and cons to online learning, and everyone likely has a preference, we discussed in class that the way of the future may be more accommodating to this: multi access learning in which students can choose on any given day to come in face-to-face or to do online.
There are various ways in which we can make remote learning possible thanks to technology. The norm right now is to zoom in on our personal devices (phones, laptops, etc). And there are other devices out such as double, Kubi, and VGo. What’s more, there are so many social learning communities that we can use – discord, twitter, google classroom, and mattermost are just some examples.
The Spectrum of the Ownership of Learning
One more thing we discussed in class was the spectrum for learning in terms of who is in control (the teacher or the student(s)), and whether the learning is synchronous or asynchronous. We discussed how it is not so black and white, and how we can place aspects of a course onto a spectrum. I appreciated thinking of things in this way, and value the importance of having a course that is widely dispersed throughout the grid. Given that all learners are unique and how some methods of learning work better for others, variety is important so that all learning styles are incorporated.
