What does the future hold for course management systems in the
classroom?
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| What message do you think is being portrayed through this image? |
I feel as if the course management systems
will take over the actual class room especially for online classes. There will
be no need for a teacher because eventually there will be a way where the
computer is programmed to be the teacher. I fear for when this moment happens
because a lot of students who do have to take online courses will be lost and
left behind. They will have had a bad experience with virtual education as a
whole and will refuse to take it again and probably end up telling other not to
take it as well.
If the course management system is used correctly then virtual education
can thrive and gone on to be a wonderful learning alternative for students who
can handle it. Even for students who are not too fond of virtual education and
being taught by a computer they can definitely utilize their teacher’s office
hours to get that in person communication.
Also be mindful that all technology is not perfect and will have
glitches from time to time. Always back up your work on multiple devices just
in case Blackboard decides to break down. There have been many times where
Blackboard will have an error or will be closed down for technical reasons. Be
smart about it and save your work. This brings me to the traditional way of
things. The way when we would print out our work and actually come in to class
to turn it in. We did not have to worry about our papers getting lost. If
anything we had to worry about the professor misplacing our work, which was
pretty rare.
Let us not forget about the cost of
virtual courses. They seems to be a bit more expensive than sitting in an actual
classroom and being taught by a professor. This is very confusing to me because
you would think it cost less money to be taught online since the professor is
not required to do much, but sit on the other side of the computer screen and
post information to a course management site.
In an article titled What is the Cost of Virtual Ed? Written by
Katie Ash, states that “The fourth in a
series of papers called Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning, it found
that virtual schools spend about $5,100 to $7,700 for each student, compared
with $7,600 to $10,200 for blended learning programs, and $10,000 per student
for regular brick-and mortar schools.”
I personally think that is a ton
of money being spent on this new learning system that is not as successfully
effective as the traditional learning way. I understand the school administration
can be a bit excited about the entire virtual education but at the same time we
must remain wise and reasonable.
Nonetheless, course management systems can enhance the learning
experience but if you do feel lost in any way along the course it would be
smart to utilize your professors’ office hours. Your professor should make
things easier for you to understand since they know that communication is
limited, due to the type of course it is. I understand we must advance and grow
with communication but at the same time it has to be meaningful to our lives in
order for us to grow with it. If virtual education seems to be making students
dumber as oppose to smarter then we would have to do away with it.
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| Typical set-up for an online course. |
For instance, another academic article
titled, Can virtual schools thrive in the
real world? states that “Before making
another impetuous move to expand virtual schooling, now is the time to pause, scrutinize,
and reflect on current practices.” I really agree with this statement
because we are so focused on moving forward and advancing with virtual
education that we fail to see if this method is actually working.
Let’s all give virtual education a
try but also remember that the human body can do tons of things that a computer
or a course management system cannot do.
Ash, Katie. "What S the Cost
of Virtual Ed?" Education Week 31.17 (2012): 9. EBSCOHost.
Web. 26 Nov. 2015.
Wang, Yinying, and Janet Decker.
"Can Virtual Schools Thrive in the Real World?" TechTrends: Linking
Research & Practice to Improve Learning 58.6 (2014): 57-62. EBSCOHost. Web.
26 Nov. 2015.
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