The Positives and Pitfalls of Online Learning

EDU 708 Personal Philosophy and Action Plan Introduction

Throughout the past 15 months, many K-12 educational institutions in Michigan (and throughout the nation) have struggled with the almost overnight implementation of emergency remote learning, and subsequent ‘Return to Learn’ plans. As educators across the state are desperately counting down the days, hours, and minutes until the end of the 2020-21 school year, it is important to reflect on the high’s and low’s that the past school year has brought. While many in education would like nothing more than to start the upcoming school year in a traditional, face-to-face format, we cannot idly toss the idea aside that virtual learning - in one way, shape, or form - is here to stay. With more and more families clambering for the flexibility that the past year has brought with respect to their child’s education, it would be naive of us, as educators, to think that the virtual academies, hybrid models, and more that we saw over the course of the last year would simply disappear. Instead, we should thoughtfully examine the opportunities and obstacles that online learning presents in order to create the increasingly dynamic educational landscape of tomorrow.

It is my personal belief that a blended - or hybrid - learning environment would best suit the ever changing needs of secondary students, and their families, for many years to come. While younger students may not fare as well with the relative abundance of self-regulated learning, many adolescents at high schools across the state have been able to flourish this past academic year due to an increase in student autonomy within their classes and somewhat more lenient, or adjustable, schedules. Such teenagers have been able to successfully adapt to changes in instructional demands, and overcome what could have been a potentially devastating year with regard to educational gains, due to their individual motivation and ability to persevere in the face of adversity.

McGee and Reis define such a blended environment as having, “the integration of online with face-to-face instruction in a planned, pedagogically valuable manner; and not just a combination (addition) of online with face-to-face but a trade-off (replacement) of face-to-face time with online activity or vice versa” (McGee & Reis, 2012). It is further noted that such a model should incorporate the best of a traditional face-to-face setting and online learning, while reducing class contact hours in a significant manner. While I will wholeheartedly advocate for local school districts to integrate and support this model of instruction at the high school level, it is critical that we reflect upon the positive attributes, as well as the detrimental side effects, of mainstreaming an online component within our upper-level courses. While such a merger can lead to an increase in classroom personalization and individualized feedback, it can also be hindered by academic integrity issues, accessibility (or lack thereof), and the lesser mentioned ‘digital drain’, or a specific form of fatigue related to the increased use of digital devices. Throughout the next few blog posts, I will be exploring some of these issues (and others) more in depth in an effort to reflect strategically upon the logistics of incorporating an online component within high-school level classes, and the ramifications that this past year will undoubtedly have upon our nation’s educational terrain.

Citations: McGee, P., & Reis, A. (2012). Blended course design: A synthesis of best practices. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 16(4), 7-22.

Image from CommLab India.