So much negativity being directed towards #remotelearning #remoteteaching #onlineteaching #onlineeducation. The underlying sentiment: classroom teaching in #highered is far superior. Let's investigate the myths! 1/10
Myth 1: education is social, and only a classroom can create the conditions necessary to make it social. Classrooms with 100, 200, 400, 800 students are ideal learning situations? Everyone participates, even as the term wears on and attendance falls like a rock? 2/10
Myth 2: I can't have meaningful connections with my students online; I need to be with them in person. For smaller classes, maybe. But how meaningful are the interactions when the classes hit 100+? How meaningful are the connections when the students don't attend class? 3/10
Myth 3: Students prefer classroom instruction. Those who've had lousy online courses most likely prefer the classroom. Those who have to juggle class schedules with work schedules, or need to take a class while living away from campus, see online courses as a big plus. 4/10
Myth 4: Classroom teaching is easier for group work. Tried getting students into groups in a classroom with stadium seating where the tables and chairs are bolted to the floor? 5/10
Myth 5: The EdTech community wants to turn all education into online education. And the earth is flat. And the moon landing was filmed in a Hollywood back lot. And Elvis is alive, serving as president of the Flat Earth and Fake Moon Landing Society. 6/10
Myth 6: Online teaching is an enormous amount of work. No, ALL teaching is an enormous amount of work. But instructors can teach first-rate engaging courses using the tools they already have: their computers and their university's learning management systems. 7/10
Myth 7: Online courses need to be designed by professional learning developers. If you can design a classroom course, you can design an online course. The developers can help with tricky bits and offer advice on learner engagement, but you can do the rest, and do it well. 8/10
The point of all this: online teaching and learning isn't better or worse than classroom teaching, it's just different. It offers some advantages over the classroom, but it also requires some adjusting on the part of instructors and students. 9/10
But, seriously, stop attacking online teaching/learning as something that is bent on destroying education. Without it, we wouldn't be able to offer any courses at all right now. How would that help students? 10/10
