Research

The reading from this week's MOOC passages makes me think back to all of my psychology classes. I find myself trying to psychoanalyze myself in an effort to prevent myself from transferring my past experiences and personal desires into my analysis of how online learning may help prevent high school dropout.

The rational side of me understands the difficulty of finding and creating research that may be used to determine if an to what degree online learning may benefit students. Currently online learning is a very diverse subject. Some data suggests the benefits of online learning, however there has not been sufficient time to accumulate vast qualities of data to prove the question to whether or not online learning is superior, inferior, or equal to what has been taught in traditional settings. More research needs to be done in order to determine "best practices" of online teaching.

What surprised me about this section was how empathetic I was to the various factors that were discussed as potential reasons why students dropped out of school. I truly believe these reasons are very plausible. In fact, for many of the reasons I could see a particular student's face who had experienced a similar situation.

These reasons confirmed for me that online schooling has merit. There are many students who need it deliberately. Their lives and situations are not conducive to traditional schooling. I feel these students are not opposed to learning but traditional avenues make obtaining instruction painful or impossible. Online learning creates a new pathway for students to receive what they need.

I find two questions left unanswered in my mind at this time.  The first is how long will it take in order for online learning to stabilize, in that I mean for online learning to be socially accepted and promoted to the extent the general public knows an excepts it as an alternative to traditional schooling. The second question in my mind is who will be the future gatekeeper of online learning. Will online learning become highly commercialized? It seems to me the lion's share of available options at this time seem to have some sort of commercial base.

I never dropped out of high school. I did, however, hate going most days. It is odd that I teach and love to do so now because I was quite the rebel in my teenage years. I wish I had had the opportunity of online learning during that time. I do feel research will eventually show, and prove, online learning to be a reliable alternative for students. I cannot help but feel excitement at the prospect.

Barbour, M, (2012). "Research into the design of K-12 online learning." Virtual School MOOC. Retrieved from http://virtualschoolmooc.wikispaces.com/design. 21 September 2012