Psychology
<Student’s name>
<Name of the Academic Institution>
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to admit that modern information and communication technologies have singnificantly changed our way of life. Their influence on the development of educational systems, especially within the past two decades, is also quite obvious. However the question of whether online education may entirely substitute traditional classroom educational practices. In my understanding, despite the fact that new ICT incentives are getting increasingly efficient and comprehensive, it is highly unlikely that thay can possibly become the only source of learning. This jufgement is supported by several serious reasons.
First of all, apart from certain blocks of information that are being transfered to students within an educational process (this part may be considerably strengthened by online learning tools), there are certain sorts of learning activities that simply cannot be performed online and require offline communication – such activities include but are not limited to practical engineering classes, chemical or biological lab excercises, physical experiments etc. (Allison, 1982, p.226). Therefore, a statement that online learning could handle such situations, is premature, at least in the forseeable future.
Thirdly, it should be taken into consideration that online learning deprives students of proper socializing, which is necessary not only for solving certain education-related tasks, but also contributes to comprehensive development of an individual and her or his incorporation into the society.
Finally, online learning may affect students’ ability of cognitive recognition and respective learning processes. It is proven by experiments that in situations when online learning is the only educaional tool available, the overall quality of comprehension (Devolder, van Braak, and Tondeur, 2012, p. 562) as well as the degree of personal satisfaction of students (Allison,1982, p.225).
It is undoubtful that online learning tools are yet to play an increasingly important role at all stages of educational process. Hoewver it should be taken into account that learning is much more that just an information exchange process. It involves elements of offline, real-time interaction, socialization and performance of certain team-based actions. Therefore it would be reasonable to assume that online tools from now on wil be performing an auxillary function, however it is highly unlikely that they will ever be able to replace the existing Socratic method, which proved it’s efficiency throughout millenia.
References:
- Caron,P., and Gely, R. (2004). Taking Back the Law School Classroom: Using Technology to Foster Active Student Learning. Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 54, p. 551, 2004; Univ. of Cincinnati Public Law Research Paper No. 04-6.
- Devolder, A. A., van Braak, J. J., and Tondeur, J. J. (2012). Supporting self‐regulated learning in computer‐based learning environments: Systematic review of effects of scaffolding in the domain of science education. Journal Of Computer Assisted Learning, No. 28(6), p.557-573.
- Allison, E. (1982). Three years of self-paced teaching in introductory economics at Harvard. American Economic Review No.66 (2): p.222-28.
- Becker, W. E., and M. K. Salemi (1977). The learning and cost effectiveness of AVT supplemental instruction: Specification of learning models. Journal of Economic Education No. 8 (2): p.77-92.
- Allein, I.A., and Seamann, J. (2003). Sizing the Opportunity: The Quality and Extent of Online Education in the United States, 2002 and 2003. Sloan Consortium.
- Johnson, S.D., Aragon, S.R., and Shaik, N. (2000). Comparative Analysis of Learner Satisfaction and Learning Outcomes in Online and Face-to-Face Learning Environments. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, No.11(1), p. 29-49.
