Several threads are spooling out side by side and it’s time they converged. The ideas are technology, distance, education, and the classroom.
Many of you found the flood of technology overwhelming at first — like the novice skier looking down the Bunny Slope for the first time. Over the week, most of you managed to work your way down to the bottom with some spills along the way. Now, looking back up the slope from the bottom, it doesn’t look so steep. I used some classic techniques in my Educational practice to get you to learn. You’ve read about them in the Kearsley book — learner control, exploration, discovery, problem based learning. It was effective because it was uncomfortable. You were pushed out of your comfort zones and faced with the task of coping.
Many of you discovered that you’re not alone, neither in the discomfort nor the learning. I believe you’ve all learned that I’m online most of the time and am perfectly willing — even eager — to answer your questions. A couple of you have even noted in your blogs that you’ve had more contact with me over course materials than some of your classroom based teachers. Welcome to my world.
So let’s talk about the classroom and why I say, “As good as the classroom isn’t good enough.”
The saying comes as a response to the dozens and dozens of people who have asked me, “If I teach online, how do I make it as good as the classroom?” We use the classroom as the gold-standard of education even while we recognize that a classroom is not a very good place to learn. Lots of instruction happens there, but the majority of learning happens outside — even the explicit learning.
Some things we need to acknowledge about the classroom.
First, it’s new. On the scale of human time, we’ve not had classrooms all that long. Prior to classrooms, schools were run by guilds and guild-like organizations. Before that, children learned by play and mimicry. Even the famed Socrates didn’t teach in a classroom but wandered the streets and marketplaces of Athens, even meeting under the plane trees on the riverbanks outside the city.
Second, classrooms are not intended for learning. They are intended for teaching. They provide an efficient mechanism for delivering instruction by bringing the students in efficiently-sized groups into relative proximity to the instructor. That necessitates schedules, assignments, and standardization. We have the classroom as workstation on the industrial floor of the educational factory. We have quality assurance standards for our production outputs. Teachers are the line workers, answerable to the foremen, who are answerable to the managers, etc. This is strictly intended for efficiency and completely ignores effectiveness - our national pre-occupation with test scores notwithstanding. The assumption is that if the recipe is followed, you will turn out a consistent product.
Third, the classroom is not the open arena of freewheeling communication that many teachers believe it is. The classroom is not a way to encourage communication. It’s a way to control it. We have elaborate rules for who can speak to whom, and when. We teach the kids to sit in their seats and keep quiet. They can talk if they get permission. They can’t talk to other students. Even passing notes in class is A Bad Thing. Moreover, the only people they can talk to are the ones in the room at the time. The communications channels are generally limited to the speed of human speech — about a 100 words per minute in spite of the fact that even novice readers can assimilate twice that easily — and only one person is permitted to speak at a time. The audio channel is subject to the limitation that if more than one person uses it as a time, the signal interference means that little of either message is transmitted.
Fourth, technology is rampant in the classroom. It’s just that little of it is recognizeable. Even the classroom is, itself, a technology. We have classrooms in buildings (architecture) with heat and light and furniture (infrastructure). We use written language, printed language, and spoken language. We use projection technology, display technology, and even amplification technology. Some use TV. Some use film. Some use pictures. Some use sound/music. It’s all technology. But we don’t THINK of this as educational technology or even technology at all in some cases. But there is a limitation on this technology. We only permit that which keeps the students isolated within the room.
The reality of this environment is that student engagement in a content area is limited to a) the period they are in class and b) the block of time they set aside just before the class meets to do the homework - usually the night before it’s due. Yet, as humans we know that the more you are involved and engaged in any content domain, the more likely you are to assimilate and understand it — the more you can transfer the knowledge from one environment to another.
But our educational gold-standard is predicated on minimizing engagement. So why would that be “good enough?”
August 29th, 2006 at 10:45 pm
I am probably just as guilty of assuming that the classroom was the only environment that learning could take place in. Somehow I have come to the conclusion over that traditional models of education are what work. I just assumed that people could learn more if they were in a room listening to an instructor. Reflecting on this previous view, I can’t help but see the folly in it. Aside from the points that your have brought up, often times during lectures I find myself frantically taking notes, trying to copy down every bit of knowledge that my instructor gives me. In an online setting there is no rush, the lesson/lecture/conversation is static, and it isn’t going anywhere unless I choose so.
August 30th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
I remember someone stating in a recent comment on our discussion board, that they wouldn’t voice near as much things as they do if they were in an actual classroom as opposed to an online class. I would have to say that I agree with this fact and I feel that I am free to present what I am thinking and feeling about a topic and it is appreciated in this class. Furthermore, in an actual classroom there are limitations and boundaries set. It reminds me of an art class I had where we were instructed to never make a child color within the lines–it kills creativity. A child is supposed to create artwork freely even if it is all over the page! In the same way, the classroom boundaries can restrict the full creativity of voice and thought, whereas, in the world of distance education there isn’t a set list of boundaries and you are free to express your opinions and the way you feel about a particular something.
After reading this post, I can agree with such a statement. I agree with the fact that “you discover what you are really are thinking through writing.” When thinking of where distance education is today, we present a lot of different types of distance learning. For example, we have distance education that takes place via satellite–where a teacher is in one central location and there are sites in other locations that can take part in the class by video and satellite transmission (I had several of these classes through Morehead). In addition, we have our internet classes that have became more and more popular and are the first to fill up come registration time. It seems that education continues to push toward more and more types of distance education and building a stong foundations of the unlimited possibilities gives each of us a head start into future education.
September 1st, 2007 at 9:00 pm
A thought on cyber classrooms, especially those that include high school students, is that most of these students don’t enjoy reading anything that takes more than a few minutes and, so, I wonder how one would construct lessons given this factor. Granted, being connected to their peers in a freer atmosphere engaged in the study of subjects with personal interest would likely be more fun than a traditional classroom. I keep thinking that for the students to be able to discuss an issue in an informed manner, it is necessary for them to have read a substantial amount on the subject.
I do like the idea of finding a way for students to be engaged in content longer than the few minutes that they are in the classroom. As for homework, it has been my experience that a few students actually do the work and others copy it - right before class begins!
September 2nd, 2007 at 11:59 am
This class is my first real experience with on line learning. I must admit at first I was really uncomfortable with the whole chat room atomsphere. I do believe that more learning takes place. I have been forced out of my comfort zone, which it turns has forced me to obtain knowledge to get back into a more comfortable situation. I am finding that I am enjoying this environment and am more willing to participate. I believe all learners would benefit from this learning environment. Teenagers are already engaged in this environment, so making it educational would not be that much of a stretch.
August 25th, 2008 at 6:09 am
[...] need to acknowledge some realities about that box we call the “classroom.” Please read On the Classroom and tell me what you think about [...]
August 25th, 2008 at 9:19 am
after reading the classroom post, though I know it is true I found myself asking “how do I change?” My classroom management has been an issue for me in my “new teacher” standards. I do not have the typical classroom management. I encourage talking (over the subject) I encourage questions. I can remember sitting in class going through the motions. My tests are not the typical test. I want to incorperate new ideas besides all of the ’strageties’ that we hear about. BUT….. there is one thing standing in the way. Technology is not rampant in my classroom and the classrooms that is… teachers don’t use it effectively. A lack of funding this year has really caused a technology shortage. WE got a new computer lab. Great… It doesn’t have chairs yet. With all of the expectations that teachers have how can we teach what we need to but yet still have a since of control to make sure that all of the students are learning a degree of what they are supposed to.
I hope this class will bring light to new ideas for not only me but things I can do for my students. Can any share ideas that worked? I am willing to change what I typically do, just someone show me the way.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Excellent questions.
I’ve got an answer, but we’ll see what other people say first.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:38 am
I taught next to someone that didn’t allow her students to move from their “designated” spots unless they had been given permission. They were NEVER allowed to speak freely or move about in the room. My room was the complete opposite. It was loud, all kinds of movement, and some how learning happened.
I hated some of my school experiences. In 3rd grade I was paddled because I heard an announcement and let the classroom next door know that one of the students had been called to the office. I was given a pink slip in high school because when the bell rang my bottom was NOT completely in the seat, I was leaning over my desk. Did learning occur, I am sure at some level, but I always felt that the teachers were interested in just getting through the day then what “real” learning might have occurred in their classroom. I had one English teacher in 7th grade that I wanted to be like. Every moment of that class was full of learning, he took us everywhere, and encouraged interruptions. The traditional classroom of sitting still and taking notes is overrated. Most of my learning has come from outside of the “box”. I feel the same things goes for my children. This class is challenging and there have been times (last night - trying to get in TI) that I was ready to scream. But it is in those moments that I learn the most. 
August 25th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I love online classes as opposed to the classroom setting because it does give you the freedom to discuss topics with EVERYONE in the class. I have never been a “shy” person but I had always learned that when you are in class, it is a time to shut up and listen whereas with an online class, there is more flexibility and a need to communicate with others. I think the major draw back of online education is the fear of its use. For example, my oldest son (in 7th grade) signed up for a KVHS Anthropology course this year and he loves it. It can move through the content as his own pace and research topics much more in depth than he would be allowed to in a regular class. However, the school administrators are refusing to allow him to receive credit for the course for 2 major reasons: 1) they do not understand how the course is set up so they cannot affirm that it meets their policies for class structure and 2) if they give him credit for the course then other students might want to do the same thing rather than taking a course at the school, thus putting a teacher out of a job. I think this is ridiculous, but the school is standing firm, at the moment. I feel that technology is the portal to the future and we can either use it to improve education or we remain in a stagnant education system that is more concerned about test scores rather than what is being learned.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Classrooms are very ineffeficient. To me one of the main goals of schools should be to promote student participation, free thinking, and student ideas. However, even if a teacher feels that he or she should use the classroom in a manner conductive to open discussion, the administration of a school would simply call that classroom, out of order. An area with true open communication within a traditional school setting would be labeled as out of control with no discipline and a teacher who could not control their students.
Online learning gives students much more of a voice in their own education. That is certainly not saying that you can’t stick to content standards, just that students are not placed in a box when exploring those standards. Its pretty hard to explore any ideas when your locked into a a square room with 20 other students and told not to speak, and if you must speak raise a hand and wait to be called on. Do not get out of your chair and do not pose questions about the content unless it is one that simple agrees with the state content standards. It is my hope that the with the surge in online learning some of the ideas and approaches used may find themselves back into the classroom.
August 25th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I never could stand my classes where I just had to sit and listen. After awhile I would always tune the teacher out. When I began teaching first grade I tried to keep my likes and dislikes from school in mind. There are some teachers who cannot stand any noise in their rooms, but it doesn’t bother me. I get my kids up, moving and involved. They get choices on how they do assignments and they get choices and input on assessments. I think that it is really important to get the students involved in learning inside the classroom so it doesn’t end there. If students are engaged and motivated then learning will continue outside of the classroom because the students are interested. I do not think that education minimize engagement, but I often feel like I am an “outcast” when I don’t make my kids sit their like little soldiers.
August 25th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Until being asked to really consider these questions, I had never really thought about how much classroom management affects learning or learning environments in general. Like others have mentioned, I feel like other classmates and the instructors of online courses are much more approachable than those in a traditional classroom. It is amazing to me how much I have learned without someone standing in front of me, telling me exactly what to write. These issues have made me lok back on my experiences in school and my own teaching styles.
When I work on assignments for this class, I am often distracted by the television, a ringing telephone, or a crying child, but still I manage to learn. For a person who thrives on structure and calmness, this is a big step. I am becoming a supporter of inquiry learning that is based on individual needs.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Actually, I felt like a novice skier looking down the expert slope. Now it seems more like the bunny slope. I am still getting used to all this new stuff.
My classroom, I guess, is different than the majority of classes where I work. I don’t have to worry about covering core content and program of studies for CATS testing. I teach Spanish, which is not part of CATS. I do teach and the students learn. I don’t have to worry about getting through a certain amount of material. The students in my class have many opportunities to work together (partners, small groups, large groups, and even entire class). They learn the language and interact with other students at the same time. We also do a lot of hands-on activities, which the students love. This way they can learn about the culture in a fun way and not just by reading about it or me lecturing to them. Sure, there are plenty of times when they are required to takes notes and listen, but they get to interact as well. When learning a foreign language, this is very important. They can help each other with learning. I love to use technology in my classroom. Until this year, technology was not really an option for me because I had very little access to it. Now, I am in a new school district and have my own projector in my room (it is attached to the ceiling). I can do all sorts of powerpoints with my students (presentations to class and student made). I can also use it to play review games such as jeopardy. The students really get into this. They actually seem to study more because they have a better chance of winning. I have a lot of athletes in my classes and they are very competitive. Something I haven’t done in the past, but would like to do sometime this year, is take my students on a walk around school grounds. We can go over vocabulary and I could tell them what different things are in Spanish. I was thinking that they could do a nature/outdoors spanish picture dictionary using the objects and things found outside and in nature. This would get them out of the classroom and they wouldn’t feel so confined.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
The box we call the classroom is truly out of control. We can not help students learn due to the increased amount of requirements for students. They can’t take the time to learn in the classroom and guide themselves through the learning process. Time is a hot commodity in the classroom. We have a set schedule for spelling, reading, math, etc and no extra time allotted. Yet, we believe this will allow our students to gain the knowledge needed to be self efficient adults. We do not encourage communication enough in the classroom. To be completely honest, we have no time for communication. All the time in the classroom is spent teaching. I am not agreeing with this style and hope that in the future we can move the classroom out of the small box we’ve placed it in. It was not until Instructional Design that I realized how we use technology in the classroom. It’s amazing how many forms of technology that we overlook on a daily basis. In my opinion, what we call the classroom today (and education) is not good enough. We are not seeing our students improve and if we do see some change it is small. I would love to turn my students loose in a classroom free to discover new ideas and knowledge. That is the one memory I have from grade school. I had a teacher that turned us loose in science class. I learned so much and had fun in the process. How can one move out of the box when pressure is placed to “hammer the content?”
August 25th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
While I do agree with many of the comments, and I feel that a boxed classroom may not be the best learning atmosphere, I feel that it will be a long, hard struggle to correct the situation in the general, public education classroom. I believe that the hardest struggle is that people are generally likely to teach as they have been taught. We’ve all been sat in that box and forced to sit still and be quiet so we think that is how learning should occur.
However, there are those different philosophies of education out there that push the boundaries of the boxed educational norm. Montessori schools learn at a student-led pace and they learn through discovery using all five sences instead of a classroom lecture setting. A typical constructivist classroom is also guided by the student instead of the teacher. Do these children learn better than the typical public school setting? I have only visited one Montessori school and I was amazed at what the young children knew, but was also concerned. One child could recite and identify all of the bones in the body and all of the countries on a map, but he could not read on grade level. The teacher quickly told us that he was more interested in Science and Geography and was not as interested in Literature and Reading. Will we need to redesign what we feel is important for students to learn by letting them make that decision instead of state tests?
August 25th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
First, Shellae, how did your son get involved with KVHS. I have a 7th grader who would like the opportunity to explore a subject he chooses ( I think).
I am thinking that the discussion On The Classroom is still in a round-about way, a discussion about the reason for learning. Are we teaching students because we know something that they need to know, and we are the best most efficient resource for the students to get this knowledge? If so, then the ‘traditional’ idea of classroom instruction gets the job done. We can disperse information through less traditional methods as well. We can even do that in distance education courses.
Or, are we trying to teach children how to learn, and that there is a vast amount of ’stuff’ to be explored. The three r’s are tools students can use to undertake learning. As teachers, especially of early elementary students, we must figure out how to empower students with the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic without quenching their innate desire to learn, to explore and understand their world.
As a fourth year teacher, I haven’t found my groove yet. I have the ideal of eager students engaged in learning in my mind. I am still trying to mesh this with the expectations placed on me as a teacher to teach a very structured curriculum. I consider myself a lover of learning for the sake of learning - I remember teachers who showed awe when they were teaching. Their excitement about the subject was contagious, made me want to know more. I want to give that gift to my students.
The flexibility of distance learning provides so many resources and opportunities for students to engage in genuine, engaging learning experiences. Even in this class, the voices of the people I am learning with are beginning to become distinct. I know that this connection with other people is an opportunity to grow and learn.
In the real world, how do I avoid using the potential of technology only as a substitute for pen and paper, cookie cutter assignments? How do I realisitically provide for the diverse needs of all the learners in my classrooom?
August 27th, 2008 at 8:59 am
I definitely felt I was a novice skier looking down the bunny slope for the first time in this class, and I am sure that is how many teachers feel when they think about changing a traditional classroom from the quiet, manageable, teacher oriented atmosphere to the active, manageable, student oriented classroom. I’m not saying to not have control over the classroom and have no teacher guidance, but to maintain control and give the students the chance to explore learning and take part in how they are educated.
Most of our students are taught in the classroom using the same styles of teaching. I think that this is a drawback of the classroom. As we know, children learn differently. We need to consider the different learning styles of our students and work to help each student learn accordingly. A classroom is a scheduled way to bring students together for learning, but if we are not teaching to the students needs is learning going to take place. Whether we are all together in one room or not doesn’t mean that learning will not occur. An example is our online classes. I am learning everyday from this class and my other online class even though I have not stepped foot in a physical classroom. This proves the point that we don’t need to congregate together at an appointed time for learning to take place. We still have to stay on task, just as teachers in a classroom expect, but we have flexibility and are able to adapt things to our learning style.
Are our classrooms today really producing the best environment for learning? I would say that the typical classroom doesn’t. I think we are all following the “traditional” way of educating. Students come in, sit down, and wait to learn. This sounds really exciting!!! It is no wonder our chidren feel the way they do about school. However, I do think that most teachers probably follow this “tradition” because it is expected in their school and they don’t want disapproval from others.
August 27th, 2008 at 9:37 am
“We need to consider the different learning styles of our students and work to help each student learn accordingly.”
Actually, this is a myth. There’s no credible evidence that so-called learning styles exist. I know it’s in the KY Educational Standards. It doesn’t make it so.
“A classroom is a scheduled way to bring students together for learning,”
This is also a myth. A classroom is a scheduled way to bring students together for TEACHING. It’s a mistake to confuse those two goals.
“I do think that most teachers probably follow this “tradition” because it is expected in their school and they don’t want disapproval from others.”
Unfortunately, I think you nailed this one down pretty well. Especially, if by “others” you mean the administration who can deny a contract renewal. The other factor is that most teachers — all levels — teach the way they were taught.
August 27th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
It is easy to assume that learning only takes place in the classroom, but we have to get away from that way of thinking. I have taken a good number of online classes, and many of these I got more from than a “traditional” classroom. Learning is about getting out of your comfort zone and discovering ways to solve problems.
August 30th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I love online learning or distance education. I can not wait to be out of the “classroom” setting. This week I started my kids in their Facebook discussions. I love this aspect of my class. We pretend we are not in the same room and everything is online. They try to ask me questions and I have to tell them this is an online discussion all questions must be posted in the discussion board. Before the week was over they were reminding me that all communication had to be done in the discussion board. I really like it and wish my district would allow me to teach many courses online.
I agree that learning is about getting out of your comfort zone. I think I learn more because I have to work harder for it.