The New York Times article on the economic view discusses how online learning should return to a supporting role.
David Deming argues that education becomes expensive and intensive when done in person. However, the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic has forced both schools and colleges to adopt online learning across the globe. Nevertheless, online education might be adopted as the permanent form of education because it has proved it can be successful. Besides, the author of the article is doubtful of the success of online learning.
Summary of the article
According to David, the majority of parents are struggling to educate kindergarten children through online learning because they have not adapted to the system. Moreover, underground students have not received the educational transformation positively due to complexities associated with the system. However, the more the students will undertake online, the more they will adapt and appreciate the significance of online education. It is perceived that online performance will replace pedestrian in-person lectures.
The success of the program is based on the teacher’s prowess in their intimate settings. David further believes that majority of the educators will become mentors, tutors and role models. He accords that economics argument on the features of the education may not scale up. David is worried not only about the future generation of teachers but also students. His fear is based on on-campus learning because some students and teachers may lack the required resources that facilitate online learning.
However, online learning was promulgated many years ago before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Latest statistics from the Department of Education has revealed that 35% of college students have been taking online subjects before Covid-19 pandemic. It is estimated that each student was capable of taking at least one online course which has been escalating in recent decades. Besides, colleges, universities and springs were given short notice to facilitate online, which resulted in poor online earning. Some of the challenges experienced by learners include unstable living environment and unreliable spotty access.
The projected results of online learning are recommendable because the majority of universities have been offering online learning through partnerships with organizations such as Coursera and edX. Similarly, Khan Academy facilitated younger learners with free courses. The significance of online learning is significant when you want to balance education with other activities such as job and family concerns. Even after the elapsing of the pandemic, online learning will remain significant and valuable in learning institutions. For example, in economics, online lectures are recognized as nonrival goods because they are not exhausted according to people’s perception. Therefore, such programs will enable tutors to reach many students simultaneously at the same time. Doing so, it will increase the productivity of education to a higher degree.
David believes that online learning will not make lecturers obsolete due to the following two reasons. First, he believes that education is progressively increasing and many people will require improved education. Therefore, by transforming the higher-education cost curve will be apparent in online learning. However, online education alone will not provide better education, that’s why MOOCs which have been offering online courses have failed over traditional education. David argues that lecturers form part of the education system, but they are not the best part.
Second, online learning will become cheaper and better, making other educational components to require a lot of energy and time. According to economics, such a concept is referred to as unbalanced growth. For example, in the United States, the majority of employment has shifted to the service sector from manufacturing. Similarly, salaries and tuitions have been increasing in the US. Learning gaps are identified through teacher-student engagement, especially in groups. According to nearly.200 educational experiments survey revealed that improvement of learning was effective when a group of six students met four times per week to address academic gaps. Similarly, high-frequency personal feedbacks facilitated high student performance.
Teachers play a critical role in mentoring students. For example, women lectures encourage female students to appreciate STEM careers. They also address racial gaps and influence career success and students’ life choices. Therefore, no technology can replace such perspectives of teaching. Eventually, the unbalanced growth will make intensive teacher-student interactions expensive, thus eliminating children from vulnerable backgrounds from better education. Therefore, David recommends the following interventions for equitable education. First, access to institutions offering high quality on-campus should be broadened. Second, budgetary pressures in universities should not be a remedy to instil an online learning program. Finally, as the crisis comes to an end, students should resume their traditional learning because it builds lifetime personal connections between learners and lecturers.
Explain how this issue affects you?
Online learning is recommendable during the crisis. However, it should be implemented as the only form of education in the future. Face to face learning provides many services that improve the welfare of students. Students-lecture’s association improves mentorship programs in students and strengthens female students on STEM courses. If the traditional system is replaced by online learning, students from vulnerable backgrounds will be disadvantaged, and those from affiliated families will get better education resulting in reduced social mobility. The article is neutral because it has provided the pros and cons of online and traditional learning. The policy on online learning should be integrated into traditional learning but not as the only form of learning in the future.
In conclusion, David arguments on the online vs traditional learning are recommendable, and universities should uphold his recommendations. Some universities may adopt the program as a mechanism to reduce the cost of operation, thus disadvantaging students.