Compare and Contrast of Two Learning Environments Andrew Skupnick Everest University Composition I ENC 1101 Professor Malcolm Campbell December 6, 2012 Abstract Higher education learning environments now have more choices than the conventional brick and mortar schools offered in years past. The learning environment can be a significant choice for persons desiring higher education. Life’s responsibility and financial challenges often deter one’s decision to return to school. The choice of an online learning environment, with attendance at any hour, is fast becoming a primary choice of higher education. The student determines which environment would be the best choice for his or her individual learning style.
Should you need any help or just have a question, it’s difficult to get any personalized help from either the teacher or any student in your class. Any and all assignments that are due for your classes are turned in online, and you only have access to your school books through the computer. Because the classes are online, there are only dates and times that your assignments have to be turned in by (i.e. end of the week, Saturday by 11:59PM), which makes it easier for the student to procrastinate on their work. On-campus classes make it easier to communicate one-on-one with your teacher.
She provides various arguments regarding her theory and growing concern of whether students benefit from online educational platforms. This essay addresses the many deficits of online learning, particularly concerning the subject of writing. Kiefer also discusses the fact that, although online learning is a now a popular trend due the advancement of technology, it is a flawed system due to a writing teacher trying to foster student-student interaction with no resources other than electronic discourse (Kiefer, 2007). She reveals concerns from the standpoint of classroom support software, student's time constraints and "Market" Models of Education. Additionally, there is an incredible level of detachment caused by the impersonal nature of these online courses among students and student as well as teacher and student.
Imagine if school work was your best friend, what would you talk about? Online school may fit some peoples personalities but not too many. More than seventy percent of students enjoy the traditional learning of school over the online school method. I would prefer traditional learning because with online school, you pay more money, you’re less motivated, and you lack success in your social life. I will explain these three points in my following paragraphs.
There are many negative situations which often happen in a structured setting, such as the classroom, that causes teachers to have to do more than just teach. Teachers should have their classrooms set up with ideas and learning centers that will help students with their learning. There is not just one guideline on how the classroom should be set up. Different teachers have different learning techniques. Most teachers find what works for them and this is how they teach.
I didn’t understand because I had never heard of something called an annotated bibliography. I finally decided to open my computer and do some research about the topic. This is the same as writing a bibliography, but instead of writing a long essay, one has to write a brief paragraph explaining what one source was about. As the time went along my classmates and I kept on asking the professor brief questions to the professor. Such as, what is an annotated bibliography?
Should students and parents have the option of whether or not to use technology? There is even the question of whether or not this is the “wave of the future,” or if it is simply a fad that will eventually pass. While technology has its benefits in aiding students learning, overall technology causes distractions and costs too much money. Compared to traditional classrooms, studies have shown that courses for which computer based learning was used, that student to student, and student to teacher increased while also increasing student to teacher interactions with lower performing students, but didn’t decrease the traditional forms of communication used (American Library Association, The Effectiveness of Technology is Schools: A Summary of Recent Research, Ellen Bialo and Jay Sivin-Kachala). Many students don’t like to communicate with teacher’s in-front of their peers for fear of being made fun of, therefor technology makes it easier to ask questions and get help when it’s needed.
Understand How They Learn Todd M. Haubrich April 30, 2011 Understand how they learn An inherent responsibility, of anyone who designs, develops, and instructs is to understand how a person learns, and the process of how learning takes place. Instructional design is a crucial element in material development. Whether curriculum is developed and designed for a class, seminar, or a course of instruction, much research, time, and money go into the design and development of course materials. The proper selection of media and instrument of delivery, consideration of learning styles and learning preferences, of the audience is a critical factor of the design process. No matter how well designed the material, or instrument of delivery is, teachers must consider many relevant factors during implementation, and presentation of material; material and delivery must accommodate a persons learning style.
The use of technology is only one of contributing factors associated with this problem in children, teenagers, and even adults. Illiteracy in America is growing at an alarming rate. The other primary contributing factor to this grave issue is the state of public education and the structure of the curriculum in many school districts in America. I am very concerned about America’s future. It is so much easier to use abbreviations when you are texting or sending Email to friends.
This article also claims that technology is a huge distraction in our lives in the sense that instead of traditional reading we now tend to skim read and even skip right to another article without ever returning to the original one. Traditional media has to live up to the expectation their audiences have of everything being a "shortcut". We are becoming too use to being able to access information faster and more conveniently. According to this article, technology is becoming more important than the mind of the human being. Google is used as an example of how we have begun a new form or way of reading and thinking as we hyperlink or way through the web instead of going to a library to read periodicals.