What Do We Study?
In a post about research, Dr. Lowell makes the point that many studies have been done comparing distance education and traditional education. These studies have resulted in no real value. Tippi made the comment there that we have already established that it’s not the distance that is our focus, rather it should be on the tools that we can use to reach the students. I agree that we have many more tools available (and now known to those of us in this class) with which to reach our students. We hear a lot about engagement. Do these tools really make an impact and engage our students? Is there research being done to compare the use of various tools?
I have another random thought, here. In thinking about teaching as an art. If we compare the teacher to the artist, both have subject matter to address. The artist takes stock of his subject matter and makes decisions about how to best present it to his audience. The artist may or may not have a definite audience in mind. He has to decide what media to use based on how he wants to present his subject. The teacher also considers his subject matter and how he feels it will best be presented. However, the audience is a bigger factor, in my opinion. In the secondary classroom or online education at the secondary level, the audience is somewhat captive-they have to be there if they want to graduate. Many, if not most, would rather be somewhere else, so the teacher is always trying to find ways to engage the students. The subject matter becomes secondary, and thinking back to the video we watched Did You Know?
, the subject matter sometimes doesn’t matter as long as students know how to find the answers or better, yet, know what questions to ask. The real question is how do we create a desire within students to learn?
I think that task is harder with various groups of students. Students at higher levels of education have demonstrated the tenacity to be at the level they are. Hopefully, that represents their desire to learn and more than likely, there have been adults along the way who have helped them have that desire. As has been acknowledged in this class before, there are always going to be students who learn no matter what methods or media we use. However, the ones who need us most are those who seem to have no desire. They are the challenge. This has been a very tough week at school for me. Talk about a captive audience. Mine are all captives and it’s safe to say that they don’t want to be there. However, there are some who seem to really want to learn and I try to spend my time helping them to do so. The only tools I have available are pencils and paper.
This really has been a collection of random thoughts, but hopefully, it makes a little sense.
So, what do we study when we’re interested in Distance Education? I think the answer to that is to study how we can better connect with students no matter where they are physically.
