Of course, as with pretty much any form of education and technology in todays world, there and advantaged and disadvantages with distance learning. An advantage which you cant find in schooling is that is it flexible and there is no centralised resources. Also, so many people can be educated this way as messages can easily be delivered and recieved by so many people at one time, which of course is a massive convinience. However, with the advantages come disadvantages, such as lack of face to face interaction and active learning with other students, which you do find in the classroom, which in my opinion would slow down and decrease the effectiveness, as if someone doesn't understand something or struggles, they can't just ask their tutor for help, as they are learning via a television. The audience aren't seen as individuals with their own interests and preferences, they are simply seen as a group. Surely this reflects the quaility of learning?
In theory I think distance learning is a great thing as it is an effective way of reaching the masses and offering so many people an education, but are these people at disadvantage compared to those who have class room schooling? "Students having access to better-equipped laboratories may perform more experiments than those who have no well-equipped laboratory at their disposal". I find this point quite interesting and fitting, as basically it says that students who have access to practical equpment (in science for example) perform more experiments than those who have less access. This must mean that education isn't equal? To me, this just suggests taht depending on where you live, you have a better chance of education and better oppurtunities.
I can see how distance learning works in China, it is such an impressive technological advance, but personally I can see quite a few "cracks" - problems and issues which may not seem a big deal, but can effect the students, education systems and in the long run.
Showing posts with label Education in China.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education in China.. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
China - Part One.
After reading the article I was quite surprised to see how old distance learning dates. It seems to be a huge success and work really well, and its obvious that China are much more developed than most parts of the world when it comes to organizational structure.
Chine favours distance learning, in particular through the use of television to educate children, due to the amount of population across the county. As it has be proved,television as a convienient and effective way of delivery messages to a mass audience. Between 1960- 1966 8,000 students graduated by using the television based learning and 50,000 students passed single courses. These statistics show how effective distance learning is, as the amount of students who gratuated using television as their aid of learning is more than the amount one lecturer could educate in the classroom. This article has really opened my eyes to education in different forms of media, as I generally think schooling is the best option, but after reading the successed of China, I can see how different ways can work out just as well.
The whole notion of this distance learning can be linked to the conept of "social-determinsim" with the society working with and functioning around the technological advances available to us.
Televisions have the ability to send messages to a massive audience, and although it has proven to benefit and work well for people in China, the whole idea does make me doubt the quality of learning, as distance learning doesnt offer face to face or interacting with other students, which surely lowers the effectiveness compared to that you would find in the classroom? Another issue which makes me question the overall effectiveness is that everyone is getting the same standard education. Obviously, this can be seen as a good thing as it means eveyone has an equal chance of succeeding, but to me I see it as everyone learns exactly the same within their field, which isnt neccessarily beneficial as its better that people have the chance to further there education and focus on areas which they feel more comfortable in? It works well for China I admit.
Chine favours distance learning, in particular through the use of television to educate children, due to the amount of population across the county. As it has be proved,television as a convienient and effective way of delivery messages to a mass audience. Between 1960- 1966 8,000 students graduated by using the television based learning and 50,000 students passed single courses. These statistics show how effective distance learning is, as the amount of students who gratuated using television as their aid of learning is more than the amount one lecturer could educate in the classroom. This article has really opened my eyes to education in different forms of media, as I generally think schooling is the best option, but after reading the successed of China, I can see how different ways can work out just as well.
The whole notion of this distance learning can be linked to the conept of "social-determinsim" with the society working with and functioning around the technological advances available to us.
Televisions have the ability to send messages to a massive audience, and although it has proven to benefit and work well for people in China, the whole idea does make me doubt the quality of learning, as distance learning doesnt offer face to face or interacting with other students, which surely lowers the effectiveness compared to that you would find in the classroom? Another issue which makes me question the overall effectiveness is that everyone is getting the same standard education. Obviously, this can be seen as a good thing as it means eveyone has an equal chance of succeeding, but to me I see it as everyone learns exactly the same within their field, which isnt neccessarily beneficial as its better that people have the chance to further there education and focus on areas which they feel more comfortable in? It works well for China I admit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)