What most attracts me to online teaching and learning is the freedom there. I will be able to teach the way I want, using the content that I want. This would be an amazing opportunity. Especially now that I am teaching this wonderful 12th grade mathematics class called, Advanced Mathematical Decision Making. I am pushing my students to answer questions like the following: You need to fill up your car that gets 27 mpg and has a 17.1 gallon tank. There is a gas station 5.3 miles from your house. The price for regular unleaded is $3.91 per gallon. The gas station that is .62 miles from your house has regular unleaded at $3.85 per gallon. Assume you are filling up from zero. Mathematically prove whether or not it is worth it to drive to the cheaper gas station. Also, how long does it take you to get there if your average speed is 45 mph? What does the savings have to be to warrant a drive of that duration? Is that amount of savings realistic?
This was literally the first problem which my students saw and it took an entire week, but not only did we solve it, but came up with a general formula which all drivers can use to answer the question, “Is it worth it to drive to that cheaper gas station?” If this had been an online class, much of the students unwillingness to work would have been averted, because as I said before, they decide when to engage the content, not a cookie cutter bell schedule, that rings no matter how great a class is going and will not ring early, even if a student is burned out.
I am excited about teaching online, because the self-reliance and autonomy is implied and inherent in the very nature of online learning. Not to say that there is no interaction at all, but as I respond to this prompt it is just me and my orchid relaxing on a Friday night. I cannot express to my students enough about the importance of personal accountability, which has been wickedly and foolishly wrenched from their hands.
Seeing the way that they are no longer held accountable in the six years I have taught in GA is sometimes disheartening, but I admit, that I can and should communicate more with parents.
Getting back to the topic, of course the convenience of online learning is wonderful, especially now that gas is almost $4 a gallon where I live.
It is a blessing to be able to secure a high quality accredited and challenging education at your convenience. It is a wonderful time to live in, and the future of technology is poised for even greater things. I never would have imagined that it would be some much information, so easily available. I literally can't get enough.
I actually believe and have told my students in no uncertain terms, that I believe that youtube's mathematical instructional videos will honestly put me out of a job, because when you have a student willing and determined to learn combined with solid instruction, you have success on the horizon. Truly, I don't see how everyone doesn't have A's, which is why my research project is going to attempt to ascertain, why struggling students don't take advantage of helpful mathematical instructional technology like they should in order to succeed.
However, honestly and personally, online teaching and learning is not all sunshine and rainbows. The amount of personal accountability is immense, whether student or instructor. For instance, the amount of free educational resources available via the internet is virtually unlimited, and failure truly is even more so a personal choice and an indicator of intensity and desire, than ever before. But on the instructor end, the behemoth of foresight is larger than life. To literally have to plan every single introduction, explanation, and application activity ahead of time, predicting questions, hang-ups, knowledge gaps, needs of over-achievers and more for an entire semester, before it even begins is more than daunting. But online instructors do it all the time. It's amazing. I personally am excited about the idea of such a worthy challenge and look forward to testing my academic clairvoyance.
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