Electronic Learning

Technological developments can be seen as beneficial, detrimental or lost in the land of uncertainty. However, there is less of a debate regarding whether technological developments influence society and the way people interact.

The lifestyle that Americans live today is very different from those living in the 1800's. In two centuries an enormous list of technological developments could be documented.

Currently, in the year 2010 I am concerned about electronic learning. Specifically, at the college level with online classes. While making education accessible is an improvement, what is lost; the in-class interactions, the structure and the role of the live, physically present teacher is detrimental to education (in my opinion of course). The lessons learned within a classroom go beyond the material that is covered in the syllabus.

Lessons of face-to-face respect, how to act within a professional/social academic setting, the ability to understand spoken instructions, to act when called upon and the ability to process unspoken communication with strangers that have a common goal (albeit within the lesson, or about a given subject, or to pass the course) is limited significantly with electronic learning.

The 2014 student projection of "...18.65 million will take some of their classes online..." worries me. I fear that this form of technological development will play a large role in future conflicts all around the world.

We are losing our togetherness, we are losing our focus, we are losing the valuable personal time within the classroom environment that has produced success for centuries.



Nagel, David. "Most College Students To Take Classes Online by 2014 -- Campus Technology." Campus Enterprise Networking & Infrastructure -- Campus Technology. 28 Oct. 2008. Web. 05 Sept. 2010. .