Advantages………..

Learning takes place anywhere, anytime.  I have been busy all weekend, barely at my house other than to take a shower, however tonight when I got home I had time to read a few articles, catch up on other classmates posts, etc.  I’m learning, even though it is the weekend.  How many people can say that about their college classes? 

Learning can be more centered on the student’s interests.  In a classroom, a teacher sometimes has 30 students in her classroom.  She can’t possibly work with each student and therefore has to provide similar instruction to all the students as a whole.  When a student already knows how to do something, he/she has to sit through the assignment and do it anyways because all the other students are working on that assignment and the teacher doesn’t have time to plan another lesson for that one individual.  Also, a great amount of time is wasted on classroom management………..taking students to the restroom, letting them get a drink at the water fountain, standing in line for lunch, etc.  All of this is avoided with distance education…….in the classroom, learning stops at 2:30 when the bell rings, with distance education learning is continual………because students can learn any hour they choose.  They can even eat their supper and learn at the same time if they want.

Disadvantages…………….

Distance ed is a wonderful method of education for older children and adults, but early primary students have a disadvantage when it comes to distance ed.   They need manipulatives in their hands; they need to engage in play with other children as they learn, they need direct instruction from a teacher that has been trained to teach reading.  They can’t read and therefore can’t blog, engage in online chats, etc.  They are simply not ready for this online world, but their parents are………………….

I think materials could be provided to K-1 students’ parents online through blackboard or TappedIn. I know as a kindergarten teacher I would like to hold a few parent conferences online throughout the year; some parents can’t get to school before 5:00, but they could talk to me online at 9:00 or 10:00 after they get their child to bed…..we would have to make sure the site was secure and confidential, of course.