Pros of Online Learning: No more paper, no more books....

Many people argue that technology has changed how we learn and what students produce in the way of content. I wholeheartedly agree, but I think that change has been for the better.

Most of my online education has been through utilizing Blackboard. This website allows many schools to share class content through a variety of outlets. I personally have used the following:

• announcements
• video lectures
• PDF or Word syllabus, notes, assignment instructions
• PowerPoint notes
• discussion boards (whole class and group forums)
• Turnitin (checks for plagiarism)
• grades 
• teacher, aide, or student emails
• external links, videos
• FSU and shared Libraries (JSTOR)
• Google Earth

I have to say, the flexibility a teacher has to share content was quite surprising. While I may not be in a class room and I've rarely entered a teacher's office, I have face-to-face lectures I can pause, playback, continue after dinner, or screenshot images for my notes. This alone was a fantastic gain in the education field. I don't have to try to record a lecture, or type while they're talking, distracted by other students or ideas. 

My poor, horrible handwriting no longer has to be viewed by others. All of my papers are typed up and submitted online, with plenty of resources to make sure I have a correct reference page layout and spelling has been corrected.

I've even had a few classes where there are no required textbook purchases (hallelujah); they are able to convey the message with different mediums: web videos, scanned pdf pages, or articles and journals available online. It takes me seconds to start my research for a project with a few clicks, rather than hours in a library.

I feel I waste less time taking classes online; when I sit down to watch a video lecture I'm focused on that quiet screen, no coughing or fire alarms to distract me; I can pause it to do something else and come back to it later if need be, having not missed a word. 

We may even be getting better at getting our point across by communicating online. No more stutters or stammers, our anxiety fades away in the safety of our own home with the ability to edit before the post. We are often required to interact with students on discussion boards. And while this guided conversation can be a bit limited, it does cut down on non-topic wandering.

According to the article below, our new ways of learning is not hindered by our texting-prone minds; our reports have fewer spelling errors than our grandparents, we are writing longer papers, and faster. 

http://daily.jstor.org/student-writing-in-the-digital-age/

Our technologies have changed and so has our learning styles, and I see nothing but promise in a future of options. There are so many opportunities and ideas to share, we just have to seek it out.