I am tired of the debate over distance learning. I've been a distance learning student. I know how hard people work to balance their regular lives with trying to fight to study and find a way to make things better for themselves and their families. If I could take time off from work to sit in a classroom I would. If I could afford to spend the time and the money to do it that way, I would have. I have kids. I have a mortgage. I have responsibilities that someone who is 18 or 20 or 25 generally does not have. If I could put everything on a back shelf just to go to school, I would. My options have been to attend and online program that was at no cost to me or to try to put everything else on hold just so I could go to school to make things better for my family. They needed me here NOW. I didn't want to add tens of thousands of dollars of debt I'll never be able to pay off to my already unbearable debt load just so I could try to give them a better life. I would like to be able to do things like take them on vacation and send them to college without depending on the generosity of others. But I can't do that without an additional degree. And now I'm being told that other people who didn't have to do it this way are refusing to validate my degree. I'm sorry I didn't grow up in a family in which paying for college was part of the master plan. I'm sorry I was disowned for not doing it the way my daddy would have done it. I'm sorry I don't want to be a burden on anyone else. I'm sorry I don't want my children to be anyone else's burden. But 'you people' are making this tough. You want us to be educated, but only if we're able to do it when we're young. Only when we're young enough not to be able to afford to be able to do it on our own. And if we can't then you tell us that the best option is to seek federal aid. And then you beat us up for taking that option. So you're basically telling 'us' that the only way we should be going to school is if we have someone who is willing to foot the bill for us. And that's only okay if that 'someone' is family or a friend or ourselves. And it's not okay if we decide to make it work by dancing in dark clubs on weekends. And it's not okay if we prostitute ourselves. And it's not okay if we do it in any number of ways.
So who the FUCK are you?
You had a family that would support you. Your parents took out a second or third mortgage to put you through school. They supported you so you could do internships and community service that allowed you to make the connections you needed to get the job you have now. And you had no debt upon completion of your degree.
And then there are the rest of us.
Those of us who can't be in a classroom every Wednesday at 8am because we can't get the time off from work. Those of us who can't afford a sitter several nights a week when we're already paying for daycare during the regular work week just to keep the jobs that pay us just well enough to not be eligible for stipends and food stamps. Those of us who have family obligations.... no.... let me be specific here... I cannot leave my children alone with my husband for hours at a time because he is an alcoholic. He thinks leaving my 6 year old in charge of my 2 year old is responsible parenting. He lacks the ability to be responsible for my children. I cannot leave him in charge. And I cannot afford a sitter because I make about $1000 more than the 'poverty level' that would qualify us for assistance. So we have a place to stay and we pay the bills. My children go to school clean, fed and ready to learn. And you would not be able to pick my family out of my neighborhood as being more deficient than any of the other families in my blue collar, 1600 sqf neighborhood. But I don't want this to be what my children think is 'the best we can do'.
I want to make a difference.
I want to pull us up that class ladder.
And, contrary to Mitt Romney or anyone else who would have you believe it, I am not waiting for a hand-out. If I were waiting, I would not have gone back to school to try to re-train myself for a better position and a better life.
But the people who are putting themselves in the place of the Star-bellied-Sneetches are making this really difficult. This is no longer about working to the best of your abilities. It's about whether your 'stars' are as 'good' as ours.
To have someone tell me that my degree earned through a regionally accredited college via a distance learning program is worth less than a degree earned in an on-campus setting because I didn't have as much face-to-face time with my instructor is just offensive. I've spent more time interacting with my instructors and fellow classmates as an online student than I ever did in my undergraduate 'on-campus' classes. When I was in elementary school I learned that people in general hated the kid who could answer all the questions the teacher asked. If you're that kid, you raise your hand a lot and eventually your teacher quits calling on you because other kids need a chance to try to answer the question. And your fellow students hate you for being the 'teacher's pet'. So you do what's expected of you and nobody's happy. When you get to Jr High the teachers still love you, but won't call on you, and your fellow students still hate you for being a 'smarty'. And High School is no different. But by then you've learned who you can 'be smart' in front of and who you can't. And then you go to College. And the same kids you went to High School with don't want to deal with the smart kid, even though that's why you're all there. So you learn to stay back. Sit in the back of the room. Not answer unless asked.
It stifles the learning process.
And then some of us find distance learning.
Students are not only encouraged to respond, they're REQUIRED. So I no longer have to risk raising my hand and being thought of as a 'smarty' if I get the answer right. I'm REQUIRED to answer. And if it's an asynchronous classroom, I can post my answer first, or last, and it DOESN'T MATTER as long as I post it before the deadline. I'm either right or wrong. And then it's up for debate with my entire class, not just the one or two people my instructor wants to call on before class is over. And the people who have really interesting ideas get feedback not only from the instructor, but from EVERYBODY in the class. Nobody cares if you're the smarty, or the guy who shows up late every day, or the guy who's never participated before because he never cared about that part of his grade. The important thing becomes WHAT YOU WROTE (or said). People then need to judge you on what you THINK instead of what they think about you. It promotes a much less biased environment than the 'traditional' classroom.
And I'm beginning to wonder if that's what bothers the 'traditional' students about distance learners.
It's no longer just the pretty or the confident who are allowed to control the classroom.
In a distance learning environment, students have an EQUAL voice. The only thing that matters is your ability to express yourself in written form. Your 'attractiveness' could be equated to your ability to command the English language. This is not something genetic. It has nothing to do with physical capability. You could be in a classroom with Brad Pitt or Stephen Hawking and the only way you would know the difference is by how they express themselves.
We're all learning that even if we're not going to be on People or Time or US Weekly, what we think matters. THAT we think matters. That we exchange ideas MATTERS.
New ideas in any industry come along
For most distance learners, our instructors are people who work in the professions in which they teach.
We propose ideas and they provide insight as to what may or may not have worked in the past. They remind us of who built the history on which we stand. To dismiss their instruction is to dismiss their expertise and understanding of the world in which they thrive.
So do you dismiss them and the distance learner who has chosen to sit and listen to their advice? Or do you simply find that advice less valuable than that gained from an instructor who has been hidden within the walls of academia for decades? In an 'academic' position in which the teacher's assistant does more classroom time than the actual 'professor'?
Or has the time come to begin evaluating learners not by the method through which they seek enlightenment, but by the enlightenment they bring to your table?
So who the FUCK are you?
You had a family that would support you. Your parents took out a second or third mortgage to put you through school. They supported you so you could do internships and community service that allowed you to make the connections you needed to get the job you have now. And you had no debt upon completion of your degree.
And then there are the rest of us.
Those of us who can't be in a classroom every Wednesday at 8am because we can't get the time off from work. Those of us who can't afford a sitter several nights a week when we're already paying for daycare during the regular work week just to keep the jobs that pay us just well enough to not be eligible for stipends and food stamps. Those of us who have family obligations.... no.... let me be specific here... I cannot leave my children alone with my husband for hours at a time because he is an alcoholic. He thinks leaving my 6 year old in charge of my 2 year old is responsible parenting. He lacks the ability to be responsible for my children. I cannot leave him in charge. And I cannot afford a sitter because I make about $1000 more than the 'poverty level' that would qualify us for assistance. So we have a place to stay and we pay the bills. My children go to school clean, fed and ready to learn. And you would not be able to pick my family out of my neighborhood as being more deficient than any of the other families in my blue collar, 1600 sqf neighborhood. But I don't want this to be what my children think is 'the best we can do'.
I want to make a difference.
I want to pull us up that class ladder.
And, contrary to Mitt Romney or anyone else who would have you believe it, I am not waiting for a hand-out. If I were waiting, I would not have gone back to school to try to re-train myself for a better position and a better life.
But the people who are putting themselves in the place of the Star-bellied-Sneetches are making this really difficult. This is no longer about working to the best of your abilities. It's about whether your 'stars' are as 'good' as ours.
To have someone tell me that my degree earned through a regionally accredited college via a distance learning program is worth less than a degree earned in an on-campus setting because I didn't have as much face-to-face time with my instructor is just offensive. I've spent more time interacting with my instructors and fellow classmates as an online student than I ever did in my undergraduate 'on-campus' classes. When I was in elementary school I learned that people in general hated the kid who could answer all the questions the teacher asked. If you're that kid, you raise your hand a lot and eventually your teacher quits calling on you because other kids need a chance to try to answer the question. And your fellow students hate you for being the 'teacher's pet'. So you do what's expected of you and nobody's happy. When you get to Jr High the teachers still love you, but won't call on you, and your fellow students still hate you for being a 'smarty'. And High School is no different. But by then you've learned who you can 'be smart' in front of and who you can't. And then you go to College. And the same kids you went to High School with don't want to deal with the smart kid, even though that's why you're all there. So you learn to stay back. Sit in the back of the room. Not answer unless asked.
It stifles the learning process.
And then some of us find distance learning.
Students are not only encouraged to respond, they're REQUIRED. So I no longer have to risk raising my hand and being thought of as a 'smarty' if I get the answer right. I'm REQUIRED to answer. And if it's an asynchronous classroom, I can post my answer first, or last, and it DOESN'T MATTER as long as I post it before the deadline. I'm either right or wrong. And then it's up for debate with my entire class, not just the one or two people my instructor wants to call on before class is over. And the people who have really interesting ideas get feedback not only from the instructor, but from EVERYBODY in the class. Nobody cares if you're the smarty, or the guy who shows up late every day, or the guy who's never participated before because he never cared about that part of his grade. The important thing becomes WHAT YOU WROTE (or said). People then need to judge you on what you THINK instead of what they think about you. It promotes a much less biased environment than the 'traditional' classroom.
And I'm beginning to wonder if that's what bothers the 'traditional' students about distance learners.
It's no longer just the pretty or the confident who are allowed to control the classroom.
In a distance learning environment, students have an EQUAL voice. The only thing that matters is your ability to express yourself in written form. Your 'attractiveness' could be equated to your ability to command the English language. This is not something genetic. It has nothing to do with physical capability. You could be in a classroom with Brad Pitt or Stephen Hawking and the only way you would know the difference is by how they express themselves.
We're all learning that even if we're not going to be on People or Time or US Weekly, what we think matters. THAT we think matters. That we exchange ideas MATTERS.
New ideas in any industry come along
For most distance learners, our instructors are people who work in the professions in which they teach.
We propose ideas and they provide insight as to what may or may not have worked in the past. They remind us of who built the history on which we stand. To dismiss their instruction is to dismiss their expertise and understanding of the world in which they thrive.
So do you dismiss them and the distance learner who has chosen to sit and listen to their advice? Or do you simply find that advice less valuable than that gained from an instructor who has been hidden within the walls of academia for decades? In an 'academic' position in which the teacher's assistant does more classroom time than the actual 'professor'?
Or has the time come to begin evaluating learners not by the method through which they seek enlightenment, but by the enlightenment they bring to your table?
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