Abstract
This paper discusses several cultural problems I see with Internet Education. While recognizing the great promise of the Internet as a tool for education and learning, I will discuss some problems that I see in the clash of the cultures of technologists, educators and the various target student groups. In this paper, I will take the liberty to define culture very broadly in some cases, but will basically discuss how I use the Internet to prepare my students for cultural experiences in the United States. I will also discuss how the Internet might be used to teach cultural elements like theater, literature, music, and art. In addition, I will present ideas about how other aspects of culture, like communication styles and learning styles may effect on-line distance education. Finally, I will suggest solutions to the various cultural problems I see in on-line education.
Introduction
On-line Education has become the watchword in education today. We are constantly bombarded by headlines like “Schools Promised More PC’s,” “Computers are Essential for Education Today,” “Prime Minister Wants One PC for Each Student by 2010,” and others. However, there are some problems that must be solved if on-line education is to become an effective tool for education equal to that received in a traditional campus based program. I want to outline some of my concerns and my great hope for the future of this new tool of education.
Technologist vs. Traditional Educators
I think we can look at on-line education as a kind of cultural clash between the technologist on the one hand and the traditional educators on the other. The technologist believes that technology will rejuvenate education by reducing time restraints, conquering distance and making it more creative. Furthermore, they believe that all this technology, the PC with accompanying whistles and gizmos, will really empower the students and make education more student centered and interactive. The traditional teachers, on the other hand, are more skeptical of technology. Of course, some of the traditional educators are less familiar with and/or less comfortable with computers than the technologist and may be prejudice against the new technology because of their lack of knowledge about it. However, many of the traditional educators remember the pronouncements of men like Edison who predicted that “the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system…it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks.” Similar claims were made about radio and filmstrips among a host of other technological advancements. This traditional educational culture, many members of which may actually be very computer literate, senses that computers cannot make students interact with each other like they might in the traditional face-to-face classroom situation. “How can there be interaction between students at terminals at distant locations?” they ask. The technologist may shoot back that the Internet and computers allow the student to interact with a greater variety of people from a greater variety of countries than could ever be accommodated in a traditional classroom. They also point out that the great mix of students from various geographic areas and age ranges will be able to add a tremendous variety of viewpoints and experiences that could benefit the entire on-line class. The traditional educator may respond that electronic interaction is not the same as face-to-face interaction. The interaction is less human, less socially interactive than that which can be observed in the traditional classroom. They think that it does not give the student the interactive social skills that he or she may need in an internationalized business world, where one may have to work in close quarters with people of many cultures and age groups.
The arguments of both the traditional educator and the technologist are well founded. Most of us here are in one of the two camps with the rest of us siting on the fence. Most of us are somewhat computer literate and have become used to sending E-mail and doing research on the Internet. Many of us here have some experience in using the Internet for education. So most of us know the technology and believe it can be useful for educational purposes. However, if we all believe in the value of distance education and the ability to transfer knowledge with a click of a button, “Why are we here?” Why aren’t we in our offices and conducting this conference on On-line Education on-line? Perhaps we too like the face-to-face exchange of ideas and like to socialize with each other over Peking duck or other savory delicacy. The answer is simple, we enjoy the rapport that we build with colleagues both new and old whom we have only communicated with on the Internet or meet only seldom at these gatherings. So here we are in this beautiful facility enjoying the great hospitality of our host, president Yan Ze-xian and the South China Normal University because even on-line educators occasionally need to refresh our minds through the quick exchanges and challenging discussions that only real time face-to-face interaction can give us. It is not just we here either. There is any number of distance education conferences conducted in real time and face-to-face around the world.
But does this make us all liars? I think not. We come to conferences like this because we realize that not everyone is connected and we must meet in Changzhou or Madison or other venues to exchange information with people who wish to know how to begin and which pitfalls to avoid. We come to share our experiences, successes and failures so that we may all learn and go back to plan better programs for our students. However, if we all find the need to attend these real-time-in-person conferences, then we should also be big enough to listen to the critics of on-line education.
Clifford Stoll in his book, High Tech Heretic, is concerned that computers “dull questioning minds with graphical games where quick answers take the place of understanding, and the trivial is promoted as educational.” He laments that the emphasis on speedy answers and speedier action is replacing “reflection and critical thinking.” He is afraid that the idea of making education fun that is behind all the technological gismos that the computer brings to the education table is actually encouraging “intellectual passivity” and that the students will “develop a distaste for persistence, trial and error, attentiveness, or patience.” (p.13) Although it is not clear about which age group of students he is directing his comments, these are still serious concerns about computer education and, by proxy, on-line education.