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K-12 ONLINE LEARNING

K-12 Online Learning

Jaimee Hadley
Regent University

K-12 ONLINE LEARNING

Article Findings
This article, from Penn State University, discusses both the advantages and disadvantages
of online learning. The author, Ali Carr-Chellman, is Head of the Learning and Performance
Systems Department in the College of Education at Penn State University. She has been
teaching in an online environment for several years but admitted that she was hesitant as first
about teaching online. She knew that studies have shown that there is really no significant
difference between online and face-to-face mode of delivery in measures of achievement. The
real concern, particularly for public schools, is whether online learning is good for us a society,
as a community. Carr-Chellman further explained in the article that cyber charter schools
actually create huge profits, they use a great deal of their money on expensive curricular
materials, and have very little ability to monitor cheating. She fears that we are no longer seeing
any service of the public good from public schools, and are only concerned about our highest
aspirations as individuals and not our greatest successes as a society (Carr-Chellman, 2013).
The second article, written by a professor in the Graduate School of Library and
Information Science, Caroline Haythornthwaite stated that the value of e-learning has been
underrated at the college level, and that some of its methods and techniques can augment
traditional classroom learning (2012). She feels that with online classes, she is able to interact
with her students more frequently having discussions with them daily online. If she finds an
article that she wants her online students to read, she can post it and the discussion can begin
right away. With her classroom students, she can email them an article to read, but by the time
they meet in class to discuss it, the impact isnt quite as immediate. She feels that although

K-12 ONLINE LEARNING

online learning may reshape education, the perfect blend would be a mixture of online learning
and classroom interaction (Ciciora, 2012).
The third article written by Scott McLeod, an Associate Professor of Educational
Leadership at the University of Kentucky, stated that online learning opportunities for K-12
students are growing by leaps and bounds. As much as they are growing, there are also concerns
that the nurturing intimacy of the relationships of teachers and students is being lost. There is no
real connection like in a face-to-face classroom. He further explained that he feels that our youth
are losing their ability to interact with live humans and are more comfortable interacting with
screens. There is another concern that the online schools are raking in large amounts of cash
while providing substandard, perhaps even fraudulent, educational experiences. Perhaps the
answer is that online learning is okay for adults but not for kids. Online learning is here to stay,
but the real question is how individuals approach it for their children (McLeod, 2012).
Summary
While all three of these articles expressed the fact that online learning can have a positive
effect on classroom learning and that it is definitely growing by leaps and bounds, there are also
concerns such as losing the teacher-students relationships, lack of interaction, and some online
schools that only provide substandard educational experiences. Some students will certainly
benefit from online learning, while others may be more successful in a traditional classroom with
face-to-face learning. The debate is ongoing about which learning style is better and I know it
will continue as I enter my teaching career.

K-12 ONLINE LEARNING

References
Carr-Chellman, Ali. Learning Matters RSS. N.p., 22 Feb. 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2014
Ciciora, Phil. News Bureau/University of Illinois. E-Learning Can Have Positive Effect on
Classroom Learning, Scholar Says. Phil Ciciora, 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2014
McLeod, Scott. Learning Matters. Learning Matters RSS. N.p., 14 February 2012. Web.
07 Dec. 2014.