In weblogg-ed I read an interesting discusion of "The Future of the Internet in Education". While I agree with some of it, there are other things that I'm not so sure about.

As I mentioned last week, adding communication technology to traditional "classroom" education leads to an enormous amount of new problems. The great majority of my students have access to computers, internet, TV and video, mobile phones, MP3 players and so on at home. The classroom becomes so integrated with the external world and culture that expecting students to behave or think in any way differently from their "usual" roles becomes almost impossible. This in turn raises a dilemma of learning. If these people were not motivated to ignore distractions and study this topic on their own, they are unlikely to be motivated to ignore distractions and study the topic as part of a college course.

The current styles of classroom teaching that I have experienced seem inextricably bound up in the idea of courses, syllabuses, schemes of work, lesson plans, and "extrinsic motivation". Students sign up for a course and then "hand over the keys" of their learning to the institution, which appoints teachers, schedules assesment, and plans everything the students will be required to do for the duration of the course. Students are expected to do classroom work simply because it is part of the course. This style of organization is entirely inappropriate for the kind of meandering journey that takes place when students have free and continual access to research and communication technologies.

The more I think out this issue, the more I lean toward the idea that the main job of teaching institutions should be to provide advice on study topics, to teach motivation and study skills, and to provide an assessment/certification service. Properly motivated students with a few basic communication and study skills can find their own "virtual classes, grouped online with others who share their interests, mastery, and skills", and can use the wealth of study resources to learn, create, and develop thier talents.

If, however, it becomes apparent that some students are, for reasons of youth, immaturity, or general inability, unable to motivate themselves to study, then no amount of fancy research and communication facilities will improve the situation.