Opinion Column 2

Face-to-Face Versus Online Education

Braedyn Wild

Education is a very important part of human life and no one can deny that importance in any era. No matter what happens people should continue to learn. However, the question then becomes what type of education is best in today’s modern society, face-to-face, or online education? Even though online education is relatively new, this topic has already been debated for many years. People are now met with a choice when they choose to pursue education, which is a great thing. However, I believe face-to-face education is still the way to go, mainly because the effectiveness of online education is still unclear.

One of the key elements of the traditional learning process is the dynamic relationship shared between students and the teacher. Face-to-face learning is necessary for these relationships, and these things may be minimized or lost when education is done in an online learning environment. It’s not only about the relationship with the people, however. According to a survey done by BCcampus, 60% of respondents still chose textbooks as their preferred learning material, and there is good reason for this as well. “One major concern is that digital screens undermine opportunities for “deep reading,” (Baron, N. 2016). Many cognitive psychologists worry that confronted with so much digital information that is constantly being dumbed down to try to grab readers attention, those readers won’t have the time or motivation to critically reflect on what they have read. This is a huge problem for online education because as Baron tells us, “in-depth reading has waned, and educational emphasis is shifting from knowing to knowing how to locate information” (Baron, N. 2016). With that in mind, are people really retaining the information they learn through online education?

Online education is possibly one of the most flexible study options available. You can overcome many obstacles to obtain an education. However, this same online learning environment enables learners to participate disingenuously. Without physical stimulation, they are limited to learning through watching and typing. In some cases, the online course is reduced to learners basically reading a book off the computer, no other applicable skills are received. For many students, the extremely flexible pace at which they can complete their studies is highly valued. If you don’t quite understand a topic, you can take it upon yourself to go back and review it at your own pace. However, because of the lack of interaction and feedback with a teacher, there are more instances of miscommunication and misinterpretation in an online learning environment versus those done face-to-face.

Online learning provides teachers and students access to tools and resources they couldn’t have had otherwise. For example, a psychology student in Canada can learn from the top professor from a prestigious school in America and can do so on their own schedule while managing a family and a job. Not an easy task to say the least but made possible thanks to existence of online education. It’s clear that while online learning has provided many tools to fill in the educational gaps teachers and students find themselves struggling with, it’s still not a replacement for the traditional classroom. Sure, the technology is advancing, but it’s far from flawless. Like any new technology created to solve a problem, it brings with it some complications, and may even create new problems we couldn’t have foreseen. This idea is called the “Revenge Effect” and was coined by Edward Tenner, who said “new structures, devices, and organisms react with real people in real situations in ways we could not foresee” (Tenner, E. 1996 pg. 11).  This doesn’t mean online education doesn’t have a place or a use in our society. In fact, I believe it is going to become an essential tool that does not replace the traditional face-to-face education method, but instead enhances it. While online learning won’t replace traditional classrooms, it will completely change the landscape of how they are today. With improved resources and reduced workloads for teacher, classrooms can be transformed into a much more efficient learning environment. Students can come to class, learn, engage, and do so at the pace and style that fits them best. Afterall, shouldn’t that be the true goal of education? Not to choose between different methods, but to use all tools at our disposal to create the best learning environments possible so that future generations can spend more time applying their knowledge for the sake of bettering the world.

Sources:

https://bccampus.ca/2013/01/02/student-survey-gathers-opinions-about-online-learning/

Baron, N. (2016). Chapter 10. Does mobile matter? The case of one-off reading. In J. Farman (Ed.), Foundations of mobile media studies. Abingdon, U.K.: Routledge.

Tenner, E. (1996). Chapter 1. Ever since Frankenstein. Why things bite back: Technology and the revenge of unintended consequences. New York: Knopf.

Opinion Column 1

One of the major topics of the 2016 presidential election was concern towards the affordability of college education. Former President Barrack Obama tried to put forward a plan that would see community colleges offer free tuition to eligible students. Bernie Sanders went one step further and proposed he would try and make all public colleges tuition free, and Hilary Clinton at least touched on the issue saying she would try and make it affordable to those who needed the help, a vaguer approach, but probably the most realistic. They seem to all believe going in the direction of eventually trying to make all public colleges tuition free, but is this even a good idea?

Like most complex issues regarding so many different people and institutes, there are pros and cons. However, in regard to free tuition it seems the cons outweigh the pros. One of the main pros people claim when talking about free tuition is that more people, especially those with low income, will enroll in higher education. This however can very quickly become a con. According to an article by the Fraser Institute, in the 1990s England’s free tuition brought their universities to a state of crisis. The number of students had increased like most people had predicted while budgets did not. If public colleges were to adopt a tuition free system where would the money come from? The most likely answer is taxes. Although the uncertainty of exactly who will get taxed and how much it will be would understandably make people nervous.

According to an article by College Raptor, 66% of existing jobs in the U.S. require you to have some type of college degree. Many people take issue with the fact that obtaining said education is gated by a huge pay wall. A pay wall that many people have to go deep in debt to be able to afford. Free tuition may introduce a completely different yet equally frustrating wall of its own. If a free tuition system is introduced, it is no stretch of the imagination to assume that enrollment will skyrocket. With no tuitions being paid and more students than ever, the government and schools would have no choice but to put a limit on enrollment across the board, creating an entirely new wall, the waitlist wall.

Student loans are the first big financial obstacle most young students run into, and it teaches them how to budget money correctly, a very important life skill they will continue to use for the rest of their lives. Starting their young lives tens of thousands of dollars in debt may be a bit too hard of a lesson, however. Like most complex issues there are pros and cons to each side of the argument, and the answer most likely lies somewhere in the middle. Perhaps an income dependent system is the way to go. A way to maintain all the pros tuitions offer, while diverting many of the cons the tuition free system brings with it.

Sources:

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/blogs/forget-what-you-learned-in-the-maple-spring-higher-tuition-would-be-fairer-tuition

https://www.collegeraptor.com/find-colleges/articles/college-news-trends/important-ever-college-degree/

Bike Lane One Pager

Do we really need more bike lanes? Or is this a waste of time and money for the sake of appearance. A lot of arguments have been made that the new bike lanes being built simply aren’t needed. That the amount of people actually commuting using bicycles isn’t at all proportionate to the amount of bike lanes and the inconvenience they cause for others. Two main inconveniences being reduced parking space, and more congested auto-mobile traffic. 
    
    Others say that one of the main reasons there aren’t more people riding bikes is because there traditionally haven’t been enough safe and accessible avenues for people to commute using bikes, and by building these new bike lanes it will create more bicycle traffic which has many benefits. Things like less noise and air pollution, healthier lifestyles, and a reduction in the congested auto-mobile traffic, ironically something the other side claims is being caused by the bike lanes. According to an article in the Times Colonist, if these new bike lanes increase bicycle trips by just 20 per cent, and half of that replaces driving, then there would be almost 400 less trips by car downtown. 

    However, these arguments are mostly working on assumptions and optimism. According to an article in the Vancouver Island Free Daily, the cost of this new bike lane network has almost doubled from its original estimate. If you’re going to spend what is now around 14 million dollars on a project you really need to be confident that it is actually needed. The idea that more people would be riding bikes if only we had more lanes is one that should be addressed and given more thought. However, going as far as to spend 14 million dollars and cause inconvenience for many other citizens of Victoria for something that might not even be necessary seems quite irresponsible. 

    Perhaps a few smaller bike lane networks should have been implemented and given time to grow and be studied before calling for a complete city-wide overhaul to the bike lane system. This may also have helped the on-going budget problems. Having a much smaller scale project would have made it much easier to manage estimates, and would cause a lot less backlash from the community if they needed to be raised. Going forward we can only hope that more money and resources aren’t poured into this project without first stepping back and researching the new bike lanes. That way we can properly determine if they are indeed necessary, and react accordingly from there.