e-Tutor Blog: Online Homeschool & Tutoring

When Erica Goldson delivered her graduation speech condemning the education system that had just honored her as valedictorian, there were only 100 or so fellow students and their teachers, friends and families listening.   In the weeks since she first posted her speech online, the audience has multiplied thousands of times over.  The idea that has so many people talking?  She asks that we reconsider whether our education system really promotes learning.

In reflecting on her experience as a student, she describes herself as “a slave of the system”, and became valedictorian having “successfully shown that [she] was the best slave”.  Words worthy of the stir that they have created.  Reflecting on the opportunities lost during her years in that system, she quotes John Taylor Grotto:

“We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then.  But we don’t do that.”

She challenged those yet to graduate to break from the path that she had taken:

“You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective.  Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it.  Demand that you be interested in class.  Demand that the excuse ‘You have to learn this for the test’ is not good enough for you.  Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.”

Her speech has been viewed over 100,000 times, has generated a healthy debate among commentors, and has been the genesis of a growing number of blog posts, each generating debates of their own.  I encourage you to take a few minutes to read Erica’s speech in its entirety.

While some are saying that she’s just naive or flat out wrong, her speech is working – thousands of people are challenging each other on the topic.

Where do you stand?

We have many friends and associates who are homeschooling their children. Although we value public schooling, we also place value in the need to have alternatives. Parents can then choose the most appropriate learning approach for their child or children.

The number of homeschoolers is bigger than the nation’s largest public school system in New York City and may be as high as approximately 2.2 million. The number of homeschoolers is difficult to quantify, because there is no clear definition of what is ‘homeschooling.’ We believe that homeschooling embraces any student who participates in consistent learning activities in the home. So, that could mean a student who completes a full curriculum at home or one who does supplemental instructional work at home. In other words, any student who participates in a course of study on a regular and consistent basis at home is a homeschooled students. Before we can count these children, we all need to agree on what homeschooling means.

Although critics of homeschool argue that it can’t replace the social and educational tools offered in traditional schools, Patricia Lines, a senior research analyst for the U.S. Department of Education argues homeschooling is instead “reinventing the idea of school.” Homeschoolers use tools such as the Internet and educational software to provide new avenues of learning. Homeschooling can provide a wealth of opportunities for all students including those with special needs such as gifted or learning disabled students.

Online learning is often referred to as e-learning, e-tutoring, e-school or some other ‘e’ word referring to the teaching-learning process. When we began working with internet-based educational programming, over ten years ago, we considered ‘e’ to stand for electronic. However, the ‘e’ in such titles signifies much more when describing online learning. Consider the following:

• Exploration – Online learners use the Internet as a tool to access an abundance of information and resources.
• Experience – Online learning offers the student a total learning experience, from synchronous learning to threaded discussion to self-paced study.
• Engagement – Online learning captivates learners by providing for creative approaches to the teaching/learning process that foster collaboration and a sense of community.
• Ease of Use – The Internet provides content easily accessible for students, parents and educational providers across all technical platforms.
• Empowerment – Online learning puts the student in the driver’s seat with a set of tools that enables personalization of content and allows the learner to choose the way in which he learns the best.

Online education has proven to be an effective alternative to traditional teaching/learning methods. Technology is changing the very purpose of learning. Internet-connected computers are prevalent in homes and schools today.

Regardless of background, students rely on technology as an essential and preferred tool in every aspect of their lives. These technology-wise students want to expand their active online lives to learning activities. Online learning has the potential to:

• Provide accredited instructional programs to large groups of students at a fraction of the cost of traditional learning programs.
• Empower learners to take more control over their own learning.
• Provide learning opportunities for a broad range of students who have varied learning styles and require more flexible schedules.

Technology opens the world’s resources to all students. The Internet breaks down time and place as organizing principles for education, giving programs, like e-Tutor, a foothold. Students report that online education has characteristics their teachers do not offer. Online learning is always available. The programs have a “patient” character and are nonjudgmental. They allow students to be anonymous and allow student to do many things at the same time.

The other day a neighbor visited me while I was working in the garden. She wanted to talk about the changes occurring at the local school. Comparing the education she and her husband received with that her children were receiving, she had determined that they were getting an excellent education. Both parents were pleased their children were learning “so much more” than they had.

Cheaper by the Dozen release Dark Rising film Ultimate Avengers II full movie

I had to agree with my friend, that we most often use our own schooling as a standard of measurement for our children’s schooling. I certainly did when my children were young. But is this the best measure for quality in education? I asked the neighbor to consider how the world had changed, in the time since she was in school, and the amount of information we and our children have at our finger tips. It seems reasonable to assume that our children would, and should, be learning a great deal more of the information that took us years to assimilate. For the most part, children today begin school having access to more information than their parents had. By the time a child has completed one year of schooling that information has almost doubled. When I was in school it took many years for information to change. This provided me and those of my generation a certain consistency with learning information that is not available today. Therefore, I’m not certain that the same paradigms for learning, that served my neighbors and me, are adequate for today’s student. Read the rest of this entry »