This post originally appeared on InService, the ASCD community blog. ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is an educational leadership organization with 160,000 members in 148 countries, including professional educators from all levels and subject areas––superintendents, supervisors, principals, teachers, professors of education, and school board members. View Original >
Online learning was created to fill a variety of needs for students. Some students are not successful in the traditional school. Some are bullied and feel unsafe. Some need to catch up. Some learn online in order to prevent dropping out of school. All of these scenarios cause us to rethink what time means to student learning.
Yet some people still hold fast to the Carnegie unit and time as the quality indicator for learning. Yes, adequate time must be given to student learning, but why is time the main factor and not the learning? (See iNACOL‘s briefing on competency-based pathways, which highlights many of these challenges.)
How does this affect the role of teacher? As an online educator, I use my time differently. I meet students where they are. I communicate through a variety of online tools. Some responses are instant; some occur over time. Students learn content synchronously and asynchronously, and our online meetings reflect that. Due dates, although indicated, are flexible to student needs. Submitted work is given immediate, meaningful feedback within 24 hours of submission.
Overall, when time is not the driving force, learning can be more individualized to the student. Time spent learning should be just as diverse as the students I serve.
I agree…our kids are in a instant gratification society. We must show them how what they are doing fits into the now but hold in our minds as well that it will matter later as well.