Web Based Courses

Last Thursday we had the pleasure of two guest speakers from Manitoba Education, Donald Girouard & Sophia Palahicky. Donald and Sophia came into our class to talk to us about Web Based Courses- giving us a great heads up on what will likely be much move popular as we move through our careers.

One conversation that was interesting during  the presentation was when the speakers asked us all to brainstorm when this sort of online class would be most useful. A few ideas came to mind quickly but I hadn't considered all of them until this. Obviously distance education is good for anyone that can't make the class either because it is not offered in a regular time slot or in their area, but I hadn't thought of reasons such as teenage pregnancy keeping students away from school. I thought back to high school as well and can say that I would have for sure been excited as a teen to have a psychology class offered, however in a town of 1200 this was just not the case when I went to school. 

In my Bachelor of Arts Degree I took several classes online, partially for timing reasons but also because I had more choice online than I did with BU alone. As an adult I appreciated having the extra choices and the chance to take the class quicker than I would have been able to otherwise, so I feel like I am biased toward Web Based Courses. I think that a student will succeed a lot further in a class that they are interested in so giving them the extra choice is a fantastic idea.

I hadn't really thought about it at the beginning of the presentation, but Web Based learning can also be a great resource for us as teachers as well! I look forward to being able to connect with and learn from other teachers in my area and to not be restricted by distance thanks to this tool.