Updating Socrates

On July 19th, The New York Times published an op-ed essay “The Trouble With Online Education” by Marc Edmundson.  You can read it here: http://nyti.ms/NBUfBW

Here is my response to his ideas:

Mark Edmundsen makes good points, especially in holding that good education is a dialog, a community enterprise.  However, he stands in the traditional line of transmission of learning through personal teachers.  Good for him!

However, several factors still need to be considered.  Here are a few:

•    The prohibitive cost of traditional educational procedures. 

•    The vehicle of computers which have a grip on the learning process from a very early age. 

•    The interaction provided by Skype that enables discussion and debate. 

•    The lethargy of many professors who are not nearly as sensitive to student concerns as he is.  Edmundson’s overestimation of the amount of student- to-student discussion that may or may not take place. 

•    The suggestion that the Socratic method is the most effective learning technique, intimating that Socrates would not have used the computer if he had one. 

•    The fact that professors would have to search out innovative ways to engage their students in dialog, and that is a demanding task. 

•    That regardless of the method, teachers have to be creative in their approach, finding new ways of presenting material - like daily quizzes, newspaper headlines, exploratory research, self-conducted surveys, etc. 

I would guess that in the upcoming generation we will see skills and talents that this generation barely touches.  I admire Edmundsen for his staunch hold on traditional methods, but the onslaught of distant learning will render him a minority voice before long.