Out of the Spotlight

Teachers need to teach, right? It's a profession that has lasted through the ages, whether formal or informal. As a parent, I taught my children; as an educator carrying a state-endorsed license I earned a paycheck helping people of all ages learn things they don't know. Traditionally, doing an educator's job has meant preparing content and walking onto the classroom stage, standing in a limelight of sorts, and delivering wisdom. Wisdom, knowledge, opinions, content...dressed up and embellished to make listeners want to know more.

Virtual teachers, while afforded all of the most contemporary tools with which to provide content, step back from the edge of the stage and bring the learners into the spotlight. While the online teacher provides the map, the students travel the route. The teacher is available at every turn with the responsibility to assist students to find meaning. More importantly, students help other students to learn. Conversations are open and searching, leading to more questions and more answers. The approach and process is the springboard for a life filled with inquiry.

Teachers who are convinced online education is the beginning of the end most often have never personally engaged in an online course. The process is a radical change from traditional information delivery but, when examined, is clearly a best practice approach to learning, one from which we have strayed over the decades. We are forced to limit emphasis on student discovery when high stakes testing requires results in a short period of time.

I do believe we have reached a saturation point for the old ways of educating and will continue to get the same pale results until we allow learners to explore, and that shift is underway.