Where is online education headed? Where do you see online learning in five years?

I know this has nothing to do with Ethics in education.  But I was wondering in which direction we as educators are headed and for what purpose.

Maybe the question to ask is where are we headed with online education.

E-learning interests me as an educator due to recent budget cuts in education.  It is an easier and cheaper form of professional development for educators and other professionals.  But some students honestly enjoy the human interaction found in the classroom because they like getting immediate feedback on inquires and then asking follow up questions and then it might take a visual representation on a chalk board to explain a concept.  I understand that this can all be found online but online learning also takes a certain type of person – one who is internally motivated and enthusiastic about learning that may not necessarily need the classroom experience.  Personally speaking I am taking free online courses through https://www.coursera.org/  They offer online courses from top universities free to everyone. I believe that this is the future of education and where it is headed: Free and Online.

What classes are you taking or have taken online?  With which resources are you using or used to complete those classes?  I would like to know what is informative, popular and easy to use out on the World of the Web. 

Ethics in our Technologically Advanced Schools

In the modern school environment, it is becoming increasingly important for administrators, learning communities, teachers, and families to deal with shifts in educational principles.  This is due to the fact that multifaceted and multicultural value systems are coming to be addressed in practice in the classroom. This shift in the overarching social, cultural and practical framework for modern education is further challenged by the fact that technological advancements like the ipad and iphone mean that students and educators have to adopt and learn at a faster pace than ever before, and interact with society on a global scale. As Frick has suggested, “school administrative decision making requires more than the mechanical application of existing rules, regulations and various levels of school and school-related policy” (p. 51).

As a result, school principals have come to develop a newfound interest in character education, moral education, and the ethics of care and justice. This interest is linked to the knowledge that children need to have a foundation in learning how to make moral and ethical life decisions grounded in values of responsibility and respect.  (Sergiovanni, 1996) This is in turn connected to the recognition of the erosion in time and commitment that parents have to address these ideas in practice. This means that educators and administrators have an obligation, in part, to address these values and ethical principles through a caring school environment and curriculum.

What is important is that we keep ethics on the table in school forums and updated with the latest technology that is emerging in our technically adept students. 

Sergiovanni, T. J. (1996) Moral Leadership. Jossey-Bass Publications.

What obstacles if any are you seeing in ethics in your school environment?

What supports of combatting ethical ills in your school community have you found enriching?