Online Education Isn’t “The” Solution

Brandon Dufour
Aug 24, 2017 · 2 min read

I have spoken to some people that see online learning as the solution to the education problem. I don’t. Debate Topic: Online Education will not Disrupt Traditional Education. I’ll take the pro.

Why? Because online learning sucks. The dropout rate for people learning online is well into the 80 percentage points. There is no accountability mechanism. There is no community of people that you have to answer to.

Think of the gym. Every January 2nd-February 15th, every gym parking lot in the world is 142 times more full than February 16th-January 1st. People get excited about getting fit or skinny or more flexible or meeting new people or whatever motivates New Year’s Resolutions, and they sign up, and they go. And they go again. And they get excited. And they put up Instagram pictures so that people know they are going. And time passes. And then something happens. You have an event, or you get the flu, or you have to travel for business or your sister broke up with her boyfriend and spends a few nights on your couch. Whatever. Something disrupts you. And then you revert to old routines. You go back to what you know, and the regular gym goers can stop complaining about having to walk further through the parking lot to get inside and walk on the treadmill.

The same happens with online learning. You get excited about a thing of some varying size and scope. Maybe you think you will get a degree. Maybe you are taking a professional development class. Maybe you just want to know more about iPhone photography. And the online courses are cheap, so you sign up, and you start taking it. And you’re excited. And you learn some things. But, you know no one else taking the class. There is no connection to the teacher. You are simply watching videos and talking about them with strangers. So when your sister shows up without the ex boyfriend to sleep on your couch, you skip a homework assignment to keep her company. And no one calls to say “Hey! Missed you in class! It was great, I’ll send you the notes.” And then you watch another video lesson, and you get confused, and you don’t want to take the time to ask questions in the forum. And all of a sudden, you’ve dropped out. Drop out of college: everyone knows and you feel like a loser. Drop out of an online class: go on living your life with no real social repercussions other than what you do to yourself.

It is my opinion that any solution to the education problem will need to continue to include human interaction in a physical location. Disagree? Tell make your case. Agree? Tell me why.

-BD

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Brandon Dufour

Written by

An entrepreneur passionate about education and treating others with kindness.

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