Online Learning

I have a Thursday night class at OU that I really enjoy. The people are fun, understanding, and highly intelligent, so it is an honor to spend time with them. It’s also just nice to talk with fellow teachers who understand the craziness of my days.

Our professor is Dr. Lawrence Baines, a really great person and mentor. We sit in class, drink tea that he provides, and talk about all things teaching. No matter how long my week has been, I look forward to it because the discussion is so engaging.

I tell you all this for two reasons: 1) to plug my awesome teacher’s books, available on Amazon, with lots of great information and strategies for teachers, and 2) because I will often reference articles here on this blog that Dr. Baines gives us to read. As I’ve said before, it is easy to use online spaces like blogs and Facebook accounts to spread awareness and advocate a position. The more I teach the more I feel that advocacy is important – the general public needs to know more about modern teaching.

One such article that Dr. Baines recently provided was “How Online Learning Companies bought America’s School”, published by The Nation in November of last year. The article’s premise is that online learning companies have slowly but surely insinuated themselves into our K-12 classrooms, mostly without our knowledge or approval (and when I say “our”, I mean students, parents, teachers, communities, and really all of the U.S., because we all have a stake in K-12 education).

Companies have used money and lobbyists to leverage themselves, and they have put up a front with philanthropies like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, much like the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. Of course, I will let you read the article yourself to discover for yourself the hows and whys. You can probably figure it out without much prompting – the motive for these companies is money, and lots of it. Our nation’s children represent a “market” to them, ready to be tapped. The company executives stand to make a bundle of cash, and our kids end up…well, they don’t seem to care much about the kids, or if they do, they are looking at the situation with dollar signs in their eyes.

The question that I came up with by the end of the article (along with a feeling of nausea) was how do we, as teachers and citizens, fight back? After all, I read this article during my plan period at work, while I was also eating lunch. Where do we find the time, not to mention the money, to fight for what we know is right for our clients, the real consumers of our work – who are they? That’s right, they’re children. Not millionaires and billionaires who can spend hours perfecting their golf game and ordering servants to clean their golden toilets. The people we work for are kids, kids with minds and bodies that are still developing, who have a plethora of issues to deal with already. We do what we can within our schools to make a difference. But when companies from outside begin to order us around, we take umbrage. When their orders have a negative impact on kids, we get downright pissed off. Of course, getting mad isn’t productive. We need to channel that anger into a strategy for fighting back. Teachers reading this, what are your thoughts? Until next time...