Online Education Makes the World Flat

Posted by Pamela Gustafson on January 1st, 2009

Our world has flattened, so to speak, thanks to the internet, and I’ve had opportunities to talk with people from around the globe. Some of these people have become quite dear to me. One such person is Srini from India. He was complimentary of the slideshows I posted on Slideshare.net and an email friendship developed.

Srini connected me with a young woman from the Netherlands, and the three of us created an inspirational slide show and posted it collaboratively. We never sat down face to face, but together we created a project thousands of miles apart. When I viewed the recent violence India I emailed Srini to make sure he was okay. He said he was safe and that many others from Slideshare had also expressed concern. I feel like he is “local” just as all my online classes and communities feel local. Columbus never found India, but I did!

Two of my first online classes were not local, and one was. In all three, I developed intellectual relationships. I have been keeping in touch via email with one teacher I met in a since 2001 non-local class. Since the class, I haven’t had contact with any of the students from my local class. After my experiences I have no preference as to whether the classes are local or not.

What is important to me is content. I want classes that specifically help me improve my skills as a teacher. As technology changes, I find it important to stay ahead of my students, many of whom are learning on their own. Interestingly enough, I am looking at a progam in e-learning offered through a state university system here in Wisconsin. The consideration of this program has nothing to do with the location of the university. So far, it’s the program that piques my interest. I have read all the course descriptions and what fascinates me is that many of the skills I already learned through online classes were provided by my very own school district.