EDUC735 - Journal Article Critique-Public Schools Assignment
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Dec 6, 2023
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EDUC735 – Journal Article Critique: Public Schools Assignment
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Journal Article Critique: Public Schools Assignment
D. Colton Scott
School of PHD: Education: Curriculum and Instruction, Liberty University
Author Note
D. Colton Scott
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to:
D. Colton Scott
Email:
dcscott5@liberty.edu
EDUC735 – Journal Article Critique: Public Schools Assignment
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Digital/Online/Virtual Learning Pros & Cons in Today’s School Systems
The title of my article for which I will be doing my Journal Article Critique # 1 over is
“Learning Potentials and Educational Challenges of Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs) in
Lifelong Learning.”
My critique serves to give some insight into the many pros and cons that
befall online/virtual education in the public school setting.
Being an online educator for one of
the largest virtual schools in the country, Pearson Education, I feel especially qualified to be able
to write over this subject matter.
This is why I have decided to do my research paper for this
course over this very topic.
The authors for this journal article include: Mie Buhl and Lars Birch
Andreasen (April 2018).
Summary
This journal article in which I will be critiquing serves to illustrate the pros and cons of
dealing with MOOCs or “Massive Open Online Courses.”
“The MOOC phenomenon contains
the potential to draw a large and diverse audience with varying demands of learning possibilities.
These courses explored how to handle a massively large number of participants in a learning
environment; or how loose or open the structure of a course could be to still be experience as a
course; or ways of orchestrating various degrees of coherence, connections, collaboration, and
interaction among participants of a course.” (Buhl & Andreasen, 2018)
This article serves to
give direct and specific critical points and success points as they relate to online learning and
conducting course in the MOOC framework.
Also, I will use specific examples from the journal
article to back up different areas and different points within this paper.
Critical Analysis
EDUC735 – Journal Article Critique: Public Schools Assignment
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The analysis of the use of MOOCs in today’s learning environments in the public
education school system speaks to many specific points.
One of the larger points taken from this
article speaks to the methodology behind how data and statistics were gathered to infer whether
MOOCs and online learning was beneficial or detrimental, overall, to students in today’s schools.
Blog posts from students and families, educational journal articles and direct interviews with
those within today’s online learning communities are the most substantial ways in which data
and information was pulled related to the topic of whether online learning is a positive
experience or a negative experience.
“Predictions made in 2012 that MOOCs would totally
disrupt the existing higher education model were certainly exaggerated. But that does not mean
that MOOCs won’t have a profound impact on the future of higher education’’ (Buhl &
Andreasen, 2018)
This was one thought from way back in 2014 relayed from one blog poster on
where the future of online learning was headed, in their respective opinion.
Many students and families steeped in the online learning environment tend to lean
another way entirely when it comes to the benefits and advantages that online and virtual
learning provides.
They state, “MOOCs integrate inquiry-based and problem-based learning
principles with design approaches, or include ‘‘authentic assignments,” requiring the application
of skills and knowledge learned in real world situations.” (Buhl & Andreasen, 2018) By the year
2017, however, more blog posts and interviews revealed that MOOC students did have critical
points and areas where advancement and reconstitution could occur with: “a) lack of an effective
system to measure and validate the progress of the learners, (b) how to integrate the course
credits into the present system so that it counts towards a degree from a college, and (c) how do
you ensure personalized guidance and mentorship.” (Mehta, 2017)
In addition, one of the more
crucial and vitally important areas of challenge for MOOCs and online/virtual education deals
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EDUC735 – Journal Article Critique: Public Schools Assignment
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with how students’ learning is to be assessed effectively and successfully, overall.
“In
‘Assessment approaches in massive open online courses: Possibilities, challenges and future
directions,’ Yao Xiong and Hoi K. Suen examine possible ways of assessment that fit open online
education. They point out that two kinds of assessment are needed to ensure that genuine
learning occurs: assessments for learning (formative assessments), which evaluate students’
current progress, and assessments of learning (summative assessments), which record students’
cumulative progress.”
(Buhl & Andreasen, 2018)
One specific area for which I have spoken firsthand with families and students about in
regards to benefits of online learning deals with accessibility.
Many families in today’s society
operate with a one-parent household.
For high school students in particular, online learning or
virtual learning provides an easy route to get through the high school system and gain a high
school diploma while still having to help out or be supportive of the remainder of the family unit.
I have several students who work part-time or even full-time jobs while still utilizing our online
learning platform to get through high school and graduate on time and on cohort.
Online and
virtual learning platforms, with public school backing specifically, have provide roads and routes
for students who have extenuating circumstances that don’t allow for a traditional brick-and-
mortar learning experience.
The authors of this journal article are very credible and come from
the International Review of Education.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, being in the online/virtual school setting, I can see for myself
firsthand the many different benefits and challenges that come along with MOOCs and all they
entail.
Students love the accessibility of our program and its ease of use, but they can also suffer
from areas of poor Internet connection or lack of online supplies or resources.
We try to
EDUC735 – Journal Article Critique: Public Schools Assignment
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highlight and encourage the benefits and step in and bridge the gap when it comes to challenges
and issues overall.
This article of which I have provided a written critique over relates to my
Research Paper Assignment in that digital equity and online learning should be open for all in the
public schooling system in our country, but we also have to ensure that we are fostering this type
of education in the most advanced and responsible way possible.
In closing, I really was
enriched by this journal article, and it gave me great insight into the many challenges and
benefits of online learning, and it provided great discussion points that can be used going
forward in finding ways to make my own school more equitable and effective for all students and
families involved.
EDUC735 – Journal Article Critique: Public Schools Assignment
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Buhl, M., & Andreasen, L. B. (2018). Learning potentials and educational challenges of massive
open online courses (MOOCs) in lifelong learning.
International Review of Education
,
64
(2), 151–160.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-018-9716-z
Mehta, D. (2017). What according to you is the future of MOOCs? Quora, Forbes [online post 15
March]. Retrieved 11 January 2018 from https://www.quora.com/What-according-to-you-
is-the-futureof-MOOCs/answer/Deepak-Mehta-2.
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