Putting the "Virtual" in Education

In the last post, technological determinism in virtual education was discussed. Today, we will be talking about this movement driving specific social changes in today's society and what that means for the future. In his multiple published works, Marshall McLuhan argues that "the medium is the message." This alludes to the meaning that the way information is published says just as much about culture that day-in-age than the information itself and that it shapes the way we think. Way back in the 1960s, McLuhan predicted a joint "global" society through technology and electricity.  Every day, mass broadcasting and the internet connects us to all corners of the world, thus creating a “smaller world” feel and allowing greater education of different cultures. This adds an entirely new aspect to virtual education, wherein educators now assign homework and projects that require research on the internet. Some assignments may even include connecting to others in the class or those in other areas. For example, in 2010 in my eighth grade class, we had “pen pals” from a class in Croatia. Instead of using mail, we sent messages over the internet and shared our cultures and experiences in school without even leaving our classroom. This proves technological determinism’s effects because now I have friends all over the world, and traveling to Croatia is much less daunting – the world feels smaller and much more connected. This type technological determinism is crucial in virtual education because it also promotes ideas of diversity and inclusion amongst people starting at younger ages; Millennials tend to be more accepting of others who are not like them because of this interconnectedness.

Although these strengths of virtual education in technological determinism prove to be advancing and uplifting our society, there are weaknesses as well. Neil Postman, American author, media theorist, and cultural critic in the later 1900s, stated that literacy and cognitive skills regress a result of today’s perpetual viewing of popular culture. I see first hand on my own Twitter and Facebook feeds the constant misuse of grammar and spelling, sometimes to the point where it is barely readable! Sure, using all this new technology to make education virtual and connect parts of the globe is fantastic and overflowing with opportunities to learn and grow, but does the overexposure to “pop culture” on the internet override the good? Have we gotten so lazy in our own corners of the internet looking at memes and cat videos and spelling words as “rn” instead of “right now” that our brains will start thinking like this in real life? I challenge you to make use of our global tools that are handed to us through our smartphones and laptops – learn something new, today and everyday you have the opportunity to.

Technological Determinism in Virtual Education

The technology around us that has developed over the recent years has made communication and the transportation of information exponentially increase to a rate where the access to information is instantaneous. Computer-mediated instruction on higher education can be seen as a positive impact to the very busy and vastly changing world that we are living in. This is due to the fact that it provides a personal and efficient user interface to keep up with our fast-paced lives, helping students succeed in higher education. The reason computer-mediated instruction on education is a positive is due to the idea of functionalism, which states essentially that this media used in virtual education serves a purpose and is useful in today’s educational society. One could counter that point and say that this takes away from human interaction and could decrease the amount of learning going on between professor and student, however, I believe that in today’s world the student needs to be more independent and cannot always access the teacher. Therefore, this does help the student learn and succeed in higher education settings by providing immediate access to content and information about the class.

Computer-mediated instruction on higher education could be a result of technological determinism as well, which states that the media causes changes in society and culture. The technology that exists creates these fast-paced lives and makes life more efficient, as explained before, but that changes society and culture by creating the need to keep up with these changes at the same time. That is why virtual education could be seen as a result of what society has created, and agrees with the fact that it is a result of technological determinism, emphasizing its current help to society. It also coincides with technological determinism’s ideal that media now substitutes as storytellers, teachers, and even parents.

Virtual education on higher education is an innovation and result of a need; the critical mass states that there needs to be a minimum number of people for it to be effective, and mass distributing it to multiple universities across the world fills that need. This branches from the idea of reinvention, which emphasizes the fact that technology is so flexible and is always being redesigned to serve the user. These interfaces stem from the internet, which stems from computers, so these technologies build upon each other’s successes in society and, once again, serve a functional purpose to help make everyday life easier. Virtual education on higher education can be seen as a positive to the vastly changing world we live in.

Why Course Management Systems?

There are many factors that are responsible for starting the movement towards virtual education. Course management systems are extremely popular in schools today, and one reason is because of the advancement of technology in society. Today’s culture is accustomed to instant gratification and immediate access to knowledge and updates. Getting report cards through “snail mail” and giving assignments in person can be easily lost or confused, and would cause impatience from both students and parents. We are now so used to easy 24-hour access to information that education making the shift to online course management seems obvious. The use of this technology consolidates emails, class rosters, grades, assignments, and more in one place that is easy to use for all. Princeton makes the argument for course management systems by pointing out all the different uses of these sites, which in turn save educators, students, and parents time and money. Which brings us to our next factor in the movement toward virtual education – the economical benefits! Instead of spending money on paper and ink and supplies, course management systems contain all the information online. Many of these systems also contain the ability to upload course materials such as textbooks and articles that have high costs or would charge too much to print (not to mention all the trees that are saved).  These are just a few of the many factors that have led to the wide usage of course management systems.

The Stages of Diffusion: Education Style

While the integration of technology into education is exciting for many of us “tech nerds,” not everyone feels the same way. Today, we will be discussing a weakness of Virtual Education due to the Diffusion of Innovations theory. Media Now: Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology states, "factors other than the attributes of the innovation affect diffusion of innovations. One factor is the amount of previous experience people have had with similar technologies” (page 52). This plays into how quickly – or slowly – people are willing to adopt new technology. There are 5 stages of this Diffusion of Innovation: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. For example, in the integration of virtual education, innovators will be the first group of people to jump in and try the new software or technology. If a “new and improved” software system that uses videos and live streaming is the first to come out on the market, the innovators will have already bought it and will be beta testing it in the classroom. Early adopters and the early majority are the next to follow suit. Early adopters will try it out and post about whether they liked the new software or not, and the early majority will buy the access to the software just as it is becoming “mainstream” or popular. Larger universities looking to integrate new technology without risking the quality of their education will most likely be in the early to late majority categories. They will wait until they have seen the software or innovation prove its success and usefulness in smaller universities or through statistics before jumping on board and dragging the thousands of students along with them. Finally come the laggards. In the broader technology world, the laggard is your Grandpa Joe who still has his flip phone he has been using for years and was reluctant to get it in the first place. He has a phone, but nonetheless it is from 2005. In the virtual education realm, the laggards are mostly primary or high schools that we would consider to be “stuck in the past.” They rarely use computers, notes are still hand-written, and grades are still printed out and handed out in the classroom.

This theory proves a weakness in the adoption of virtual education because not everyone is equipped with the technology skills to easily navigate online sites such as Blackboard. This lack puts these students at a disadvantage, not because they don’t know or understand the material being taught for the class, but because it is too difficult for them to even find the material or their assignments. This proves to be difficult for teachers as well, who may be used to a completely paper and in-person style of teaching. Not having the skills to use sites like Blackboard and Canvas to their potential doesn’t mean they’re bad teachers, but it fogs up communication with students which inhibits learning.

Straubhaar, Joseph; LaRose, Robert; Davenport, Lucinda. Media Now: Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology (Page 52). Wadsworth Publishing. Kindle Edition. 

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