Like South Korea, classrooms in Miami are starting to use computers to teach kids instead of teachers. A ‘facilitator’ is in the room to make sure students progress. That person also deals with any technical problems. These virtual classrooms, called e-learning labs, were put in place last August as a result of Florida’s Class Size Reduction Amendment, passed in 2002.
The amendment limits the number of students allowed in classrooms, but not in virtual labs. While most schools held an orientation about the program, some students and parents said they were not informed of the new class structure. Others said they were not given the option to choose whether they wanted this type of instruction, and they voiced concern over the program’s effectiveness. In response to parental confusion about virtual classes, the Miami Beach High parent-teacher association created a committee on virtual labs.
The panel works with the school toward “getting issues on the table and working proactively,” said Patricia Kaine, the association’s president. Uh-huh, so does this mean that we’re becoming so broke as a country that are student’s no-longer need a human to guide them through lesson plans? I know how this sounds and believe me I’m all for robotic teachers, but I noticed that some kids don’t even receive books anymore in some schools, they get ‘packets’ instead. I mean what’s next, will students receive DVD’s to learn from at home instead of ‘virtual classrooms’ because we could no-longer afford those? Is what Miami’s doing a good idea or a bad one? Let’s get a debate going. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/education/18classrooms.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hp
Cabe
