from Jan Schwartz

I just read an article in Mashable about online education needing to be more social.  A couple of weeks ago I wrote about resource material I put up online for students in a business class that met face to face, for the most part.  The course site was made up of weblinks: links to blogs, company websites and social networking sites–things the students could use to help them think about their business plan.

In addition to helping them search the web, this also gave them other businesses to look at that were service oriented.  I challenged them to think  about these other businesses and think critically about how they could use some of this material to develop ideas and strategies for their own businesses.

The author of the Mashable article, Marco Masoni, states:

What’s required are innovative approaches to course design that set aside old models of instruction where theory often trumps actuality. Online course providers must embrace the web’s potential to match students with the kinds of timely knowledge and skills that address current issues head-on, and enable them to thrive in the global marketplace.

Technology is changing the way education is delivered and it is also giving educators so many more ways in which they can bring real life scenarios into the classroom.  There is more to learning how to earn a living than being taught the professional knowledge and skills you need in order to say you are a ____________(fill in the blank).

Photo credit: Flickr, Horia Varlan