Online Ed Saga

ECONOMICALLY EXPENDABLE - "WE DON'T NEED AN ARMY OF TEACHERS OR MANY EDUCATED PEOPLE"

By Stephen Wilson

 

            "We don't need an army of teachers or many educated people" stated the speaker of the Russian parliament, Valentina Matvyenko, in a recent speech in relation to the attempted switch of Russian schools to online learning. In this speech, the speaker claimed that this transition should not just be viewed as a temporarily measure or anti-crisis measure, but a move to a more deeply rooted and entrenched part of the school and university education system. Such proposals appear to being discussed and considered among the rectors of universities not only in Russia but Britain. Many school teachers view the anti-crisis measures as a continuation of optimization by other means. The aim would be to cut costs by firing many teachers and attracting new potential private students via costly long distance courses. Of course, over the past two decades we have been witnessing overcrowded lecture halls at universities where students who can't find space are redirected to a cafe where they watch the lecture online in Britain.

            The limits of online learning in terms of physical ill-health such as sore spines, headaches and ruined eye-sight have not been seriously addressed. In deed, the government hardly consults teachers and parents never mind responds to

their concerns. Maria Koroleva, a Russian English teacher stated, "I think we will see a two tier education system where there will be online lessons for the poor and face to face education for the rich".

 

            There is no shortage of voices calling for a more virtual education system. For instance, Oleg Smolin, who serves on the First Committee on Education and Science stated, "In South Korea, distance learning accounts for 20% of the population older than 16 and in Russia it is 3%." In Britain, the student union newspaper Palatinate published a leaked report of a proposal to make 25% of all university courses online at Durham university. 'We already deliver

highly successful online programs such as our online M.B.A which is ranked in the top ten of the World.' The article provoked an uproar among students, staff and the public who fear not only job losses, but a further decline in the quality of university education. In both Britain and Russia there have been petitions against attempts by universities to radically overhaul their system by introducing more online courses at the cost of teachers' jobs. The managers at Durham University quickly gave up toying with the proposed ideas.

 

            The proponents of online education argue that the sharply increasing dire straits universities find themselves in leave them no choice but to launch new commercial courses which appeal to foreign students as the government continues to cut back more and more on aid. They also argue that the attempt to switch to online need not compromise quality if teachers learn to use a new methodology. But the problem is that students don't just go to university to attain knowledge and pass exams, but for the experience of socializing and

interacting with other students and teachers. Students join clubs and cultivate friendships which might last a lifetime. What strikes experienced educators is how highly unrealistic those new proposals for online education are. Some people think that it only takes 6 hours to teach the methodology of online teaching, whereas it would really need at least 6 months or more.

 

            The recent attempt to switch to online teaching at schools in Russia should be fully analysed. So far, not all the feedback is that reassuring. For example, how do you discipline a school student who simply switches off his computer or tries to sabotage the system or is walking around in the park fooling around?

            Who pays Russian school teachers for the amount of time they use on the internet as well as the electricity? According to a recent survey by the Russian Teachers Union, Teacher, carried out on the theme of Fair Conditions for Online Work Done by Teachers, which interviewed 251 school teachers, from the 14th to 20th April, most teachers have not been compensated for the costs they have incurred at home. Asked whether they had been paid compensation for the period of online work, 98% of respondents answered, 'No' , 54% of teachers answered that their workload had strongly risen and 36% said it had simply increased. Most of the

teachers themselves have to pay themselves for using the internet, electricity, and access to platforms and other services. In a word, online education means your average school teacher has to do twice or three times the amount of work, but receive a substantial cut in their salaries. It is small wonder that most teachers don't particularly warm to airy fairy notions of 'progressive online schools with the latest advanced technology.' Nobody wants to become in the words of Marx, 'an appendage to a machine'.