Kerby Anderson

It appears that most school districts are headed for another round of online learning. Professor Mark Bauerlein (author of the book, The Dumbest Generation) identifies many problems with online learning and provides some suggestions for parents. The major problem with online learning is that it occurs on a tool that students already use “to play video games, share photos, watch shows, check Instagram, send messages, order food, get directions, and tweet.” It isn’t easy for even the most dedicated students to refocus it on reading, writing, taking tests, and submitting schoolwork. He recommends that parents have their students do a writing assignment on paper with a print dictionary and thesaurus. Don’t read books online. Even when they are watching educational videos, have them take notes by hand in a spiral notebook. Meanwhile, other researchers at the American Enterprise Institute wonder if we are getting our money’s worth with online learning. The average cost per public school pupil in the US was $13,600 a year. Then they went back and calculated the actual costs of live instruction, instructional resources, building maintenance, meals, and computer access. They conclude that remote school costs on a per-pupil basis only $5,229. Put another way, public schools doing online learning are delivering about 38 cents of education for every dollar in outlays. They conclude that “schools that don’t intend to open this fall have no reason to resist sharing resources with parents who are shouldering the burdens that remote learning entails.” We’re being overcharged for inadequate education.