Week 2 Entry

Dreyfus makes a lot of valid points about distance learning and traditional learning. I agree with his belief that distance learning could never fully replace traditional methods of education. Dreyfus maintains that in the 6 stages of learning, distance learning could never allow a student to get past the stage of competence. Dreyfus argues that past this point, the learner must have a real emotional investment in learning the material that is not possible in distance learning. He also maintains in order to truly master any subject, one must follow, and study other masters of the subject, laerning their styles until you eventually formulate your own style. Tis would be entirely impossible to do with distance learning. Thus according to Dreyfus, replacing traditional education entirely with distance learning would produce a world in which there are no experts in any fields, and no true masters of anything. Advocates of distance learning would argue that these would be possible through telepresence. They argue that a classroom setting could be simulated in which the students could view lectures live via the internet, and the techer could view the students in the same manner, but Dreyfus disagrees. He argues that not only could this not create a good enough situation forthe student to learn sufficiently, but it could not create a suitable situation to teach in. Dreyfus argues that taechers would have no feel for the classroom, the mood of teh students, or any sense of the class's interst in waht is being taught. It would lead to lectures being dull and difficult to pay attention to because the teacher would have no way of guaging the interest of the students, and would not have any way to alter it.

I have to agree with Dreyfus's stance on distance learning. As a biology major, I have had 2 different science labs every semester so far in my 3 years at school here. I can certainly say that the laboratory exercises make it much easier to learn the material being taught in the lectures, as it provides a visual example of the things being covered in the class. Being able to see and physically participate in the laboratory exercises is sometimes even more helpful than being physically present in the lectures to here explanantions of the physical, chemical, or biological systems. Distance learning could not provide the kinds of opportunities like this that can be greatly important in a person's education. This is just a more specific example that expresses the point that Dreyfus makes about the limits of distance learning.