Education as a transaction

I found the unlecture comment interesting about education being like a transaction. Because in my mind, I believe it is. It certainly historically has been a definite transaction- students pay teachers to receive education. Today it is is more of a transaction where we have the expectation that teachers will provide and share their knowledge and skills with students, who accept it and contribute by challenging concepts, asking questions and interacting in the class. I believe that traditional lectures and tutorials work well as a transaction; where the teachers predominately deliver in the lecture and the students predominately deliver in the tutorial. I think it works well like this, because discussion is still allowed in lectures, but how many people really like putting their hand up in front of 100+ people? Tutorials on the other hand, are perfect because they can be used as a place to pan out the theory discussed in the lecture and discuss concepts or queries in a smaller, more intimate group. I am not a shy person, but I most certainly prefer asking questions in a smaller environment. Why? There are less people to embarass yourself with if you ask something that the teacher or audience considers a ‘silly’ question. I also am not selfish and don’t want to take up a large portion of the lecture to myself, having a private one-on-one tutoring session, with the presence of 100+ irritable students. I get that asking questions and making comments can be helpful for the rest of the students who maybe were too afraid to ask it or hadn’t simply pondered that angle; but I think the traditional format of a lecturer providing us with their wisdom has been around for several years for a reason.

In the tutorials it has been brought to my attention that networked media this semester is greatly about the students. Which is good- i’m all for the students, I am a student! However, I do disagree that the teachers are here to learn with us. I get that teachers are not superheroes, so may not know the answer to everything. I get that teachers can learn from the students too. But, I disagree that we should focus greatly on this in networked media. I attend university with the expectation that my tutors and lecturers will be able to provide me with knowledge, information and skills they have studied and learnt throughout their years. If we make students and teachers too equal, then what is the point of paying a tutor to be in the classroom? We may aswell just meet up as a group of students and ‘discuss and share’ information. Don’t get me wrong, I love teachers that act as though they are on your level, your wavelength and are approachable. Teachers that act too superior and authoritative never have been a favourite of mine. I like to be able to feel as though I can relate to the teacher and ask them questions without judgement or intimidation. So i’m not saying we should make the tutorials more formal. What I am saying is that teachers have all this amazing knowledge that they have acquired over their years, so why not share it with us. Even though we may look bored with you reeling off information and anecdotes to us in tutorials- we actually do learn and we admire that you are older and wiser than us. So, i’m all for trying new things, but lets try take baby steps with this whole new-age approach to learning and instead incorporate the good aspects (open-ness, discussion) and ditch the bad ones (teachers simply sitting there waiting for us to speak up).

Learning should be interactive, interesting and engaging, however we do still have the expectation that we will have to at one point, sit down, shut up and absorb the information! I found this article interesting about the severity of Chinese education and its lack of allowance for creativity and interaction. It reminded me of when I studied Hard Times by Charles Dickens in year 12 English.

Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else.

I am certainly glad that we are no longer simply filled with facts by our professors. I am supportive of interactive learning, I just would like to take a less drastic approach and meet somewhere halfway.

I do agree in that education should be about transferring knowledge and skills. Source (Getting Smart http://gettingsmart.com/2012/01/reducing-transactional-distance-online-making-learners-comfortable/)