Best in moderation

Hi John, nice to see you again too. From what's been posted already this week it looks like this class will provide lots of perspectives to think about. I find the debate on whether online ed is good or not for the shy student to be quite interesting. I'm sure that online ed, like everything else in life, is something best used in moderation. Certainly face-to-face interactions are a critical part of life and school is a valuable part of learning how to interact appropriately with others. However, online ed provides a medium for expression for a variety of different students that is not provided in class. Shy students may start coming out of their shell online first and then be able to transfer it to real-life situations. In addition, the beligerant student wouldn't find it much fun to make provocative statements online as there is the same immediate reaction they are usually looking for and it may encourage them to make more positive contributions to their learning experience. All in all, as stated, I think it is an excellent addition to the repertoire of educational tactics but not something that should every be used exclusively.