old school not so cool

The concept of tech-mediated self-directed distance learning, seems like an intriguing twist in obtaining an education.  I say this because I agree that teachers and students are restrained by their defined roles, teachers are truly limited to act as bankers making deposits of knowledge into empty bank vaults, which are the students who are just inertly receiving the knowledge.  I know I felt that way in school, we were not expected to know anything and we were treated like we knew nothing, so we acted like we knew nothing. There is also the fact that we were all taught through a set curriculum that overlooks the fact that every child learns in a different manner and at a different pace. Teachers have to use certain methods/approaches when teaching and these methods/ approaches mostly forces the learner to memorize rather than understand the concept or subject and ultimately what is being taught in schools do not prepare learners for real life situations. Learners are not inspired to learn, they are drilled and if they cannot keep up they are basically left behind.

Tech-mediated self-directed distance learning offers education with no such limits to roles, no one gets left behind and learners would be in charge of what they want to do and how they want to approach it. Having this kind of decision making power would definitely instil a sense of independence and with the freedom Tech-mediated self-directed distance learning offers, it would be pleasurable to explore various methods of approaching work, and learners can find what aids them best in obtaining and retaining knowledge.

They can learn from each other, swop techniques since everybody has different interests and different ways in which they want to learn.  Learning would certainly be seen as less of a burden and more of an enjoyable adventure towards new discoveries.  Learners can decide on the concepts/ topics they want to learn about, they go and do research on this topic, they convene again at a later stage and debate on what they have discovered. Through engaging with each other on a critical level they are gaining knowledge and they do not even have to be from the same school in order to do so. This is one of the greatest advantages that tech-mediated self-directed distance learning has, it enables learners to connect with others, allows methods that actually contributes to learning, and makes learning enjoyable.