tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6646219105625279979.post4064168048391573874..comments2008-06-29T21:05:08.867-07:00Comments on OTPenK: Week Eight: Issues with flexible learning - The modern InternetOTPenKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06335142198622805336noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6646219105625279979.post-55079585315741127262008-05-27T17:25:00.000-07:002008-05-27T17:25:00.000-07:00The issue of access is very pressing. 67% of NZrs ...The issue of access is very pressing. 67% of NZrs are not connected to the Internet!! NZStats 2007. They express it differently. 33% are not connected, 34% are connected through dial up speeds, and 33% on 256k or faster. (By some international standards 256k does not rate as broadband, so our number of people disconnected from this learning opportunity could be said to be much much higher).<BR/><BR/>As for the 'expert' issue. The question applies in real life too. How can we be sure that this person we identify as teacher, and has been working as a teacher for 10-20 years, is actually a worthy expert? We trust the peers around them, the organisation that employs them, their ability to make sense, and by checking that what they say correlates with what others say. All of that can be more easily quantified online. Trouble is, by and large our teachers are not online, so we can't actually check how expert or not they are, but we can check what the offline teachers are saying with the online teachers.. and so enters the tension and big problems.<BR/>Do you think it is acceptable therefore, that a teacher remain offline these days? Could we be reassured of the online expertise if we could say that all NZ teachers had an active and engaged online presence?Leigh Blackallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17845313396595646728noreply@blogger.com