I read an article this week called "Distance Learning Pros and Cons" by Dr. Randall S. Hansen. The article listed, in my opinion, some very accurate pros, such as accessibility, availability, and convenience. However, if the author's intent was to equally weigh the pros with the cons, I don't think he succeeded. I specifically took note to two cons he listed, both about the lack of social interaction. He specifically states that there is no social interaction and that the college atmosphere is omitted.
Young people spend a lot of time with technology, including computers, video-gaming systems, phones, and ipods. A lot of their social interaction takes place on these devices as well. The x-box gaming system has a community of millions of people who play games and communicate over the internet. World of Warcraft, a subscription based computer game has over 11 million subscribers who play the game online with other people from around the world. I see students consistently communicating through text messaging and updating Facebook pages.
It seems that methods for social interaction have changed with technology. Maybe educators should go with the flow.
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