What About Reliability?

Let's say, by way of analogy, that you went to a car dealer and bought a new car. You barely get it off the lot before the engine falls out. The salesman comes over and laughingly says - "Oh, you got one of Bob's cars. His engines always fall out." Would you put up with that? No! Of course not! We expect reliability in automobiles and would never put up with variations due to the person who made it. Never in a million years!

And yet, every time a student signs up for a class it is a crap shoot not unlike the analogy above.  This is well known among students at all level who informally pass on information about which teachers to avoid. Teaching evaluations often report the problem, but do little to fix it. Taking things into their own hands, students go to sites like RateMyTeachers or RateMyProfessors to pass on this knowledge to fellow students. If all classes were reliably of consistent quality, this would not be necessary. But, they are not.

How can you deliver education of consistent high quality? Well, you have to refine it over time and delivery it in a consistent manner. This means, in short, getting the instructor out of the loop. Asynchronous distance education means lower cost, higher quality, and more reliably consistent delivery. So, what is the future for instructors? Perhaps I'll tackle that next time. 

Why Was That Memorable Teacher so Memorable?

One of the arguments put forth by people who emphasize the role of the instructor in distance education is that teachers often influence our lives in very positive ways. People will say things like "I remember Mrs. Jones in third grade who really helped me get over some hurdle and restored my confidence." This is a good thing and I don't wish to diminish it. Having people to influence us in positive ways is, well, positive. However, I would ask - Why was Mrs. Jones so memorable?

Was the moment of inspiration and support from Mrs. Jones so memorable because it was such a rare occurrence? What about all the time spent with other teachers? Why was that time no so memorable? Was it because they really weren't all that good?

As you think back over all the dozens and dozens of teachers you have had for thousands of hours, how many fall into the categories of memorable, forgettable, or even want to forget? I think most people nostalgically interpret those three minutes of inspiration from Mrs. Jones as an endorsement of the teaching profession. I would say that if that is all you can remember from dozens of teachers over thousands of hours that is hardly an endorsement.