Learning from Space

When most people, myself included, think about online learning, the thought goes towards courses developed by professionals that are designed to teach. Many even teach you to think. But as I was reading blogs today, I ran across one that's a good example of online learning that isn't part of an actual course. This one is out of this world.

If you click the link I've provided, you'll be accessing a lesson on relativity that is straight from outer space. Really! Expedition 7's NASA ISS Science Officer, Ed Lu, is blogging from the space station, and he spent one of his blogs talking about relativity and what it means to his current position in space.

He even talks about his own experiment that he did using a square of thin silvery reflective film. It's not an experiment that most people on earth could perform. The best part about it, is that I learned something, and I wasn't even trying.

Is online education a real education?

In reading blogs, website, emails, etc., I've seen opposite opinions about online education. Some people want much more of it and believe it's a great way to learn, and not just because it's anytime/anwhere. Others think the quality of online courses and online education just isn't there. Some even go so far as to say that a degree obtained through online education isn't worth anything. What's your belief about online education and its value? Do you lean one way or the other, or hold a completely different opinion?

What's your opinion about online education's future?

Online and distance learning have been called a noble cause because they bring learning to the disenfranchised--people for whom the traditional classroom just doesn't work. And there are plenty of them. The University of Phoenix is one of the largest, private universities that has really taken online learning and run with it. Estimates shows that they have 150,000 or more students taking courses online from around the world. And that's just one, private university.

So with that said, we all know there are thousands and thousands more of us out there who think online education is the way to go. But what do you really think about its ability to sustain and grow as a viable source of education? Do you think it will change the world by bringing knowledge to all of its corners? Or do you think it's more likely to affect only those who would have had other educational opportunities, but simply chose online instead?