Virtual Environments

Virtual Environments seem to be the way of the future and maybe even now. Does this mean that they should replace the traditional school setting? My answer to that question is no in a lot of instances.

I do not believe that a virtual environment can meet all of the needs that a face to face learning environment can. This would especially be noticed for elementary education and special education. These kids, at this level, need the support of a teacher in a real environment. The praise and motivation that a teacher can bring to a classroom is the drive that keeps the students trying a lot of the time. If a child is to sit in front of a computer and learn their lessons for the day they could become very bored. With a teacher, in person, they are able to get the lesson taught to them in different ways more suitable for the students learning style which could in turn make it so the child is less aggravated and more excited about their learning experience.

When talking about using virtual environments in place of the traditional higher education setting, I can see how this might be a little bit more successful. Once people get into higher education they know how they learn and what they need to do to make themselves successful with their learning. This type of environment can be highly taken advantage of by those that are going back to school and have a lot of other things on their plate as well. This would make it so they would be able to maybe work on the class stuff on their own time that fits best within their own personal schedule. Again, I can also see this as not being very successful even at this level of education. I still feel that the teacher to student interaction is very important in being a successful student.