See what you think.
I like the caution it advocates but to me the editorial seems a big bushel basket into which the Times dumped all sorts of on-line instruction. They're not all the same, as one sentence reveals, "... students in hybrid classes -- those that blended online instruction with a face-to-face component -- performed as well academically as those in traditional classes." Have readers of this blog had experience with such hybridization, and what can we all learn from that experience?
Norman Sandridge comments:Thanks for sharing, Bob. Your point about hybrid courses is well taken. I'm sure you're already familiar with the work that Sunoikisis does at the CHS. Greg's edX Heroes course is going to become part of this curriculum, too, more hybrid than MOOC. What's more, my colleagues and I are putting together for next fall a hybrid Greek III course for teaching ancient leadership and the *Cyropaedia* through our online commentary (www.cyropaedia.org
). Anyone who wants to participate is welcome to; the more the merrier. I believe that this form of hybridization will not only help strengthen the study of Classics at smaller programs but give these students an even better learning environment than what you normally get without using any online resources.