PROGENIES IN EDUCATION: THE EVOLUTION OF INTERNET TEACHING

Abstract

Technological advances create tension between what traditional educational systems offer and what new online teaching methods can offer. External pressures are being exerted on traditional educational systems forcing change on time-honored scholastic practices. As a result, progenies, the natural offspring of technology innovations and traditional education practices, are reshaping education. The initial driving force of any developing technology is the innovation of product. The innovation of product is the search for a dominant design. The desired features of a technology are defined in this search process. The authors conclude that a dominant design in online teaching platforms has emerged and has thus created an implicit understanding of the performance requirements to be met by the product. Educational organizations now must shift their focus from innovative online product development to a standardization of the product with a concurrent increase in process innovation and development. Schools with online teaching and learning programs are not seeking to define their distinct brand of distance education; rather they are seeking ways in which to improve their processes of delivery. Thus a shift must occur from an emphasis on product innovation to process innovation. This article develops the concept that an increase in process design, a responsibility of individual educators, is the next step toward the development, implementation, and refinement of collaborative learning, learning communities, and individual learning strategies that facilitate student achievement.