Blomgren, C. (2017). Current Trends and Perspectives in the K-12 Canadian Blended and Online Classroom. In N. Ostashewski, J. Howell, & M. Cleveland-Innes (Eds.), Optimizing K-12 Education through Online and Blended Learning. Information Science Reference. 10.4018/978-1-5225-0507-5 http://ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/chapter/full-text-html/159551
What?
I like the idea that distance education can contribute to the notion of flexible learning. Also, it is surprising that in the USA example, three-fourths of online learners are high school students and this is because they can get credit recovery, dual enrollment or advanced placement through the online courses. And I agree that high school student have a diversity of needs, so online learning allows them have a flexibility in learning. I wondered that Canadian context is similar with the US.
So what?
In Korea, more that half a million students take a Korean college entrance exam like s SAT in the US. And this exam is held once a year. Most Korean students regard this exam as the think that may change their lives. It is surprising how important this exam is in Korea. On the day of this exam, people start work a few hours late so that students can go to take the exam on time without any traffic jams, even the flight schedules are changed in order to do not distract students during the listening comprehension sections. Theres only one test a year and if students don’t get the score they want, they have to wait another year. All students feel stress about the exam. So, I wish Korean context would be changed with the ways of getting credit recovery though k-12 online learning in the US or Canada. Korean students really need flexible learning possibilities of digital learning applies to all Korean K-12 students.
Now What?
How can Korean researchers contribute to promote flexible learning for students? Changing or reform Korean education or college entrance exams is a complicated problem because this problem is related to a lot of stakeholders. However, implications of online learning courses that give students an opportunities for recovering their credit to enter the college like a system in the US can be one of the helpful ways to reduce their stresses about their college entrance exams.