Should online learning be encouraged?

Jack (US)

I've taught online, and it was a terrible experience for me as well as for the students. In a real classroom, hands shoot up, students shout out questions, argue with each other and with me. I'm able to quickly correct misconceptions, gauge who's getting the material and who's not without waiting for their formal papers, etc. And what about socialization? Test scores are not good indicators of knowledge acquirement, merely of memorization. Computers are making us less thoughtful, more willing to skim along the surface of things. Deep learning does not occur in a virtual world, but in a real one.

Chen Xiangdong, CEO of genshuixue.com, an O2O online education platform,makes a speech in Beijing on March 30, 2015. [Photo/CFP]