April developed a 'personal philosophy of learning' the other day. She was asked to define what 'learning' means to her. As we talked about it, we decided that there are a couple kinds of learning: memorizing facts, becoming able to do things, and actually being wise and understanding things.
So I've been wondering about what online learning is good for. For me, it's a great way to be exposed to facts. I don't memorize them -- I'm not a big memorizer. Online courses rarely offer enough practice for people to become able to do things. And wisdom from an online course?
But online learning is accessible. Available at the moment I need it. So even if they're not a good substitute for real classes, when real classes aren't available they're better than nothing.
And that's about as strong a recommendation I can make for online learning.