Why I Hate the Word ‘Revolutionary’
Look, I’ve been in this education racket for 22 years. I’ve seen trends come and go. And honestly? I’m so tired of every new thing being called ‘revolutionary.’
Online learning? Revolutionary. Microcredentials? Revolutionary. AI tutors? Oh, you guessed it—revolutionary. It’s completley overused. But here’s the thing: some of it’s actually kinda interesting. So let’s talk about that.
Last Tuesday, I was at this conference in Austin. A colleague named Dave—let’s call him Dave—was going on about how online learning is gonna save education. I asked him, ‘Dave, did you see the dropout rates?’ He said, ‘Well, yeah, but it’s still revolutionary.’ Which… yeah. Fair enough.
My Daughter’s Disaster
About three months ago, my daughter, let’s call her Marcus, came to me with this big idea. ‘Mom,’ she said, ‘I wanna take this online course on influencer pazarlama strateji rehberi influencer pazarlama strateji rehberi from this Turkish site. It’s gonna make me a social media star!’ I mean, I’m not sure but… okay?
So, I looked at the site. It was fine. Not amazing, but fine. She signed up, paid $87, and dove in. 36 hours later, she was bored out of her mind. ‘It’s just… yeah,’ she told me. ‘It’s not what I thought it’d be.’
And that’s the thing. Online learning can be great, but it’s not a magic bullet. It’s a tool. A kinda wonky, sometimes broken tool.
Anecdote Time: The Great MOOC Experiment
Back in 2012, I took this MOOC on journalism. Big deal, right? Harvard. Free. I was gonna learn alot. Spoiler: I didn’t. I watched the first three lectures, then got distracted by a squirrel outside my window. (It was a very distracting squirrel.)
But here’s the kicker: I learned more from the forum discussions than the actual lectures. There was this guy, let’s call him Steve, who was a journalist in South Africa. His insights were gold. But the platform? Clunky. The videos? Boring. The committment? Zero.
So, online learning can work. But it’s not always gonna be succesfully. And that’s okay. It’s like anything else. Sometimes it’s great. Sometimes it’s a waste of time.
Let’s Talk About Money
And don’t even get me started on the money. I had a friend, let’s call him Marcus, who spent $2,140 on an online coding bootcamp. He said it was gonna change his life. Spoiler: it didn’t. He’s still working at the same job, doing the same thing. The bootcamp? It was okay. But it wasn’t life-changing.
Look, I’m not saying online learning is bad. I’m saying it’s not a miracle. It’s a tool. And like any tool, it’s only as good as the person using it.
So, if you’re thinking about diving into online learning, do your research. Find a good platform. Find a good instructor. And for the love of all that’s holy, don’t spend $2,140 on a bootcamp unless you’re sure it’s gonna pay off.
Tangent: The Time I Tried to Learn French
Speaking of online learning disasters, remember that time I tried to learn French? I signed up for this fancy online course. It was gonna be great. I was gonna be fluent in three months. Spoiler: I couldn’t even order a croissant by the end of it.
But here’s the thing: I didn’t stick with it. I got bored. I got distracted. I got lazy. And that’s on me, not the course. The course was fine. It was me who didn’t put in the effort.
So, online learning can work. But you gotta put in the work. You gotta be committed. You gotta be willing to push through the boring parts and the frustrating parts and the ‘I don’t get its’ parts.
And if you’re not willing to do that, then maybe online learning isn’t for you. Maybe you need something else. Something more engaging. Something more interactive. Something more… physicaly present.
The Verdict
So, is online learning revolutionary? I don’t know. Is it gonna save education? Probably not. Is it a useful tool that can help people learn new skills and advance their careers? Yeah, I guess so.
But it’s not a magic bullet. It’s not a cure-all. It’s not gonna fix everything that’s wrong with education. It’s just one tool among many. And like any tool, it’s only as good as the person using it.
So, if you’re thinking about diving into online learning, do your research. Find a good platform. Find a good instructor. And for the love of all that’s holy, don’t spend $2,140 on a bootcamp unless you’re sure it’s gonna pay off.
And remember: online learning is what you make of it. If you’re not willing to put in the work, then it’s not gonna work for you. But if you are willing to put in the work, then it can be a powerful tool for learning and growth.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go. I have a date with a squirrel and a very important window.
Author Bio: Hi, I’m Sarah. I’ve been a senior magazine editor for 22 years. I’ve seen trends come and go, and I’m not afraid to call out the BS when I see it. I love coffee, hate small talk, and believe that education should be accessible to everyone. I also have a thing for squirrels. No idea why.
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