On-line vs Face-to-Face teacher Preparation Program? Which is better?

Surely, there is a difference between the dynamics of the two platforms [institutions]. If the assumption is that the teacher is going to teach face-to-face, there are so many extraneous factors to be taken into account.

Legislation has had an extensive influence on how educators need to conduct themselves, execute their academic tasks like teaching a lesson, deal with disciplinary issues, etc. You also have to deal with parents and teachers who are subjective in their opinions and narcissistic about their approach as it is all about the “self”. The problem is that most teachers are theorists, without even realising it. They accept educational theories as the be-all and end-all, and it is the holy grail on which one’s approach should be based. They get consumed by “political correctness”, so much so that values like honesty, integrity and spirituality are put on the back burner. So, I will definitely recruit a teacher who qualified at a face-to-face institution, as they had to face reality when they did their practice teaching. In my finite wisdom and obstinate stupidity, this is my unsound opinion, being aware that opinions can never be 100 % correct as I suffer from a disease called imperfection.

When you discuss any issue online, you can hide your true emotions very easily, you will not be able at time to express yourself clearly [possibly due to a lack of apt vocabulary] and therefore not reach finality on whatever is discussed. Face -to-face , you can detect whether the individual actually believes in what he/she is saying, they get certain pointers that will give fluidity [as in ‘fluency’] to the conversation and you have, and it is debatable, not the time constraints you have with on-line studies. I’m saying that the student that receives the tuition in an educational institution , and not on-line, should have a greater exposure to reality and possibly leave with a greater reservoir of knowledge. On-line there is greater probability to mislead yourself that you know the information when it is not the case.

My final argument is that on-line interaction does not lend itself to healthy and in-depth debates because technology has its drawbacks , eg. a few individuals may dominate the conversation, and invariably the valuable input of others will unfortunately be forfeited. Retention of information is a definite problem for on-line students because it should be fairly obvious [to me in any case] if your share your thoughts and knowledge with others, face-to-face, you will remember it for so much longer.

Without extensive one-on-one discussion, educators will not remotely come close to realise their full potential and I am absolutely convinced, face-to-face is the best platform.