I’m Your Teacher; Not Your Internet-Service Provider

The article by Ellen Laird, “I’m Your Teacher, Not Your Internet-Service Provider”, is a clear comparison between internet learning and the normal classroom method of learning. Ellen Laird discusses the differences between taking the web and the normal personal courses. According to Ellen, a lot of her online studies are disrupted as a result of the lack of attention, motivation and supervision. There are a number of factors that affect online classes, such as the availability of the individual, technology, and internet speed on the part of the student, among others. This article is a review of the issues discussed by Ellen Laird, in her article, “I’m Your Teacher, Not Your Internet-Service Provider”.



Ellen Laird's organization of the article is based on subjects. In the article, she has created two different paragraphs discussing the differences between students that take online classes and her normal classroom setup students. This is a strategy that she has applied with the aim of showing her readers the differences between the two types of students. The headings on her article have also been used to indicate the problems faced by tuors when teaching online classes, compared to when teaching the normal classes. It is therefore right to observe that she is not very passionate about online classes due to the lack of personal connection with students.



She indicates the lack of control for the online class, which can lead to laziness. This is where she points out that her online students can skip modules and go to those that they feel are more friendly. This is a case of students choosing to do what they like as opposed to doing what is right and beneficial to them. According to her, it is not an easy task to captivate the attention of online students, as they are not available physically. They are able to skip modules that they deem hard and this affects their ability to grasp important concepts.



In Ellen Laird’s essay “I’m Your Teacher; Not Your Internet-Service Provider”, she expresses how much she believes technology has greatly changed learning and school (417). She looks at the differences between teaching in a classroom setting and an online class. Having taken an online class myself, I agree with Laird’s opinion that online classes undermine teaching and learning (418). Online classes are not as authentic and hands on as the in-class learning. The difference in the two learning experiences are very distinct. Online classes are much more technical and fast-paced. They serve the purpose of gaining the credit rather than the knowledge and learning experience.



According to my observation, in her article, “I’m Your Teacher, Not Your Internet-Service Provider”, Ellen Laird should try to come up with better ways of teaching online classes and ensuring that they are captivating to the students. This way, she can have students following modules and grasping all the necessary concepts.

