Teach English in TiAnbu Zhen - Nantong Shi

This is an interesting question to answer indeed. My own experiences as a teacher have informed me that online education contributes to globalization, or in specific vocabulary, an influx of experiences and ideas. In the big picture, an ever-changing landscape of how business is conducted around the world has witnessed how education has adapted itself. Consequently, online education can be a source of globalization that will likely remain unchanged for the coming years. But one might ask in earnest: what does being a source of globalization actively mean? Certainly, when online education has become as successful an educational apparatus as traditional schooling, I can draw out a decisive conclusion. For now, I want to discuss how online education and globalization might come to relate to each other and in what lens we should adopt to analyze this question. Globalization was a process that started long before online education became as pervasive as it is. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum, the internet is a key development that has ushered the globalization in the third industrial revolution of our time ( Vanham, 2019, Second and Third Wave of Globalization, para. 4-5). The internet has enabled services to deliver much faster than before. However, to critically analyze our question at hand, it is important to understand the nature of a source of something means. For instance, education share many similarities in its manner of expression as the internet in that they are both involved with the "information exchange, communication, and the creation of knowledge" (Selwyn, n.d., The Internet As an Educational Tool, para. 1 - 2). The role of education in the socio-economic well-being serves to educate the masses. Facilities with access to computers thus become platforms of which the global consumer access online educational services much like they do with any other consumerist goods (Cremer, 2001, Introduction, para 2). Incidentally, cognitive similarities exist in the operation apparatuses of these two fields in real-life applications. They are much like two separate yet mutually impactful parties running a business. Hence why online education contributes to globalization and globalization, in turn, supports the growth of online education. It is therefore important to not be limited to two interpretations because they both are factors, as much as they are beneficiaries of each other. Speaking from personal experiences of being an educator, I have witnessed firsthand how online education has linked my students through a shared commonality in their learning. When I assign my students homework that needs to be completed online, I intentionally try to draw on professionals from relevant fields, and have them enter the classroom as a guest and share their extensive knowledge and profound expertise. For the most part, students enjoy these experts visiting the classrooms and sometimes build interest to visit specific places and gain a deeper understanding. Of course, this may just be one instance of how globalization can stem from online education programs, it is nonetheless an illustrative example. All in all, online education is a source of globalization. However, it is crucial to emphasize the mutually influential relationship these two practices share. In other words, it might be factually valid to conclude that they cannot be described as a cause nor effect. Rather online education and globalization perfects and helps each other expand and grow. Our own teaching experiences also serve as another source of valuable information to help us better answer this question. And so, I strongly believe that considering this question in various points of view is conceptually legitimate. References: Cremer, D. J. (2001). Education as Commodity: The Ideology of Online Education and Distance Learning. Journal of the Association for History and Computing. Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jahc/3310410.0004.202/--education-as-commodity-the-ideology-of-online-education?rgn=main;view=fulltext Selwyn, N. (n.d.). The Internet and Education. Change: 19 Key Essays on How the Internet Is Changing Our Lives. Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/articles/the-internet-and-education/ Vanham, P. (2019, January 17). A brief history of globalization. Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/how-globalization-4-0-fits-into-the-history-of-globalization/