By 
Introduction
“Good morning students”, greeted M’s Crabapple standing in the front and center of the neat classroom. A crowd of more than 30 students responded, “Good morning, Crabapple, from M.” She continued, “We’ll take roll first.” He then proceeded to call and dial each student as they responded, “present.” This was followed by an explanation of the lessons proposed for the day. There was board work copy – lots of board work, and the staccato of lecturing and copying interspersed with recitations, was broken once in the morning for a fifteen minute break and again at noon for lunch. Drilling resumed at the one o’clock bell and continued until the last recess bell of the day at three o’clock interrupted it. “Don’t forget to study and do your homework,” the school-marm shouted to the mass of students who were running towards the exit as if they were abandoning a sinking ship.
This could have been typical of “a day at school” for millions of students over a period of decades.
Learning alternatives
Now, however, the traditional role of schooling has been radically changed. Several viable learning alternatives are available. What are some of the benefits and drawbacks of each of these learning alternatives? Let’s see some of them.
Racial correspondence
A correspondence course is traditionally a class taught by mail. Lesson materials arrive in the mail. The student then returns their completed work by mail and waits for the next lesson to arrive by mail. The process continues and is repeated until all required lessons have been completed. There is no teacher-to-student contact other than the written word. Currently, some programs allow contact by phone, email, or voicemail. Only independent and highly motivated students can greatly benefit from this type of learning.
Field trips
Associated with both a traditional school setting and independent learning, field trips consist of students visiting a location outside of their school or home to learn about a topic or topic. Places visited may include businesses such as manufacturing facilities, a park, museum, zoo or aquarium, public service facilities such as fire stations, radio or television studios, hospitals, or police stations. An effective learning strategy, this method requires a teacher or guide to fully achieve it. Additionally, scheduling visits to some locations may be difficult or impossible for the individual student.
Independent study
Independent study involves designing a project that students complete by various means on their own. Collective work may require a series of intricately interacting facets to complete. Research research, writing, field trips, interviews, extensive reading, and lectures may be involved and required to complete project work. The final production is usually a presentation, paper or report that praises the details of the student’s work and the knowledge acquired.
Vocational School
An educational bastion for learning business or technical skills, a vocational school teaches practical skills. Students are typically employed immediately by the private and commercial sectors upon completion of a course of study at a vocational school. Fields such as healthcare, nursing, electronics, computing, construction, and manufacturing that have a demand for skilled labor or technicians receive a steady supply of their workforce from these types of schools.
Educational Television Course
The vast majority of major metropolitan areas have one or more public broadcasting stations offering educational programs. These programs are usually part of an accredited course of study at a local college or university. Students watch (and often record) television shows at home, take notes, and study broadcast material as an integral part of their learning. Another effective strategy for the highly independent student, this method does not promote interpersonal contact between the teacher (if any) and the student.
Continuing education
When adults want to resume their education at some point in their life, the programs offered by postsecondary institutions that address the specific needs of these students are called Continuing Education. Some may only last a day or two. Other programs can last for weeks with an intensity that can vary from an hour or two a week to daily contact with the class. Courses can be topics of personal interest such as ethnic cooking, gardening, writing, and photography, or employment-related areas such as welding, plumbing, languages, painting, and construction. A very popular option today, these types of courses and programs promote interaction between students in the classroom, interactive learning, and full teacher-to-student contact. There is usually a lot of feedback between the teacher and the students, and the students themselves.
We will probably never see a return to “traditional” learning as illustrated above. But with the growing variety of learning alternatives, there is certainly something to suit almost everyone. So get out of your routine. Take a chance: take a course and improve your mind and life using one of the many learning alternatives available to you. If not, there is always a Crabapple of M waiting for you.