Meaning of “Horrific’

This essay explains how the meaning of the word “Horrific” has been used to refer to something positive in the modern day context as horrendous, frightening, and dreadful. The subject of the word “horrific” is explored against the background of online learning. Point and facts serve to examine the way the word “horrific” has been applied, together with proof to reinforce why the term should not be used to refer to some technological advancement as horrific. Rather, the word should be implemented in a different context, with extremely negative implications and not one as beneficial as online learning.

In the article “Online Learning: The Ruin of Education” by Alexander Spring (2012), the term “horrific” is used to explain his experience of online learning. According to him, online education has continually ruined education instead of making it better. Learners are not only cheating themselves but also the system. According to him, online learning has turned education into a diploma factory because all a student needs is to search for answers from Google without bothering to read and absorb the material. While Spring asserts that online learning is an opportunity for learners who are limited by location to access education, he still believes that something should be done. Like instead of equipping a computer lab, rather the institutions should use the money to get more learning materials, teachers and better training. In a bid to prove how horrendous online learning is, Spring misses the point of moving with technology and enjoying the benefits of technology. In this light, I beg to differ; while online learning has been detrimental in some cases, Kirkwood and Price, (2013) assert that it has also significantly improved the state of education for some people especially distance learners. So how can something as beneficial as online education be horrific, yet it has benefitted so many people across the world?

 Critics of online learning admit that distance education, especially in higher learning, is expanding at a high rate. According to Brady, Holcomb, and Smith (2012), this unprecedented growth in distance learning is proof that online learning is more successful in the development of education in the community. Besides, while online students may not meet face to face, several technological tools have been used to actively engage the students virtually by imitating a typical classroom structure. Such tools have actively encouraged the online community and extended the learning experience beyond boundaries. 

In his article, Spring (2012) believes that online learning is horrific because online learners cannot practically apply what they have learned. However, in my opinion, I disagree with this assertion. To counter such similar sentiments as expressed by Spring, higher online learning institutions are keen in offering quality education and respected learning programs (Kim, Liu, and Bonk, 2005). Online readers are as good as learners in a physical classroom. To prove this, a study carried out in 2005 surveyed the perceptions of benefits and challenges in online learning from 100 MBA online students. It was revealed that these students viewed virtual learning as a valuable factor in preparing them for the highly competitive global environment.  

Another controversial use of the “horrific” is in the article Zombies in the classroom by McCarthy and Sziarto (2015), who describe the attempt of engaging students in zombies mode as “horrific.” Nevertheless, they go on to explain that the experience cannot be “horrific” because it is only being used as a tool of learning for the students. The word “horrific” utilized in this context just as in the article by Spring would be misplaced. A Zombie invasion into the classroom is not something horrible as students are always interacting with them in movies, TVs, and video games. Most notably, this interaction lets the learners become more engaged, gaining a better understanding of the spatiality of the situation of zombies.

On the deep structures of online learning, many international students have greatly benefitted from the program. Individuals can continue working as they advance their education online (Kurubacak, & Yuzer, 2011). People who cannot afford to relocate to a particular area to enroll in an individual institution can easily do it through online programs. In fact, in their article Eom and Ashill (2016), imply that the future of higher education lies in online education. Contrary to Spring’s belief that online education is horrific, I think this definition is entirely out of context as this term is used to refer to something with extremely detrimental effects on the individuals or the system that applies it.

To use the word “horrific” on online education is an extreme misuse of the word. From a personal point of view, something horrific is one that causes horror, inflicts physical, emotional, and in some cases spiritual injury to the victims. To say that something is horrible implies a heinous act with extremely negative impacts that are terribly awful (Turvey, 2011). In his article, Smith (2016), uses the word “horrific” to describe the heinous act by juvenile officers who stripped children in detention and tear gassed, stripped them naked and broadcast their act on national television. According to Smith, this act not only has the potential to cause physical harm but there is a possibility of psychological effect to the children even in their later years. It is likely that the officers who committed the terrible act on these children believed they were only trying to discipline them. However, the act is horrific in a sense it causes harm to the victim both directly and indirectly and has no potential benefits whatsoever.

The ultimate use of “horrific” is to describe something terribly awful. Smith (2008) uses the word “horrific” to describe the horrible medical experiments that were conducted in concentration camps to inmates by Nazi doctors. The experiments that dealt with transplantation, malaria, seawater, hepatitis among other conditions were incredibly dreadful and deadly.  The doctors went as far as risking the lives of the prisoners to carry out experiments with them, which would equip them with knowledge on how to take care of their military men. Unfortunately, even though the horrible act was beneficial to the soldiers, it was extremely destructive to the prisoners who lost their lives, or some had to live with disabilities because of medical negligence.

Using the word “horrific” to describe online education is incredibly wrong and demeaning to promoters of distance learning. It simply comes down to the fact that, education should not embrace the pace of technology and should instead remain in the old context of physical education. It may also mean that since online learning is “horrific,” use of technological tools in the classroom should be eliminated. However, “horrific” should be used in a context of extremely negative effects where even if the act is beneficial to one party, for as long as it causes harm to another then it is terribly awful.

References

Brady, K.p., Holcomb. L. B., & Smith. B. V. (2010). The Use of Alternative Social Networking Sites in Higher Educational Settings: A Case Study of the E-Learning Benefits of Ning in Education. Journal of Interactive Online learning, 9(2), p. 151-170.

Eom, S. B., & Ashill, N. (2016). The Determinants of Students’ Perceived Learning Outcomes and Satisfaction in University Online Education: An Update. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 14(2), p. 185-215.

Kim, K.-J., Liu, S., & Bonk, C. J. (2005). Online MBA Students’ Perceptions of Online Learning: Benefits, Challenges, and Suggestions. Internet and Higher Education, 8(4), p. 335-344.

Kirkwood, A., & Price, L. (January 01, 2013). Examining some assumptions and limitations of research on the effects of emerging technologies for teaching and learning in higher education. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(4), p. 536-543.

Kurubacak, G., & Yuzer, T. V. (2011). Handbook of research on transformative online education and liberation: Models for social equality. Hershey PA: Information Science Reference.

McCarthy, L., & Sziarto, K. (2015). Zombies in the classroom: a horrific attempt to engage students in critically thinking about Turkey’s undead application to join the European Union. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 39(1), 83-96.

Smith, P. (2016). Australian doctors condemn “horrific” treatment of children in juvenile detention. British Medical Journal, 354, p.1.

Smith, S. L. (2008). Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Vivien Spitz. Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, 25(1), p. 288-290.

Spring, Alexander. (2012). Online Learning: The Ruin of Education. Huffington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexander-m-spring/online-learning-the-ruin-_b_1358761.htmlTurvey, B. E. (2011). Criminal profiling : an introduction to behavioral evidence analysis. San Diego: Academic Press.