Feminist pedagogy shapes online education Erica Michelle Henderson TITLE Feminist pedagogy shapes online education

Academia has not always valued the education of women (Wyer Et al, 2009). Therefore traditional education is confining (Bell Hooks). More women are seeking a college education, now more than ever before. “Women are earning college degrees at a faster pace than men. Between 2000 and 2001, women earned 57% of all undergraduate degrees.” A feminist classroom is diverse, respectful, and available to all women, even those that could not be traditional students because the physical or lifestyle barriers (Bricker-Jenkins, 1991). This has attracted women to online education in droves. “According to a 2000 Department of Education study, single mothers, married women, and married women with children are most likely to be at the other end of the miles and wires of distance education” (Carnevale, “Distance” P. A33).

Online degree programs provide the opportunity for a more diverse population of students to obtain their degrees. Some of these non traditional students include, full-time workers, home bound or rural students, students with sever physical disabilities, and many stay-at-home mothers. This types of students now account for half of online students (Rose, 1998). One of the central tenets of feminism is the ability of women to meet in groups. Feminists realized that new technologies could make this continue to happen for women. The needs of women have been voiced by feminist pedagogy, and as a result technologies that make online education possible have been cultivated.

Pedagogy has shaped technology by voicing women's rights and interest which has in turn shaped the virtual classroom. References Wyer Et al, . (2009). Women, science, and technology a reader in feminist science studies . New York: Routledge. Bricker-Jenkins, M. (1991). Feminist social work practice in clinical settings. Seattle: Sage Publications, Inc. Carnevale, Dan. “Distance Education Attracts Older Women Who Have Families and Jobs, Study Finds.” The Chronicle of Higher Education 8 Nov. 2003: A33 Rose, Ellen Cronan. “‘This Class Meets in Cyberspace’: Women’s Studies via Distance Education.” The Feminist Teacher Anthology: Pedagogies and Classroom Strategies. Ed. Gail E. Cohee et al. New York: Teachers College Press, 1998. 114–32.