In reading this week’s articles I have realized how much I didn’t know about education. I am a mainstream, public school third grade teacher. My knowledge of online education components is extremely limited and thus I feel as though I am walking through a corn maze with only the leaves to guide me. Throughout the readings and the discussion with my colleagues I’ve realized a few key issues that online education faces. First, the general lack of value our province and country put on education.  There are many countries where students are provided with free education in order to create contributing citizens. It’s interesting that our province provides little in terms of educational support, other than student loans, when it comes to post secondary education. I wonder if many students in high school and after, feel as though education is not worth the price tag, we put on it? I am curious as to whether open education would become more popular if it was more financially accessible to all people? Moreover, online schooling has a further stigma of being viewed as ‘lesser’ because it can be cheaper. Could the removal of monetary restrictions serve as a reinforcement of the use of open learning platforms? Second, students are losing out on opportunities within education because of monetary greed versus sharing of ideas. Ideas, especially within online platforms, are not shared as willingly because eventually someone realizes they can make money off it. What type of disservice does that provide our students especially when it comes to textbooks and sharing of resources? Thirdly, the idea of silence within online platforms. For this purpose, silence refers to the idea of being unable to track students’ interactions with the content. If a teacher does not know how a student perceives or engages in the content, then how are they to inform their practice to aid the student, if needed? I found this one especially difficult to grapple with because my assessment is largely derived with observations and interviews with my students. I watch how they interact with an activity and often their behavior allows me a window into their strengths and struggles. Through these observations, I can determine whether my assistance is needed or not. Also, when doing interviews with my students my ability to observe and question their methods is a way of determining their understanding. Thus, silence can mean so many things to a teacher when they are observing. Yet, in an online learning platform this may not be available to me. My practice, understanding and comfort level would be at risk. I am curious as to how teachers understand or combat the so-called silence within an online platform. How does a teacher track a student when there is little to no tracking of their interactions with the content? These are questions and thoughts that were provoked through my reading and discussion. Needless to say, I have more questions than answers.