Educators Opinions on Online Learning

Online learning is still new, so some folks wonder why they have to pay full tuition for online courses and online teachers. In their minds, online learning should be cheaper because they equate online with correspondence courses; after all, you’re not sitting in a classroom. Many think online learning and online degrees mean lower quality because they’ve seen diploma mill advertisements promising a degree that is “only a click away.” Prestige and quality mean ivy-covered walls, not a desktop in the den. There is no doubt that a lot of people are still wary about online education and online learning and teachers. As online courses and online universities become more popular and commonplace, the pros will eventually outweigh the cons. Research indicates that online learning is, in many ways, better than face-to-face. Online Discussions vs. Face-to-Face Discussions One of the more significant discussions about online learning swirls around the quality of interaction between students, students and teachers, and students and information. Some say that meaningful discussions can only effectively happen face-to-face. But if you don’t want to get into discussions with classmates or hear the opinions of teachers, online learning isn’t for you. Often, in an on-campus class, a group sits in back of the room, takes notes, and never talks. In online classes, you must interact. Students cannot avoid being dragged into conversations because online teachers track who is interacting, how many times they interact, and what they discuss.

Advocates of online learning point out that the discussions are not limited to the 50 minutes of a traditional class. Shy students who wouldn’t dream of raising their hands in class and are not good at thinking on their feet appreciate the time that e-mail discussion gives them. Online teachers often comment that the depth of online discussions exceeds what they can achieve in the classroom. Many online teachers base part of the grade on student participation. Some require participation three to five times a week and not all on the same day. Teachers who know how to effectively manage online discussions can prevent aggressive and talkative students from dominating a conversation and easily steer a conversation toward their class goal.

Socializing Online vs. Face-to-Face Many argue that technology isolates people and online learning and teachers only adds to the problem. Undergraduate college students in particular don’t go to college simply to acquire information leading to a career. During those four years on campus, they learn social skills and how to be adults and integrate into society. So, while younger students gain more from a face-to-face environment, between work and family, adult learners probably have more socialization than they can handle. One advantage to online learning that students cite is the diversity of their classmates. Since students can participate from just about any geographic location, classes often include people from other countries. Not only do students benefit from the experience of working on group projects with students outside the United States, but they also have the opportunity to get to know them personally.

Virtual Professor vs. Sage on the Stage When colleges and universities began experimenting with online classes, faculty members had to learn a whole new way of teaching. They soon found that simply putting PowerPoint notes online or tweaking lectures they had used for years didn’t work. Professors reported that going through the rigors of teaching students via the Internet forced them to reexamine how they teach. They had to step back from their familiar patterns and methodology. Online teachers found the new environment exciting and challenging, and in the opinions of teachers who teach on line, refreshing. Now that online learning providers have more experience in what works and what doesn’t, faculty members use a wide variety of teaching strategies and platforms. Some online providers have a team of graphic designers, instructional designers, programmers, and animators who support the course material with their technical and creative talent. The professors do the teaching, but a backup team helps with everything—down to the fine details of checking links on Web pages to make sure they work. Each time the course is offered, the content and delivery are scrutinized and improvements are made before it is released. In online courses, someone can monitor what’s going on because classes are designed and built by experts in instructional technology. In addition, there is a written record of what has been posted. In face-to-face classes, the lecture hall door is closed and no one knows if the professor is reading twenty-year-old notes.

Online Learning Outcomes vs. Face-to-Face Mark Kretovics, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Higher Education Administration Department at Kent State University, conducted a study comparing online and campus learners in an M.B.A. program at Colorado State University, where he was then Assistant Dean. The purpose was to test learning outcomes. The online class was 100 percent asynchronous, meaning that students could participate in class discussions at their convenience. The survey found that online students learned as well as, or better than, the face-to-face students. Kretovics admits he didn’t expect the online learners to grasp the theories as well as the on-campus students, but they did. He concluded that the online environment fosters independent learning. Because students aren’t guided by professors or pick up their biases, they depend on their own observations and conclusions in applying theories. One would assume that students learning languages face-to-face would do much better than their online counterparts. When Vernon Smith first began teaching language online he, too, had his doubts, until he saw nationally normed test-score results for online students, which were the same as or better than campus-based students. Smith is currently Faculty Chair for Foreign Languages at Rio Salado College. At Rio Salado, language students are tested on reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills, as well as knowledge of the culture. Students have videos that demonstrate the language in context, including nonverbal aspects such as gestures, which are an important part of learning a language. They can listen to and view lessons multiple times so that the language is slowly absorbed by repetition and practice. The only disadvantage Smith saw was the socialization aspect of language, which he, as an instructor, could overcome with online voice assessments and discussions.

Also read "Dispel Some Myths about Online Learning"