What all does online learning encompass? There are online classes that require students to log on at certain times to interact with the professor and other classmates. There are online classes that a student signs on and completes assignments at their own pace and the only interaction with the professor is through the grading process. There are courses that meet once a week in the classroom for some face to face time with the remainder of the week's requirements handled through an online system. And there are some courses that the lecture is repeated on the web so that if you miss a class, you can listen to the professors' lecture.
The blended courses (or mixed mode) are becoming increasing popular as they allow both the convenience of an online course but some personal interaction with instructors and students.
Some of the advantages of online coursework include the decrease cost to the University to provide the classroom and the teaching time of the professor. If a University is at full enrollment, it allows for additional sections of a class to be taught that might not be available to a student. Online classes also allow for standardization of what is taught in the class that might be altered by different instructors of the same course. Potential advantages to the student are obviously convenience and lower cost of credit hours.
As far as disadvantages, one has to analyze the effect of the non personal communication and exchange between the professor and student with the use of more and more online learning. In Student Development, the focus is on developing the student as a whole not just providing them with the means of just learning the academics. The psychosocial development is such an integral part of the college learning and environment. Is the online environment only developing the student in academics and not in the other areas of development. Even when discussing the academia of online learning, the University needs to evaluate the level of difficulty of the course. I know, in my experience, that some online classes have been an "easy A" whereas others have required much more work from me than would have been required in a normal face to face course. Also, are online students actually learning and retaining the information. The article discusses one instance where a student had the online course in one window and Facebook in another window.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities is pushing to have 25% of credits earned online by 2015. My first response to this is that this is great for some and will not work for others. Most online courses require some self motivation and self management. So a first time freshman that has new found freedoms, many distractions, and always has something better to do is going to struggle. But a student that has many credit hours, a job, and other outside commitments might thrive with such a requirement. Maybe, the decision about the mix of online classes should be up to the individual student and not a requirement of the University.
A student that struggles with anxiety may do much better in certain courses that they can take online. A course like Spanish can be taken online with a lot of interaction with word matching, games, writing, listening and even recorded entries of their own pronunciation. And a student not wanting to participate in face to face class may do much better in an online environment with such a course like Spanish where speaking out loud is a requirement in the classroom setting. Or take an student that has children at home or a full time job, online classes may be the only way for them to further their education.
The postmodernism philosophy where learning is emphasized but relationships are not, where residential life is unimportant and technology outweighs human contact might work for a select few, I do not feel it is beneficial for most. As many brag about the advancement of technology and the number of extended programs available, I hope the benefits of student development are not lost in the process.
While online courses can be a great supplement to a standard education, we are getting slightly out of control on our reliance of technology. There is no way that a student can benefit as much from an online course as they can from a traditional course. Putting everything else aside, they would be missing out on a huge social experience and learning opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI definitely do not buy into the idea of an online education. Again, while it can serve as a nice supplement at a traditional institution, there is no way that colleges that are entirely online have the best interest of the students in mind. The big hint here is that online universities are almost always for-profit. They are a business that cares about making money and turning over students, not properly educating the students. Is a degree from the University of Phoenix even a real degree? If I was scanning resumes in an attempt to find a new employee I would not even consider those with an "education" from an entirely online college. University of Phoenix "graduates" need not apply.
Jason questions if an online degree is “even real”. Having worked intimately on the development of two entirely online programs, including the process to apply for regional accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, I would respond with a resounding “yes”. In the spirit of full disclosure, this was indeed at a proprietary institution, but does making money necessarily equate to “not properly educating the students”? Not in my book.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that I was initially an online education skeptic… actually, make that an adversary. I too was concerned with potential dubious practices designed to churn students through a program. Does this exist? I am sure that it does. But is it always the case for online programs? Not in my experience.
Given much of the criticism of online programs, institutions offering such programs must work tirelessly to prove their merit. In the accreditation process, institutions must demonstrate to a team of critical reviewers how their programs are meeting stated learning objectives. These objectives must fit within specific criteria for accreditation. Assessment of student learning is not only required, it is scrutinized. Faculty in the online environment also have a higher level of accountability. Consider the on-ground professor. He or she may occasionally have a Dean or Chair observe a class or two- but this is rare. In the online environment, it is common for peers to participate in colleague’s courses for the purpose of providing feedback. The teaching itself is also captured electronically and is used for review and professional development. I could go on…but for now I will simply caution against making swooping generalizations about the merits of online education. Although there are certainly unscrupulous online programs out there, there are diverse online options and quality varies greatly from program to program.