Learning online...
Would students learn as much or more in an online course than they would in the same course delivered in a traditional instructor-led classroom setting? Explain your answer.
Dawn,
A newer trend in academics in the flipped classroom just for many of these reasons. The flipped classroom model places most of the "knowledge" elemnets in an online CMS with supporting assignments, which then frees the traditional classtime for more indepth discussions, reflection, and analysis since you are not spending classtime covering the "core" cognitive content.
Herbert Brown III
Hello –
As I learned being an online student, it offers the opportunity to learn more online than in the traditional classroom, due to the want & need to learn, but it takes much discipline. When I took classes online it was still a new concept and we barely had discussion threads. A live synchronous chat was unheard of in an online class at that time.
Today there is so much out there that faculty can use to get and keep the attention of an online student. A disciplined student can learn in any environment but I feel that an online course offers that disciplined student more learning choices. Those choices come from the resources available to the student through the LMS – learning center, library, discussion board, group projects, live chats/lectures, etc.
We as faculty know that we have different learners in the same environment and those students are there for different reasons. Some student have more complex factors going on in their lives that are beyond our control as faculty. It is important that we reach out to all of our students in order to keep them engaged and interacting. This is why I believe it is possible to learn more in an online course.
Thank you for the question.
Dawn Kaiser
Hi Eike, do you have any insight to why they don't have the same motivations? Tina
No, I started teaching online and I think it is not the same my students are not motivated enough to get the same grades as being in a classroom.
I agree that online learning has allowed us (as educators) to reach out to other students that we wouldn't normally be able to go to college. That is what makes online learning so exciting!
Reading some of the other responses has made me aware of how strongly some prefer one delivery option over the other.
I would hope that students would learn the same amount of material and expect to receive the same high quality education regardless of the delivery method. If anything online has provided learners with another choice/delivery option.
I am intrigued by your comment that students learn more in an online class. Can you elaborate more on this comment? Thanks Chris.
Michele
The opportunity to learn more in an online course is there. The advantage within an online environment is; the student can read the discussion board and course material, listen to recorded chat sessions and view any videos as many times as they want. If they still have questions they can contact a fellow student or instructor via email, chat, phone or IM.
It depends on the student. Online learning takes a great deal of personal discipline, good time management skills, and an adequate reading level. There are many students who are bright but they lack the other skills necessary to perform well in an online setting.
I believe an online student who has self-discipline, time management skills and dedication could very well learn just as much in an online course than a traditional classroom. I think there are advantages of both online and traditional classes. With the traditional classroom setting, the student has the ability to get direct feedback and have the face to face interaction from the instructor. With the online classes, the students have the freedom to attend classes at any time that week. They are not restricted to a specific time frame to be in class. The online student can work at a time that is good for them, which could help their learning experience.
Amanda:
Instructords should relate learning to real life situations regardless of whether the learning is delivered online or in a traditional setting.
Question fro You
Enlighten us by sharing with us strategies Instructors can adopt to help students have "transcendence into storing the information as long-term".
Satrohan
I believe that they definitely will learn as much if not more information online as they would in class. The nice thing about online classrooms is that you can access the online material at any time, usually as many times as necessary. However, the instructor needs to make the class an active, participatory type that includes relating material to real life, and helping the students have transcendence into storing the information as long term.
I believe that asynchronous discussions has the highest impact on my conclusion that students will learn "as much or more". There is not much asynchronous discussion in the traditional class setting as the synchronous discussions usually dominates due to the natural interaction between the instructor and the students. I like the asynchronous discussions as they allow the students to think about how they want to respond to a question and not just a “gut” reaction. Also, it helps get the more timid students to participate as they don’t have the stress of speaking out in class.
Daniel:
Agreed. For that reason, we emphasize offering quality online courses tought by Instructors who are willing and capable to deliver instruction in an online environment.
Question for you>
Which of the following course components do you believe will have the highest impact on your conclusion that stiudents will learn "as much or more"? More than one component may apply.
Online Lecture
Synchronous Discussions
Asynchronous Discussions
Group Projects
Satrohan
I think the amount of learning is dependent on the instructor and the course. If the course is developed with clear goals and assignments related to those goals where the instructor can give appropriate feedback, then learning can be facilitated whereby a student will learn as much or more in an online class than in a live class.
The goal is that the students will meet the same competencies online as they would in the regular classroom. All of the things I mentioned will help to meet that goal. Providing the appor[riate learning opportunities, materials, assesments and instruction will help meet the goal.
Melissa:
Lets assume that all of the conditions you specified are met. Will the amount of learning students taking the on-the-ground version be the same as those taking the online version?
Satrohan
Satrohan wrote: Assume that in the online version of the course,the lecture component are videos of the Instructor speaking. The content of the video is equivalent to that of the on-the-ground lecture. Will the amount of learning students taking the on-the-ground version be the same as those taking the online version?
Melissa's response: The assessments and content for the course should be set up to insure the students are receiving the same learning online or onground. A challenge is to make the online version of a class a mirror of the onground version. Another challenge is to make sure the assessments and the interaction with the materials for the course in the online environment help students learn the material.
Melissa:
If I comprehend you response correctly, I interpret it as meaning that given that the competencies are the same for both modalities, the learning outcomes will be the same. So let's devote some more attention to this line of thought. And I will even stretch it a little farther in this example.
Assume that in the online version of the course,the lecture component are videos of the Instructor speaking. The content of the video is equivalent to that of the on-the-ground lecture. Will the amount of learning students taking the on-the-ground version be the same as those taking the online version?
Satrohan
