Do you prefer taking online or on campus classes? Skeptics have long contested that online learning is a sub-par substitute of conventional brick-and-mortar classes due to a lack of accountability and motivation, personalized feedback, community, visual cues that inform teachers of learners’ understanding, etc.

However, a recent study conducted by SRI International for the Department of Education reports that “On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.” In fact, Barbara Means, the study’s lead author and an educational psychologist at SRI International states, “The study’s major significance lies in demonstrating that online learning today is not just better than nothing — it actually tends to be better than conventional instruction.”

How can this be?

With the advancement of educational technology, many online classrooms now provide learners with unique and engaging learning opportunities that are typically not incorporated in face-to-face instruction, such as:

• Personalized, action-oriented learning experiences: Because online learning doesn’t lend itself to “information dumping,” most online curriculum is designed to elicit frequent student participation via discussion boards and “learning by doing” assignments. Because learners are accountable for “speaking up in class” frequently, the instructors can better gauge the learners’ understanding of the material and provide personalized feedback. Furthermore, because instructors cannot monitor students as they take traditional exams, many online courses use action-oriented projects to assess learning instead of multiple-choice and true-false style tests. Often, students apply key concepts and skills to a realistic scenario, helping them bring instruction “out of the classroom” and into the “real world.”
• Collaborative learning communities: Social technology like discussion boards, wikis and blogs enable students to collaborate synchronously but more often asynchronously over the Web. This anytime, anywhere convenience makes team projects more logistically feasible than in on campus courses, where students need to synch their busy schedules to complete their work.

Have you completed online learning courses? If so, how did the experience compare with traditional on campus classes you completed? Which offered you a better learning experience, and why?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 6:36 am and is filed under Low-Cost Training Solutions, WBT, e-Learning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.