I have gotten more out of my online learning experience than I did out of my four years as an undergraduate in a regular face-to-face setting. Part of this is due to increased maturity and a more goal-oriented mentality, and part is due to the fact that I have been able to make my online education experience work with the other facets of my life including work and family. The Bits Blog we read talks about online learning being tailored to individual learners and I think the fact that online learning can be fit in around other obligations is an example of this. Since there is no information studies program at a school within driving distance, or even in my state for that matter, getting my masters degree would have meant relocating to another state. As much as I want the degree, relocating would have been out of the question at this point in my life, so I am very glad to live in an age in which I am able to further my education through distance learning.
I think that students who do well in online learning environments probably have a few characteristics in common: That they have a high level of motivation to learn, they are good at being self-starters and self-regulators and they do well without close supervision and monitoring. I think maturity brings about many of these characteristics. I think many young people who would not have the self-regulation skills to schedule their time properly for online learning would do so very well at a later time in life when they are more mature and have more motivation to learn for a specific reason. And, although this maturity comes to many of us, like me, with age, I also think there are plenty of people who have this type of maturity and self-regulation at a young age.
Chapter 9 of our text talks about intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation and mastery vs. performance goals. I think that online learners are those whose motivation is primarily intrinsic, and whose goals are primarily mastery goals. Most of us want to learn for the sake of learning and earn the degree in order to meet the qualifications required to master our subject. I think there is some blurring of these motivations and goals, and that each individual online learner may have more or less of either type. For example, earning a degree or acquiring a certain job might be considered extrinsic motivations or performance goals in a sense, but I believe that most online learners are seeking the tangible degree in order to obtain a job in a field in which they can apply learning which they are intrinsically passionate about.
The Bits Blog article states that all the good news regarding studies of the successes of online learning does not mean that we will be saying goodbye to the classroom, and I agree completely with this. I think there will always be a need for both types of learning. We've always had the standard face-to-face learning which works well for so many people, and now we have the online learning, which gives another segment of the population a realistic way to further their education.
Luckily for those of us obtaining online degrees, employers are receptive to prospective employees who have obtained degrees online from accredited, reputable programs. According to an article on CNN.com by Rachel Zupek, to many employers, a degree is a degree. And while other employers have more specific standards about where the degree comes from, for most the fact that a degree was earned online or face-to-face is less important than the institution's reputations as a whole and factors such as accreditation and the quality of graduates. So, it seems to me that the news is all good - not only does online learning work well for many of us, but employers will be happy to have us!
References
Lohr, S. (2009, Aug. 19). Study finds that online education beats the classroom. Retrieved from
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/study-finds -that-online-education-beats-the-
classroom/?ref=education
Moreno, R. (2010). Educational psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Zupek, R. (2010). Employers on online education. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/
LIVING/worklife/03/29/cb.employers.online.education/index.html?iref=allsearch
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Online Learning - Infinite Benefits of an Infinite Classroom
Online learning is an idea that has been tossed around since the internet first started making its way into our homes, but only recently has it really risen in popularity. This is no surprise, as more and more people are beginning to realize and desire the many benefits associated with online education both in k-12 learning as well as post-secondary education.
As a former home schooled student, I have to say that flexibility can make a massive difference in what a student gets out of his or her education, as well as in what they put into it. By this, I mean not only flexibility in scheduling of lessons, but also in the delivery of those lessons. Many online K-12 schools allow for variability in the pace of their curriculum. This allows fast learners to progress at a speed that will keep them interested and challenged, while slower learners are able to work towards full mastery before being rushed along to more difficult content for which they lack prerequisite knowledge. Furthermore, the many types of content that can be delivered to students via a web-based classroom not only allows for more differentiation than would be practical in a classroom, but also helps make lessons more accessible to students who may have sensory disabilities. The flexible scheduling offered through online learning can also be tremendously beneficial. Students are able to plan their study time around such things as family responsibility, early career planning (in the case of athletes or performers), parents' work schedules to ensure maximum family support, and even uncontrollable factors such as illness. No longer does life hinder learning, but rather, learning enhances life. A great example of the utilization of flexibility in online education is the K12 online curriculum found at www.k12.com.
IN addition to flexibility, online learning environments offer a level of class involvement that could never be found in a classroom. With the availability of chat rooms, VOIP, streaming video, message boards, and interactive graphical user interfaces of all sorts, there should never be a student who doesn't benefit from a class activity because resources ran out, they didn't get called on, or they were too shy to join in. In an online classroom, everyone should be able to try a hand at answering the same questions. Everyone should be able to leave messages in a discussion forum or join in a chat with a study group, the teacher, or the entire class. A shyer student may prefer text discussions, while a more socially confident student may prefer a video conference, but everyone still gets to be a full part of the learning community. All of these tools give instructors a unique opportunity to interact and share information with their students as well, from offering online office hours and one-to-one VOIP sessions when a student needs help to instant feedback on exams and rich content that can engage all of a student's senses with video, audio, text, and interactive activities. No face-to-face classroom can provide all of this to a student.
It is true that online learning might not work for every individual. Some families can't afford internet, or a personal computer for each school-attending child. Some students may not have a stable enough home life (financial difficulties, less-than-supportive parents, etc), and others still may lack the motivation to sit down at their computer now and then, and really need to have learning time forced on them in a setting strictly designed for learning. Still, the statistics do indicate positive outcomes for students who have chosen online learning. A 50th to 59th percentile jump may not be huge, but it is significant nonetheless, and there must be something about online learning, something missing in the classroom, that causes this.
In favor of Distance Education
I am a living example of why distance learning education is valuable and even indispensable nowadays: I begun my MSLIS when I was three months pregnant and I'll finish it watching an 'almost three-year-old' running around in a town where none of the universities has a College of Information department or anything alike that could offer me the required courses to become a school media specialist.
Moreno (2010) brings out several points regarding what motivates us to learn and, so far, I have found them all throughout my online educational experience (Spring 2008-present, that is): I have made a strong personal connection with professors who understood me and accommodated my needs through difficult personal times, my professors have found ways to create a classroom community through different activities and collaborative projects, the College of Information's staff has been very caring and helpful through different registration epochs, etc. Also, this educational experience has helped me to move from 'extrinsically-motivated' to 'intrinsically-motivated' as I have discovered that a this career, which initially promised to enhance my chances to provide a better financial future for my family, is also full of exciting areas I'm interested in. In fact, I am now motivated to keep studying on my own to join again someday this same department to pursue an even higher degree.
Vasquez's (2010) article found in The Miami Herald reflects the reality of people like me who can't afford to leave their locations in search for better education opportunities and benefit greatly from distance education. In fact, if we put things in perspective, the chance we are given to complete our education this way also affects positively the quality of life of people around us as they can count on new professionals who, otherwise, wound't have existed as Vasquez (2010) shows in the example of Iraqi doctors being trained to save lives in Iraq by highly accredited American teachers through distance education.
Moving on, Lohr (2009) brings out the valuable point that online students perform slightly better than their colleagues from classrooms settings. Personally, I have found that online education requires more individual preparation and more independent reading than my previous classroom experiences and that might explain that fact for me. I, with no doubt, feel prepared to face the practice of my new profession after all the materials, explanations and discussions.
All in all, I'm likely to favor distance learning over classroom learning in the future. I don't really miss sitting in a freezing classroom copying what's in the board swiftly because it'll be erased: now I can listen to the recorded class or read my teachers' advices as many times as I need. Distance learning has surely gone the 'extra mile' for me :-).
References
Lohr, S. (2009, August 19). Study finds that online education beats the classroom. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/study-finds-that-online-education-beats-the-classroom/
Moreno, R. (2010). Educational Psychology. Danvers, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Vasquez, M. (2010, June 7). Colleges serious about internet intellectuals. The Miami Herald. Retrieved from http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/07/1664292/college-serious-about-internet.html
In favor of online classroom
Just like everything Online and Traditional classroom environments have different pros and cons that vary from student to student.
I believe online environments offer students to ability to share with their peers with out being judged, which creates a sense of belonging. From my own personal experience I can tell you that it is hard to discuss certain things in person especially if your opinion is not fully developed or differs from others.
As more and more online classes are offered the more teachers and students are using them to their fullest. I can remember my first online class in 2000, it was an absolute joke. The instructor didn't have much structure of a class hardwired into it. I believe the only way the class will be effective is if the instructor has meaningful and worthwhile assignments. Therefore, having pros and cons with each different online class will vary drastically.
I do agree strongly with the article about not letting online classrooms replace traditional classrooms, because I think that traditional classroom are also extremely important to different learners. However,online classes definitely benefit those that can be self motivators and need the flexibility within the courses.
I am not very familiar with online classes in the elementary or secondary schools and how they are use or how effective they might be. I am writing and thinking only on a college level.
Funny enough I was suppose to take this class in a traditional style environment and was given the option to do as an online class. I jumped to the idea of online because it was conducive to my home schedule (definite PRO).
I believe online environments offer students to ability to share with their peers with out being judged, which creates a sense of belonging. From my own personal experience I can tell you that it is hard to discuss certain things in person especially if your opinion is not fully developed or differs from others.
As more and more online classes are offered the more teachers and students are using them to their fullest. I can remember my first online class in 2000, it was an absolute joke. The instructor didn't have much structure of a class hardwired into it. I believe the only way the class will be effective is if the instructor has meaningful and worthwhile assignments. Therefore, having pros and cons with each different online class will vary drastically.
I do agree strongly with the article about not letting online classrooms replace traditional classrooms, because I think that traditional classroom are also extremely important to different learners. However,online classes definitely benefit those that can be self motivators and need the flexibility within the courses.
I am not very familiar with online classes in the elementary or secondary schools and how they are use or how effective they might be. I am writing and thinking only on a college level.
Funny enough I was suppose to take this class in a traditional style environment and was given the option to do as an online class. I jumped to the idea of online because it was conducive to my home schedule (definite PRO).
Advantages of Face-to-Face Learning Environments
Online learning environments have come a long way in the past decade or so. Major advances have been made not only to the technology available to make content and learning resources available online, but also in the quality of instruction available online as professors catch on to the concept and it becomes more mainstream. Despite this, there are many advantages to face-to-face learning environments that cannot be replicated in online instruction. Among these are the personal contacts and relationships with other classmates, the ease to contact your instructor in person about questions and concerns about the course, and the networking that face-to-face instruction affords.
Face-to-face learning environments make it almost impossible for classmates to not become familiar with at least a couple of their classmates. In a New York Times article from August of 2009, Philip R. Regier states “learning has to occurs in a community”. Online environments do involve group work and interaction with course mates, but it will not ever be as personal as working with other students in groups in the same room. Furthermore, students are less likely to use each other as a study resource and make study groups or reach out with questions. Sometiems students are more comfortable seeking help from a fellow student than from their professor (Mooney, 1). Even in online courses when professors encourage students to interact with discussion boards or group work students are less likely to form personal connections, as they would be in a traditional classroom setting.
In addition to contacting students, contacting professors can be more of a challenge in online learning environments. Face-to-face courses allow for a student to stay after a class to ask a question and also involve office hours when students can reach their professors to ask questions or bring up concerns. In an online classroom, students are typically restricted to emailing the professor or asking a question during an asynchronous class and they are not afforded the privacy or personal setting that traditional face-to-face students get. Furthermore, a student’s self-efficacy has a strong influence on the motivation to learn (Moreno, 344). Professors that are in class with students are more likely to spot when a student is out of their comfort zone and help them through a topic that they might not otherwise be able to understand whereas in distance learning, the professor will likely have no idea the student is struggling unless the student takes it upon themselves (which as we know they may or may not do) to speak up about it.
Finally, and in my opinion most importantly, students in face-to-face classrooms have the huge advantage of being able to network with their professor and others they have access to in their school or college. So much of success is based off of networking these days that this is truly an invaluable resource. Professors who meet with their students in face-to-face settings are more likely to remember that student and see that student in more settings allowing them to be able to form a personal connection and confidently use their connections as professionals already in the field to help the student find a job or other opportunity. I have personally taken both online and offline courses and with the same level of attention to the course and effort put in, I have come out with many contacts from my face-to-face courses who have given me opportunities and none who I believe would go out of their way to find an opportunity for me in my online courses. This is simply due to the nature of online courses being less personal.
For all these reasons I feel that online classes have their place, but there are many advantages of face-to-face learning environments that cannot be replicated online. While test scores and academics play a role and are important, they are not everything that you take from your education, and most online programs fall short of offering the personal connections and contacts that can be an entry into the industry you want.
Works Cited:
Lohr, S. Study Finds That Online Education Beats the Classroom. August 19, 2009.
Accessed September 26, 2010, from Times News: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/study-finds-that-online-education-beats-the-classroom
Mooney, Shane. Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Education Classes. 2010.
Accessed September 26, 2010 from Helium. http://www.helium.com/items/1939854-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-distance-learning-and-online-education-classes
Moreno, R. (2010). Educational Psychology. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Face-to-face learning environments make it almost impossible for classmates to not become familiar with at least a couple of their classmates. In a New York Times article from August of 2009, Philip R. Regier states “learning has to occurs in a community”. Online environments do involve group work and interaction with course mates, but it will not ever be as personal as working with other students in groups in the same room. Furthermore, students are less likely to use each other as a study resource and make study groups or reach out with questions. Sometiems students are more comfortable seeking help from a fellow student than from their professor (Mooney, 1). Even in online courses when professors encourage students to interact with discussion boards or group work students are less likely to form personal connections, as they would be in a traditional classroom setting.
In addition to contacting students, contacting professors can be more of a challenge in online learning environments. Face-to-face courses allow for a student to stay after a class to ask a question and also involve office hours when students can reach their professors to ask questions or bring up concerns. In an online classroom, students are typically restricted to emailing the professor or asking a question during an asynchronous class and they are not afforded the privacy or personal setting that traditional face-to-face students get. Furthermore, a student’s self-efficacy has a strong influence on the motivation to learn (Moreno, 344). Professors that are in class with students are more likely to spot when a student is out of their comfort zone and help them through a topic that they might not otherwise be able to understand whereas in distance learning, the professor will likely have no idea the student is struggling unless the student takes it upon themselves (which as we know they may or may not do) to speak up about it.
Finally, and in my opinion most importantly, students in face-to-face classrooms have the huge advantage of being able to network with their professor and others they have access to in their school or college. So much of success is based off of networking these days that this is truly an invaluable resource. Professors who meet with their students in face-to-face settings are more likely to remember that student and see that student in more settings allowing them to be able to form a personal connection and confidently use their connections as professionals already in the field to help the student find a job or other opportunity. I have personally taken both online and offline courses and with the same level of attention to the course and effort put in, I have come out with many contacts from my face-to-face courses who have given me opportunities and none who I believe would go out of their way to find an opportunity for me in my online courses. This is simply due to the nature of online courses being less personal.
For all these reasons I feel that online classes have their place, but there are many advantages of face-to-face learning environments that cannot be replicated online. While test scores and academics play a role and are important, they are not everything that you take from your education, and most online programs fall short of offering the personal connections and contacts that can be an entry into the industry you want.
Works Cited:
Lohr, S. Study Finds That Online Education Beats the Classroom. August 19, 2009.
Accessed September 26, 2010, from Times News: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/study-finds-that-online-education-beats-the-classroom
Mooney, Shane. Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Education Classes. 2010.
Accessed September 26, 2010 from Helium. http://www.helium.com/items/1939854-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-distance-learning-and-online-education-classes
Moreno, R. (2010). Educational Psychology. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Advantages of Face-to-Face Learning
So far everyone has written about their post based on either the pros or cons of online learning, but nobody has taken a stance for or against face-to-face learning. It is clear there are advantages of online learning (I wouldn't be taking this course if there weren't), but there are also key advantages of face-to-face learning which can not be simulated in an online course. The article neglects to mention how efficacy of online and face-to-face learning compares when the student is expected to apply the information taught in a "real world" setting or the level of familiarity a face-to-face instructor achieves with their students and how this effects the students learning experience.
I agree that in most cases pure textual information can be learned just as effectively online as face-to-face. However, in my experience, this information is rather useless until put into practical application. For example, my first M.A. is in speech-language pathology. I spent two years taking courses to learn the definitions and theories, but when I really LEARNED how to be a therapist in clinics and practicums. The practical application of theories is far more effectively taught in "real world" settings where the student can observe and interact with the instructor in verbally and physically in real time. This also allows the instructor to critique the functional performance of the student at a more practical level than an essay or online chat can.
Nuances in communication, such as body language and facial expression, also carry a good deal of information. In fact, some research suggest that 70% of information received during face to face communication is actually due to tone of voice, gestures, body language, facial expression, and contextual clues (Hoff 2001). It is very difficult, if not impossible, to replicate these elements of communication in online learning environments. This means the communication of nuanced information must be supplemented with other methods and takes more time.
Chapter 2 from out text give a lot of information about motivating students and the importance of building a trusting relationship in the classroom. It seems to me that it is also vastly easier to do this when the student and instructor are able to build a personal relationship, which is very hard to do in an online course format. We connect emotionally with people with our eyes, body language, and tone of voice. Yes, you can go through a series of introductions and become familiar with each other's "written voice", but this does not result in the same bond that face-to-face instructor can achieve with a student they see on a daily basis.
I am not writing all of this to say that I think online courses are less effective than face-to-face courses, but that there are some aspects of face-to-face instruction that can not be duplicated online. However, there are also other benefits of online courses that are not replicable in face-to-face courses. Perhaps in the end it depends on the individual student, their learning style, motivation, and desired outcome from the course.
I agree that in most cases pure textual information can be learned just as effectively online as face-to-face. However, in my experience, this information is rather useless until put into practical application. For example, my first M.A. is in speech-language pathology. I spent two years taking courses to learn the definitions and theories, but when I really LEARNED how to be a therapist in clinics and practicums. The practical application of theories is far more effectively taught in "real world" settings where the student can observe and interact with the instructor in verbally and physically in real time. This also allows the instructor to critique the functional performance of the student at a more practical level than an essay or online chat can.
Nuances in communication, such as body language and facial expression, also carry a good deal of information. In fact, some research suggest that 70% of information received during face to face communication is actually due to tone of voice, gestures, body language, facial expression, and contextual clues (Hoff 2001). It is very difficult, if not impossible, to replicate these elements of communication in online learning environments. This means the communication of nuanced information must be supplemented with other methods and takes more time.
Chapter 2 from out text give a lot of information about motivating students and the importance of building a trusting relationship in the classroom. It seems to me that it is also vastly easier to do this when the student and instructor are able to build a personal relationship, which is very hard to do in an online course format. We connect emotionally with people with our eyes, body language, and tone of voice. Yes, you can go through a series of introductions and become familiar with each other's "written voice", but this does not result in the same bond that face-to-face instructor can achieve with a student they see on a daily basis.
I am not writing all of this to say that I think online courses are less effective than face-to-face courses, but that there are some aspects of face-to-face instruction that can not be duplicated online. However, there are also other benefits of online courses that are not replicable in face-to-face courses. Perhaps in the end it depends on the individual student, their learning style, motivation, and desired outcome from the course.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Online Courses - Full of Benefits
Although there are some disadvantages to an online learning environment, for most students it can be a tremendously successful experience. First, an online environment offers students the opportunity to work at their own pace (Lohr, 2009). Traditional classrooms force students to keep pace with the teacher. An advanced student may find this boring while a slower student struggles to keep up. But with an online course, students of all different abilities and levels can benefit (Metz, 2010). Each student has the opportunity to work at a pace that is comfortable for him/her. Students also develop responsibility and take ownership of their own learning. This can motivate many students to perform better.
Online courses also promote self-efficacy. Some tips for promoting self-efficacy include helping students become aware of their control over learning, having them practice independently to master learning, and helping students set short-term specific goals (Moreno, 2010, p. 345). Online learning environments foster all of these things. Children have to take control of their own learning by being self motivated. Practicing and learning independently helps to reinforce the learning process. Finally, online courses (by nature) set short-term specific goals. In my experience, teachers have a curriculum written out with goals set every week. Assignments are usually very clear with detailed expectations. This always helps me to focus on the task at hand and have a better understanding of the teacher’s expectations. It also helps to be able to look ahead and gain a bigger picture of what the main goals are of the class. I have found that overall online classes have clearer goals and cause me less stress than traditional face-to-face classes. Added bonuses include less down time due to travel as well as less wasted time caused by unprepared students.
Online classes have improved greatly in the last few years. More students are finding out the benefits of learning at their own pace and taking control of their own education. In the future I am sure we will see an increase in online classes and greater focus on individual learning instead of the traditional one size fits all mentality.
Resources
Lohr, S. (2009, Aug. 19). Study finds that online education beats the classroom. Retrieved September 25, 2010 from the New York Times: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/study-finds-that-online-education-beats-the-classroom
Metz, Kimberly. "Benefits of online courses in career and technical education." Techniques 85.6 (2010): Academic OneFile. Web.
Moreno, R. (2010). Educational Psychology. Chapter 9, Theories of Motivation and Affect. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Online courses also promote self-efficacy. Some tips for promoting self-efficacy include helping students become aware of their control over learning, having them practice independently to master learning, and helping students set short-term specific goals (Moreno, 2010, p. 345). Online learning environments foster all of these things. Children have to take control of their own learning by being self motivated. Practicing and learning independently helps to reinforce the learning process. Finally, online courses (by nature) set short-term specific goals. In my experience, teachers have a curriculum written out with goals set every week. Assignments are usually very clear with detailed expectations. This always helps me to focus on the task at hand and have a better understanding of the teacher’s expectations. It also helps to be able to look ahead and gain a bigger picture of what the main goals are of the class. I have found that overall online classes have clearer goals and cause me less stress than traditional face-to-face classes. Added bonuses include less down time due to travel as well as less wasted time caused by unprepared students.
Online classes have improved greatly in the last few years. More students are finding out the benefits of learning at their own pace and taking control of their own education. In the future I am sure we will see an increase in online classes and greater focus on individual learning instead of the traditional one size fits all mentality.
Resources
Lohr, S. (2009, Aug. 19). Study finds that online education beats the classroom. Retrieved September 25, 2010 from the New York Times: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/study-finds-that-online-education-beats-the-classroom
Metz, Kimberly. "Benefits of online courses in career and technical education." Techniques 85.6 (2010): Academic OneFile. Web.
Moreno, R. (2010). Educational Psychology. Chapter 9, Theories of Motivation and Affect. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
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