Online Course Design Advantages And Disadvantages

Online degrees are becoming common and enrollment is booming, but success rate is significantly low compared to the traditional classroom environment. Research shows that drop-out rates for online courses range from 20-50%, often 10-20% greater than equivalent online courses (Bernard, R.M., Brauer, A., Abrami, P.C., & Surkes, M., 2004).

As technology became more accessible, the diversification in student populations developed hand-in-hand with more diverse course delivery methods (O’Malley and McCraw). Today, online courses are offered at most colleges to fit the needs of their diverse study bodies, and students who otherwise, would not be able to take these courses. A study published in US News reported, more than six million students took at least one online course during the fall 2010 semester, which is an increase of over ten percent from the fall 2009 semester (Lytle).

Online courses have become more common among colleges and universities. About thirty percent of all college and university students are enrolled in at least one online course (Bergstrand, Savage, 2013). Online classes provide flexibly for students, allowing them to work more hours or care for their families. Studies have found that there is no drastic difference in student achievement whether they are enrolled in traditional classes or online classes (Bergstrand,2013). This article will analyze the experience of taking an online class as a student and will provide information from a sociological perspective.

Online courses have started within the past 30 years as a means of learning. With increases in Internet use, many U.S. schools offer online classes. Because of the main disparities amid online course and face to face instruction, numerous questions have been brought forth in regard to the quality of online courses. This research will help American college students to understand the difference between online classes and face-to-face courses, and give them an idea that how effective that online classes are. Therefore, the leading research question of this study is what advantages and disadvantages of

With all the publicity over online courses, great professors alike have been determined to find out whether online courses are just as effective as face-to-face classes. There have been some controversies over the situation; therefore, several studies have been made. One study by Adam Driscoll, Karl Jicha, Andrea Hunt, Lisa Tichavsky, and Greatchen Thompson shows that given the appropriate pedagogy or instruction, online courses is just as an effective teaching format as face-to-face classes (Driscoll, Jicha, Hunt, Tichavsky, & Thompson, 2012). The study showed that when comparing online courses against face-to-face courses, the midterm scores for both teaching platforms are the same. Given that the GPA of the students is taken into consideration, the test grades do not improve or become worse when the class is taken online. The same study showed that when comparing online courses to face-to-face courses, the student satisfaction does not increase or decrease when

Though there is growth nationally in higher education and online programs, one of the biggest challenges an academic institution faces is that student retention in online programs is lower than in traditional, campus-based programs (Nichols, 2010). Online education has grown to be very popular because it reaches rural and international areas and students can often flex their family and professional time with academic time. Online education is convenient for both the student and faculty, but the faculty must be prepared to face the challenges of online learning such as learning styles, motivation/coaching, and constraints of online learners (Stavredes, 2012). Another responsibility of online faculty is helping with student retention. Many academic

Alisa Stern’s article discusses the boom of online learning in higher education institutions and the major challenges an instructor faces with these online courses. According to Stern, the most challenging thing about an online course is replicating the same learning environment a student would get attending a regular face to face class. She discusses how technology has pushed online learning to become more collaborative and less isolated. Furthermore, Stern has experienced teaching an online courses and discusses the different tools that helped her recreate a conventional learning environment in an online course. Stern mentions that communication played an important role in the way she taught her courses and students felt as if she was interested

“Technology has revolutionized the way we communicate, the way we live, and the way we learn.” (Maddix; 2010). During these recent years web- based learning has gained so much popularity that, online courses enrolments continue to climb, but retention and completion rates in such courses and programs are lower than traditional classroom schooling. Because of these problems educators have looked into the problems to see what can be done to reverse the trend. As more formal education courses become available online, quality and non-completion remain a problem. This brings me to ask the question, that how much relationship should I build into

Writer Bill Maxwell, in his essay “No Short Cuts in Long-distance Learning,” explains the pros and cons of online learning. Maxwell stands heavily on traditional classroom settings rather than the new technological way of earning a degree. As the demand for education in the work field, America has been pushing online classes, even though the dropout rate is extremely higher. In this article, Maxwell uses quite a few statistics in order to inform the reader why he is not a big fan of online classes. One of his argumentative statements was that research shows that many students taking online classes do not graduate, or further their education to a university as often as community college students. This essay was an easy read, but if he had used

In particular, it is failing to “promote and provide distance and time free learning.” Although FGCU offers a wealth of online courses for students to take from the comfort of their own home, or anywhere they choose really, the quality of such courses are not up to par with the education gained in the classroom. According to Douglas Rushkoff, “Online learning needs to cater to human users. A real instructor should not simply dump data on a person, as in a scripted video, but engage with students, consider their responses and offer individualized challenges” (3). Unfortunately, the state of online courses at FGCU falls under this criteria of simply dumping information on students, and online courses offer very little in the way of individualized challenges. While the quality of education in an FGCU classroom is unprecedented, the quality of education in an FGCU online classroom leaves much to be desired. Instead of a virtual classroom environment, an online FCGU course simply puts students through rigid, non-streamlined hoops that do little to insight creativity or academic advancement. And for this reason, FGCU is falling short of its information technology guiding

Online courses are defined as those in which at least 80 percent of the course content is offered online. On the other hand, traditional colleges and universities offer courses in which zero to 29 percent of the content is provided online. The number of schools that provide online courses has significantly increased for the last decade. Online enrollments have continued to grow at rates far in excess of the total higher education student population. According to Elaine Allen, professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at UCSF, the number of online enrollments in 2013 reached 6.7 million. The proportion of higher education students taking at least one online course has also continued its stable growth over last ten years. “Online learning is increasing in American universities; almost one-third of all post-secondary students have taken at least one online course” (Allen & Seaman, 2011). All instruction is mediated by means of technology in these fully online incorporated courses. Instructors deliver course information, communicate and share feedback through the Learning Management System software, and students discuss content, communicate and share their work through it. However, little is known about the effects of online learning on how faculty teaches and how students learn.

Non-traditional students are finding it easier and easier to maintain a job, a family, and pursuing a college career at the same time. This is possible because more and more non-traditional students are receiving an education using distance learning, as opposed to traditional, in-the-classroom teaching. Distance learning is basically taking college level, credit-bearing courses via the Internet. One of the most obvious advantages of distance learning is that it puts the classroom in your home, office, or wherever you can find a computer and log on to the Internet. However, there is much controversy regarding the quality of the courses being offered on the Internet versus the quality of

Technology is changing every aspect in our lives, even the way we learn. Online classes are a rapidly growing trend it today’s society. Online classes are a cost-effective substitute for traditional courses and more convenient for many, so more schools and universities are offering this option. Due to the increase in online course enrollment, people are questioning if students truly learn something from online classes because it’s not a traditional learning environment. Online classes are just, if not more, effective as traditional classes because grades have increased and online discussions provide students with the chance to interact through networking while earning a degree for less than what it would cost to enroll at the same university.

When students are enrolling in a class, they have different choices as to how they want to complete the class. It could vary from an online course, to a traditional course. An online course is a modern way of learning with an internet based curriculum, meaning that the entire course is online, as well as all the assignments and activities it will require. On the other hand, a traditional class is a method based upon face-to-face learning and will come with a great deal of communication. Researchers stated that “...approximately 30% of college students are enrolled in at least one online course.” (“Online classes”). Every student has a prefered way of learning; some prefer traditional, and some prefer modern. Although these two methods for learning both have the same end goal and the desire to educate, they have very distinct differences, separating them into two completely different methods with distinctive techniques and environments.

The higher education experience for distance education learners varies greatly from one that can be had at a traditional brick and mortar university. The experience between the two different types of course delivery formats will never be the same. However, online learners deserve services that are equal in quality as their peers. The traditional four year baccalaureate education is usually comprised of a background in the liberal arts, accented by coursework in a major or specialization of choice. While degree requirements in distance education programs usually mirror those of their brick and mortar counterparts, the actual lived experience of the two are vastly different. On campus students have access to student success programs, clubs and service learning organizations, and research symposiums to help enhance the learning experience. Typically, distance education students are classified as non-traditional learners who are inclined to continue working and maintaining traditional adult roles while attending courses (Renes & Strange, 2010; Carnoy et. al., 2012). Additionally, graduation rates in distance education programs have been lower than full-time brick and mortar programs (Inkelaar and Simpson, 2015). Research suggests that multiple variables impact the distance learner’s experience, including: access and competence with technology, commitment to program completion, and intrinsic motivation (Renes & Strange, 2010; Carnoy et al., 2012; Alfifi and Almari, 2014; Ouyang