Online Education A Review of the Literature
Online education has become a widely accepted alternative to learning in the classroom. Distance education has helped students across the country educate themselves in a world were technology rules and fast paced lifestyles are a part of life. The main advantages of distance learning are: Convenience eliminates travel to a traditional classroom and the freedom to learn at any time are some of the main reasons why so many people opt to learn online. However along with the many perks of an online education there are some disadvantages that follow. Some educators believe that although online education is changing the way that people learn and how many people
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Therefore it is important for the teacher to make sure that instructions for any assignment are clear and concise and that as much information can be given without giving all the answers. With a growing number of students entering online courses instruction quality becomes an important issue. An excerpt from the article reads:
The U.S. Department of Education, revealed that more than 54,000 online courses were being offered in 1998, with over 1.6 million student's enrolled (Lewis, et al., 1999). Moreover, Allen and Seaman (2003) in their study on online education reported that: (a) over 1.6 million students took at least one online course during the Fall of 2002, (b) over one-third of these students (578,000) took all of their courses online, (c) among all U.S. higher education students in Fall 2002, 11 percent took at least one online course, and (d) among those students at institutions where online courses were offered, 13 percent took at least one online course (p. 1) (www.westga.edu pg.3).
Instruction quality is very important considering that more students prefer or are trying online courses. According to the article some teachers are concerned with how their role is changed online and how to accommodate different technologies that they and the students have available. Instructors know have to double their work load because not only will there be questions regarding coursework but also
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
The authors analyzed statistics of online learning to determine what they mean. They looked at the growth of online options in institutions. They also compared online learning with traditional learning to determine if it was as effective.
In the essay, “The Trouble With Online Education”, Mark Edmundson argues the online education are not an education of the very best sort for students. Edmundson state the true learning is a dialogue. Teachers need to check the students in order for students to be aware of any difficulties the student is having, and understanding the student's problem, confusion, or fear. Edmundson writes that every memorable class is a joy. Teachers should be conducting a classroom and shaping the minds of the students.
As we continue in the future, online classes are becoming more and more popular. Students are able to work and continue education with more flexibility. The most common problem with the online class is communication, as well as learning is not always successful. In a recent article by Maria Konnikova, Ziming Liu, a professor at San Jose State University suggests, “On screen, people tended to browse and scan, to look for keywords, and to read in a less linear, more selective fashion. On the page, they tended to concentrate more on following the text.”(Konnikova. Par. 3). Perhaps instead of just an online class, an instructor combines the two. Some parts of the class, such as video lectures should be presented online, and other things like homework or work be done in class.
Currently, students around the country, even the world, have the choice to either attend a class face-to-face with a teacher inside a classroom or computer-generated classes in online colleges or Universities. Even though they are similar, the differences between the two are somewhat remarkable. Obviously both types of learning require instructions and some form of assessment and they differ in terms of the learning process and communication.
For the years, many individuals have decided to pursue their education via distance learning. Distance learning has given individuals the opportunity to learn and study course material at their own pace. Distance learning offers many advantages. First, many enjoy the convenience of distance learning that works around their schedule. Second, distance learning offers flexibility to learners with no set time to complete assignments and readings. A leaner is the master of their own schedule and can choose a time that works best for them (Study magazine). Lastly, the cost of distance learning is often cheaper than traditional education, with no added expenses.
With the increasing rate of online education, many people do not see the problem of this type of learning, since some schools already have these programs available. If a student enrolls in relatively demanding online classes, the results remain nearly the same as those of a student attending a traditional school. Basing an argument on only a few weeks of experience does not make a person qualified to have trustworthy opinion on a specific topic. Social problems, time management issues and the lack of curiosity all diminish if the student attends the correct online schooling program. Online schooling deserves more respect from others who do not recognize the similarities it has with a traditional
“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
In today’s society, so many people are continuing their education beyond high school. We realize that in order to make a decent living, a degree is most likely a requirement. In some cases even a bachelor’s degree is not enough to qualify for many positions. Nevertheless, thanks to technology, we now have the option to learn online or in a traditional classroom setting. There are very few differences between the two, and students need to understand that as much time and energy will need to be devoted to the online courses as on a campus. “A 2010 meta-analysis and review of online-learning studies concluded that online learning was as good as or slightly more effective than traditional face-to-face instruction” (Mendenhall, 2011).
Online college courses are almost becoming traditional for students. Some may perceive that a student does not receive an equal education when taking an online class. People tend to think that if a teacher is not directly giving the information about the subject, the course learning experience is different or unjust. This assumption is wrong according to the perception of many online course takers. Online college courses offer students the advantage to learn on their own time. The skills that a student learns in self-discipline, scheduling to complete graded assignments, and advantages learned with technology gives online classes equal education experience compared to classes on campus.
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
There is a lot of poor communication in online classes. There will be students who will never email the instructors for more details about an assignments, or, there will be older students who don’t know how to email the instructors for more details. If the student doesn’t understand an assignment, and never emails to ask for more details, can result in a poor grade for the lack of knowledge in knowing what they’re doing. There’s one final drawback to not having social interactions with instructors; Students can potentially miss out on building relationships that can result in helpful guidance and recommendation letters down the road when needed.
Education has undergone significant changes because of the development of information and communication technology over the 21st century (Lin & Jou, 2012:2). As a convenient and inexpensive way to gain knowledge while pursuing higher education, online learning, a form of training or teaching that takes place over the Internet, has been considered as an alternative to traditional classroom learning (Zhang et al, 2004). This essay will argue that even though online learning has benefit such as flexibility which could outweigh traditional learning, traditional classroom learning might still not be entirely replaced. This essay will discuss positive and negative aspects of online and traditional learning in terms of four criteria:
Nowadays, education is becoming one of the fundamental things in a human lifetime; most people are trying to achieve a higher education. As technology develops considerably, it has bearings on every area of our life, even in the way of education. The development of technology has a large impact on education. Before this progression of technology, the education system was only traditional. Currently, the education system has been changed. The development of technology has allowed the education system online along with traditionally. Traditional and online instructions are both great ways to learn. While both types of instructions have the same purpose of educating students having good skills about everything, but there are some significant differences between them such as flexibility, learning the course content, communication, and the cost.
In many schools, online classes are becoming more available to students. Recent studies show that the use of online classes has been rapidly increasing over the past three years. Currently, there are a total of 6,700,000 students enrolled in all different variations of courses