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Online vs. Traditional Classes
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August 22nd, 2009UncategorizedQuestion(s) of the Day: Is it possible to teach a good online class? If so, how? Is it possible for an online course to be as rewarding/rigorous as a traditional one?
This question has been brought up in several different conversations I’ve had over the last few weeks. While I have never taught (or taken, for that matter) an online course, I have several friends who have both taught and taken them over the last few years. From what I’ve gathered, there are a couple major problems (probably more, but these stood out to me) standing in the way of running an online course the way you would teach the same course face-to-face:
1. The obvious lack of direct conversation between teacher and class, and within the class itself. This problem is generally handled by requiring a certain amount of “discussion” students are required to engage in through a program like blackboard. This can sometimes be rewarding, but often depends on the involvement of the teacher.
2. The wide range of students (and student abilities) that are often mixed together in online courses, especially if they are a part of an online degree program. Oftentimes the better students are held back/not intellectually stimulated because the courses are designed for the lower end of the spectrum.
Just looking for thoughts from people who have taught or taken online courses. I assume at some point in my career I may be asked to run something like this, so I’m trying to get some ideas about it so I can hit the ground running if something like this were to come up!
2 Responses to “Online vs. Traditional Classes”
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Hi Hillary,
I have been teaching online and taking online courses for over 10 years. I am convinced that well designed online classes are as good – and sometimes better – than f2f classes. Here are some of my thoughts about the questions above.
One of the assumptions that is made by these types of questions is that the way f2f classes are taught is optimal. When the classroom model (lecture in particular) is used for online delivery, the course is very static. Just as it is when students sit, listen, and take notes. While shovelware (shoveling f2f content into a course management system) is common, it is poor teaching practice.
In my opinion, in order for online courses to provide an environment for meeting learning standards and ensuring student success, this basic pedagogy must change. Students must be engaged in their learning and this can be done through project- (or process-) based courses. Because the students are completing projects, or going through processes, there is wiggle room for different ability/knowledge levels.
I do have my students involved in discussions – they are required to answer a certain number of times, meet deadlines, and add substantive information to the conversations. However, the discussion questions are practical in nature – they require the students to interact with the content and apply that content. I wrote an article that demonstrates the use of Socratic questions in asynchronous (online) discussions in order to raise the level of critical thinking and student engagement. Here’s the URL: http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/past2.cfm?v=18&i=2. It’s at the bottom of the page, “Does Your Dog Bite? Creating Good Questions for Online Discussions.
I look forward to more conversations on this topic!!
Cheri
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Hillary
Thanks for the feedback, Cheri! These are some of the same things that have been coming up in conversations I’ve had with others involved in online learning. I think you’re right that you can just as easily have a poorly taught face to face class as an online class, and that a lot of the same principles (interaction with classmates, material, etc.) should be applied to both online and f2f courses.
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