Students say people mistakenly assume that online courses are easier.
"If anything, I think it might be harder," said Edward Elie, who takes course online and in-person at KSU.
Online courses have weekly quizzes or assignments, while traditional courses may only require an occasional exam, Elie said. Online courses lack the conversational tone a professor provides a traditional class, requiring students to depend more on the textbook. Also, students must be able to self-assess and determine whether they're learning the material or not.
When you consider "higher-order thinking," what about online classes might cause students to become disengaged? Is learning and communicating online just as complicated? More so? Less so? Or just different?
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30 comments:
I got disengaged by my physical surroundings. A lot of distractions at my house. However, it was easy to get together to refresh and review. Learning and communicating online is awkward but new, and it is easier to stay on topic. Miscellaneous items that come up in a real classroom dont come up as much when people are not together physically. It is useful but requires more experience for me to figure it out completely
CORMAC
It totally depends on how much you are self-motivated. If you are VERY self motivated, then it will be a good experience. But an online course would be very easy to get distracted, and side-tracked. I do think that when you are face to face with a professor, I would learn much better because I would be more engaged. If I were listening to him through my speakers, I would not take most of the things he said very strictly or clearly. Things can easily get lost in translation.
Overall, I believe that online courses could be viable: ONLY as a support to the main "physical" class. If it was strictly just an online course, then I think I would have issues keeping up.
Online classes might cause students to become disengaged because they have to be really focused on what's going on and to get some information they may have to go a step beyond knowledge.
I think online learning is different. The difficulty depends on the teacher. Some teachers have easier set-ups that allow you to do everyone on your schedule and only have assignments once or twice a week. Others make it harder.
I think that it's just different. With the ease of travelling these days, and the advancements of technology teachers and students can remain connected no matter where they are. In my opinion it only requires that students become more engaged in their own learning as far as time management and accountability.
Technology allows for little to no direct accountability. I think that's one of the main reasons kids are disengaged. They don't have a physical teacher to keep them on task.
Communication through technology is different than face to face communication. I think its a matter of preference. Some people can use technology easily and can manipulate it to communicate the way they want. Some would rather talk online, others might want to skype or others just to type in chatrooms. Technology is getting closer and closer to the real world
Online classes might cause students to become disengaged by allowing them to do other activities while the class is in session, not focusing on the actual lesson. Learning and communicating online is complicated in a different way than learning in an actual classroom. Online, students can learn more efficiently and teaching is easier using mainly technology. But the drawback is the concentration that students have without being in a classroom, without being seen. In a traditional classroom, teachers can better engage students to focus but teaching is a drawback with a lower efficiency getting through the lessons. Also, with online classes, its reliability (because its technology) is questioned.
I like the idea of online courses, but it can be a bit hard to use. It could also be hard to keep up with course work due the fact that no teacher is present teaching the material.
I'd have to say that online classes are quite different than the standard in-class dynamic/environment. I think for some students, they must get distracted, often confused, or may also have difficulty with technological glitches. Although having an online course/session is very different and bizarre, I'm sure it is something that once done a couple of times, one learns to better adapt and know what it entails. To take part in an online discussion or course, one must first know and the ability to sign on and know how to participate via virtual and technological means. For some even this can pose a challenge, or potentially create stress. I think in some ways communicating online can be more complicated at first, but it is also a learning curve and can become much more efficient with time.
I think that students can become disengaged during online classes because they could be doing other things online while the class is in session. For example, a student could be on facebook, or some other website because the teacher would never know what they are doing. I also agree with Elie, as he says classes would be more difficult. You definitely lose the personal interface with teachers and students, and in a way, you learn to depend on technology to communicate, as opposed to face to face interaction. This is not going to go well later in life when you have to work together with your coworkers. Since you took online classes in school, it is going to be harder for you to be able to communicate and relate to them. Online classes also do increase the need for textbooks and reading, and more quizzes in tests. All in all, I think that classes should be held in actual classrooms, because in general, the results and situation is much better.
I found it a little easier to pay attention when I didn't have all the people around me but it's harder to have conversations with people and "discuss" and analyze information presented than just learning the information. I don't think it really engages that higher order of thinking because an online class does not have as much flexibility to allow for students to engage in discussion and share ideas. It distances you a little bit from the group. I think its harder to communicate and difficult to rely on a textbook or written information without another avenue to process the information.
On-line classes can be easily distracted due to the fact that it is on-line. The web is readily available, and there is no authority to tell you to stop. With on-line classes it's especially important to self monitor and keep on track as best as possible. It was a bit more complicated communication wise on-line because there is no one to actually show you what to do. But, at the same time, it was easier because it was straight forward. In conclusion, on-line classes are effective in learning, but because they're so different and easy to get distracted, I feel that it is actually less engaging.
I feel like if you are a person who does not get distracted easily, then an online class may work, but I kept getting disconnected throughout our session and it caused me to become a little disengaged. It would be really frusterating if you were taking an online quiz or test and your computer froze. The online class experience was very interesting, and I do believe it is possible, but there are too many possibilities for distraction. The online class experience is something that can be more difficult or easier depending on the student!
Online classes do not have the face to face interaction. There sometimes is not enough lecture. Online class some self motivation in order to do the work and teach yourself. Higher-order thinking is just as effective online as in the classroom if the material is laid out properly. Online classes are great because in general everything is right available at times which are convenient for the student. Learning and communicating online may seem more complicated at first but once the glitches get ironed out it is a great effective way of teaching
Personally, I had so many tech issues doing this online class that I missed the slides and became so frustrated that I lost focus. I can see how not being in the presence of a teacher can be distracting and disengaging. Love the idea though, and I think with some improvements online teaching could be very good indeed. I'd like it better if we could see the teacher on the screen.
Wow! My first online learning experience. Yes there are huge distractions, but often lapses in attention are due to exploring other valuable information. Students might tune out for a couple of minutes, but it's usually to explore something that interests them. Again, it is the student's responsibility to make sure that they focus their time on productive pursuits. Regular assessments and interactive classes will insure that students keep up.
The danger is that student browsing will disrupt the class. I'd be interested in learning some techniques to keep the class on course while perhaps on different tacks.
I was distracted by other things going on and by some of the technology issues. I suppose I'd get used to the technology part and figure out how use Wimba more efficiently if I were taking an online class, but it's way too easy to disengage with the class, and if I got distracted, I felt lost. I also don't think it allows for very effective discussion.
I think communicating online is just different. However, we've been communicating through text and phone for decades, I'm not sure why online courses are more difficult for us to pay attention to. I felt overwhelmed by having to listen to audio, read the powerpoints, and kept getting distracted by the chat box and drawing tools! I think that we could get used to online courses. Personally, I'm not ready for that change yet though.
-Robin van Schravendijk
I think it may just be more difficult in the beginning and then once you get over that learning curve it just becomes different. I thought it was really cool how the youtube video just popped up on my screen when you told us about it. I think there are a lot of advantages to doing online classes and such but there is a lot of crap to work through ie Internet connections. I've never taken an online course and I'm pretty sure I would have a hard time keeping up with the work. I like going to class and hearing lectures but maybe that's just the old fogie in me talking.
Online learning is quite tough. I took an undergrad class online, and it was hard to take it seriously. My motivation was low and I took my tests open book. I think there is an important and necessary purpose of physical interaction in the classroom, as dialogue, not texting etc, is a large part of the educational process, not just the material.
I think online classes could have a good purpose, if the purpose is online research or collaboration or something creative. That way, one of the tools is this room for discussion while the internet is another tool for the project.
Our learning experience today displayed many of the problems with introducing technology when it may not be needed. The complications of learning a new technology and adapting your learning style to fit within the new constraints can be a time-waster. This is why it is important to consider technology, but not automatically throw it into every situation.
I personally would have a very hard time taking an online class. A disadvantage to an online course is not being able to have a spontaneous whole group discussion that can clarify concepts to students and bring up new perspectives. In addition, online learners must have so much self-discipline to focus and get the most out of the class as possible. However, I definitely can understand that there are major benefits to many people for online learning. I don't think anyone can say online classes are good or bad definitively. That decision is entirely up to the individual learner.
I think it's much more difficult b/c we're missing the subtle cues we take for granted when we're interacting face-to-face, or in the same physical vicinity. These convey so much more than voice alone can. Yes, it's cool, and useful, to use online portals to share content, blackboard jotting space, photos, etc, but in the absence of actual connections, at least occasionally, I think we lose out. When it's tied to learning, the students lose out, imho. Bottom line: good for team project work outside normal work hours, not so good as a replacement for live interaction.
I think a lot of it depends on your own attitude, the teacher's attitude and technique, and the subject being taught. I've taken a number of online classes, mostly when I was at community college, and some of them were great and others weren't very engaging. None of them had any real-time interaction through chat like we did today, most discussions were done on forums and lectures were given to us as presentations that we could browse at our own pace. I liked going at my own pace and the interactions on forums were good because there was time to really think about your response to a question and form a more complete and coherent idea.
A big problem is that some people just aren't motivated to do self-directed school work in their homes. For lots of people the structure of having to go to a classroom on a specific day and time and interact with teachers and students is the best way for them to learn. That experience is close to being translated to a digital setting and I think it works as well as teachers and students allow it to.
Communicating, and certainly learning, are more complicated online than in person. Face to face contact allows for deeper communication due to expression, body language, demonstration, and the ability to answer questions quickly. Online learning has the drawback of technological glitches, in addition to a number of added aspects that take one's attention away from the subject matter with distractions of how to properly work the technology. Text is not nearly as expressive, nor is voice, or even video. I have read that students learn more from what a teacher does than what a teacher says. If that is true, then a large aspect of education is lacking in an online environment.
In college I had to retake an online course because I realized that I did not have the discipline needed for a course solely self-driven and self-taught course. That was a good learning experience for me because I found out that the classroom experience is actually very important for learning. The online class we did tonight was interesting, but I found it more frustrating than engaging because of technical difficulties. I actually missed being able to speak to everyone in person.
I think that online courses are a good learning tool, but should be used to in support of a class as opposed to the main class. I think students need the physical interaction to absorb what is being taught.
I may just be a bit of a cromudgeon but I find something missing with a digital classroom. I think that it is too hard to adequately communicate with the instructor or with others in the class. Perhaps I would find a well designed asynchronic class more productive. When I was working I often found it more productive to talk to people in person rather than by email or by phone. You can not hide or mislead nearly as easily when communicating in person.
Online courses are not for everyone. You need to have a good amount of self discipline and comfortability working independently in order to be successful.
I've taken a few online courses. After undergrad, I needed to stay a full time student in order to remain under my dad's health insurance, so I recreationally took online classes at the local community college. I really enjoyed the experience, actually. I got to sit at home in my pajamas, and take courses from disciplines I never studied as an undergrad. However, I will say that critical thinking and problem solving abilities can easily become impeded while taking an online course. Judge Judy (among countless other things) can be really distracting!
Since I didn't have a mic. set up on my computer, there was a bit of a delay in response time, which was true throughout the class. But I disagree that it lacked a "conversational tone" . . . you were talking directly to us, and several people were able to converse with you. Also, I enjoyed the ability to add comments to the chat window; this, however, would be a distraction for less mature students (unlike, ahem, us:)
Well, my cat was chewing on the computer chord the whole time so that was distracting. Funny though, my roommate is video chatting with his girlfriend in the other room. Which is also distracting. However, it kind of proves the point. She lives in Atlanta, he lives here. They have access to their relationship in a whole new way thanks to the internet. Is that a perfect scenario? Not at all. However, it enables something that probably wouldn't otherwise be possible. As does our online classroom enable those who would not otherwise be able to participate in the coveted "access to education". I am not sure about higher orders of thinking, but I do know, I had to exercise a certain amount of self-regulation to participate in this experience. Thanks!
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