Online Learning Shows Staying Power

       When Nikki Tsangaris decided to become a school improvement specialist, she found the perfect program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). There was one hitch: the distance to Lincoln from Tsangaris’ home in Indianapolis is about 10 hours by car, a commute that “would have been a killer,” Tsangaris jokes.

       Happily for Tsangaris, principal at Northview Middle School in Indianapolis, the credential she wanted could be obtained by logging onto the nearest computer with an Internet connection; last fall, she completed the 12 credit hour course, conveniently offered online through UNL and the North Central Association.

       Tsangaris is one of a growing number of students who opt to take a class in cyberspace, rather than make the sometimes long trek to campus. For the past several years, online enrollment growth has been on the rise, with no plateau in sight, report I. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman in Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006 (November 2006, Sloan-C™). “Nearly 3.2 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2005 term, a substantial increase over the 2.3 million reported the previous year,” write Allen and Seaman (2006, p. 1).

       Why the abiding enthusiasm for e-learning? Most Web-savvy educators answer succinctly: because it’s convenient and flexible.

Why Learn Online

       Take Brian Every, for example. This Espanola Valley High School math teacher has participated in just about every imaginable form of e-learning. He took online quizzes and exams after watching video tapes and reading required texts offline. He’s sat “glued” to his computer for three hours, once a week, listening to a professor’s lecture. He even earned his Masters of Teaching (Math) by taking asynchronous online courses through New Mexico State University in Las Cruces (which is a four and a half hour drive from Espanola, NM).

       As Every’s experiences became more varied and he became a more adept online student, he became an active promoter for virtual learning. So much so that he now builds an online component into his high school courses so his students have virtual learning opportunities.

       “I prefer totally asynchronous courses,” says Every. He likes being on a “fairly short schedule” as he works through course modules that encourage “extensive networking, writing, and reflecting” with fellow students through threaded discussions. In these kinds of courses, “there is no hiding,” notes Every. Every student must participate and, as a result, every student is enriched by a “greater presentation of disparate views” than is generally seen in a face-to-face course. “The richness of the learning community and learning experience is what makes it so special,” he says.

       Then, there is the sense of freedom and choice. “Contrary to popular belief, the major motivation for enrollment in distance education is not physical access, but rather, the temporal freedom to move through a course of studies at a pace of the student’s choice,” writes Terry Anderson in Toward a Theory of Online Learning (2004, Athabasca University, p. 40).

       That’s the “best aspect of online learning,” agrees Suellen Coleman, a teacher in Ohio. “You can go at your own pace when it is best for you.” Still, although she can take courses from her home, Coleman admits that it’s sometimes a challenge to find time to logon. “I am a busy mother and have to force myself to take the time to complete the course work,” she says.

       Time. It can help or hurt, observes Gloria Comfort, Title III director at Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kan. “Working at a personally convenient time of day is advantageous to individuals with jobs, family, or other obligations that would make attending a face-to-face class difficult,” Comfort says. Of course, she adds, “if the student is not self-disciplined, time will be a challenge.”

Overcoming Challenges

       A successful online student needs self discipline—not only to make sure she makes time to learn, but also to resist the temptation to go on a virtual tangent.

       “The Web provides nearly ubiquitous access to quantities of content that are many orders of magnitude larger than those provided in any other medium,” writes Anderson (2004, p. 52). What’s more, he observes, the Internet’s “in-built capacity for hyperlinking” allows students to “create their own learning paths” as they navigate through related links (2004, p. 42).

       If an online course developer isn’t careful, those learning paths can take students hours away from the task at hand. And that, say educators, is another pitfall on learning online: there are “poorly thought-out courses, or professors who are not trained or conscious of the differences between face-to-face and online courses,” says Every, harkening back to those once-a-week, three hour lectures.

       “The quality of the courses offered is debated in educational circles,” says Comfort, adding that there is also a difficulty in “verifying the work as the student’s.”

       Robby Champion, an education consultant with extensive experience in helping school leaders evaluate the efficacy of professional development, agrees. “The accountability part can be tricky,” Champion says. “The crafty student can get a buddy to ‘fill-in’ for him or her. I knew a student who had very limited English and got his wife to do the chat part for him, for example.”

A Forum for Sharing

       Despite the challenges and concerns, the number of students choosing to learn online continues to grow and “the proportion of academic leaders reporting online as part of their long-term strategy continues to grow,” write Allen and Seaman (2006, p. 9).

       In the K-12 arena, that growth will be spurred by a resolute determination to improve teaching and learning. If a course provides “information [educators] MUST have, and have to have NOW, they will log on and participate” in online learning, says Linda Wacyk, director of communications for the Michigan Association of School Administrators (MASA).

       And purveyors of that essential information, despite initial reservations about the virtual environment, recognize that online forums can be of great service to the industry. “We have completed studies that we know are of value and interest,” says Tim Waters, president of Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL). When it’s difficult to disseminate the information in a face-to-face venue, “one way to get the work in the field is to do it virtually.”

       And, for that reason, Waters, along with colleague James Eck, conducted a 4-part eSeminar to present McREL’s meta-analysis of research conducted to gauge the effect of superintendent leadership on student achievement. Participating in the eSeminar, which was hosted by hosted by JKT and Associates (see "Exploiting the Web's Potential" below), was “great fun” according to Waters, who found the technology far more interactive than he had imagined. “The smarter we get about how to use software, the effective we’ll be,” he says.

       “Certainly teaching online is not the same as being in a room with others,” notes Thomas Hoerr, who also led an eSeminar (on effective school leadership) for JKT & Associates. “I missed seeing the facial expressions and sensing the participants’ responses.” Still, like Waters, Hoerr believes that his instruction will improve--and learning will improve--as he becomes more comfortable in cyberspace.

       Learning, of course, is the bottom line. “When I teach, I learn,” Hoerr states. “When I present to colleagues, I’m forced to question my assumptions and stay current with research and readings.” That personal growth is made easier if the audience is virtual. “I’ve traveled quite a bit to present at schools and conferences,” Hoerr says. “Travel is always wearing.”

       Waters has also been on the presentation circuit. And, like Hoerr, he concedes that there are things you can in a face-to-face meeting that simply aren’t possible online. Nevertheless, says Waters, “there is an energy that comes when people are excited about their learning”--no matter the forum. And with a successful eSeminar under his belt, he sees the potential of virtual professional development: “If done well, the value of online learning is obvious.”

-- Kathy Checkley

 

References: Anderston, T., et al. (2004). Chapter 2: Toward a Theory of Online Learning. Chapter 2. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca, Canada: Athabasca University. Retrieved online at http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/ on 3/20/07.
Allen, I.E. & Seaman, J. (2006). Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006. Needham, MA: Sloan-C™. Retrieved online at http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/pdf/making_the_grade.pdf on 3/20/07.
 

...Go Back