Essay about Exploring Traditional Versus Online College Courses

Student engagement is a great part of the learning process in online courses. The professor can aide in active student participation by providing timely feedback and learner expectations. Online discussions often fall flat- are shallow, superficial, fail to engage students and result in frustration —for students and the course instructor (Wang & Chen, 2008).

Much has been written about the pitfalls of the college freshman year for graduating high school students, but there is little material aimed at the non-traditional adult student, especially one who opts to take online courses. My quest for a college degree has spanned two decades and has taken place in three different states. As I reflect back on my experience each time I rekindled my educational quest, it is surprising how many of the issues I faced were not that different from those of recent high school graduates starting their freshman year. I faced the most challenges when I decided to take classes online.

As you might know, I was part of an online institution for a long time period of time, and from participating in virtual class to an actual classroom was a great change in my academic career. In Queen of Heaven Academy, I would have to login into Populi, which is an online schooling program, which then I would login in to my desired class that I was scheduled to be in that certain day. Then once I was in my class I would usually wait ten minutes until class started. I always like to arrive at all of my classes early. I would sit at computer for long period of time and I did not really participate at all. If I knew the answer to a question I would click the vital hand and I would give the answer. But there were other times that I would like to give my opinion about some things I was confused with the internet? And most importantly its all done on the internet. Sure it’s a great way to get things done. But there is personal connection between one and the teacher. And the same would be with the students. If one would like to speak in class, one would have to raise his or her virtual hand and then people talk and that’s how everyone socialized in class. There was also a chat box were all the students and the teacher would talk mainly before class. Participating was very hugs. Some teachers would stop in the middle of lecture and start asking if everyone was there. I remember where when six people in my history class were not even responsive out of the twenty students. There is a huge difference when it comes to taking virtual classes online to talking classes in a actual

Online classes and the traditional classroom setting both offer many of the same advantages. They both provide the student with the same course content so there is no loss of curriculum between the two. Both demand the same time investment for learning, studying, taking exams, completing papers, and so on. Although it seems easy to think that with doing all of your school work online there isn’t any personal interaction with professors and peers, however, that is a common misconception. Online classes, like traditional ones, require a degree of contact with your peers and professors. It may not be as personal interaction as raising your hand and being called on, but you can e-mail your professor at any time and there are discussion boards and forums available for fellow students to communicate and help each other out.

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

However, advocates of classroom learning believe the online method isolates the students from one another as well as their professor minimizing the overall value of taking the course. They also claim that students learn better when working together with their instructor and their fellow classmates. Students learn better when they are given the opportunity to ask questions, join in class discussions, and they move the process of learning forward through their participation. Face-to-face advocates firmly believe that this kind of interaction is not possible over the Internet; and for many types of education, e-learning will never meet the potential of live human interaction in the classroom. An article in the New York Times titled, “Second Thoughts on Online Education,” backs up the points made above. A recent research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, comes to the conclusion; “A rush to online education

Students who are prone to procrastination will have a difficult time adjusting to online classes. Hours of work are necessary to get through all of the materials, including course lectures, educational videos, assignments, projects, assigned textbook reading and discussions. For students who are getting an online degree, especially an online master’s degree, require a greater amount of work.

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.

Hence, if a person takes any other online class they will not be afforded such interaction. Additionally, in order to partake in such a class one does not simply need to buy the typical classic course tools such as a textbook, pencil or pen and a notebook. Rather, this type of course also requires one to purchase or own a headset with a microphone or a webcam. The reason for this is because one uses it to communicate and further access the class’s various visual aids, see the teacher’s face, and observe the instructor’s body language.

Bajerano (2008) emphasizes that interacting with other students and faculty in a regular context influences the students’ success and experience. Students who take online classes will miss out on this interaction since the only way to communicate with the instructor will be via video and internet. Consequently, they will not have the opportunity of seeing professors during their office hours and ask about possible doubts that they could have (Bjerano, 2008). This may lead to an incomplete understanding of the material. Another drawback of online classes is the inability of students to ask the professor direct questions and not have the opportunity to work through any difficulties by discussing learning concepts using the classroom board, for example. As a result, students would probably rely on themselves to find the answers to such questions. Additionally, online learners would not be able to avail of the on-campus learning centers in which students can discuss their doubts; therefore, the students’ understanding of the subject is reinforced (Bajerano, 2008). Similarly, online learners would not be able to benefit from interacting with other peers because the element of group work, which helps students keep up their learning motivation and gain assistance while studying, would be

Since the inception of the Internet and advances in computer and mobile device technologies, the ability and availability to take an online course from nearly anywhere and anytime have emerged. Online education is an internet based education system seemingly substituting the conventional face-to-face brick and mortar education system; this allows students to undertake their coursework without necessarily attending classes on college campuses. This education system offers a great deal of flexibility for those who wish to continue their studies while pursuing other commitments. Increasingly more, institutions are embracing the concept of online learning to facilitate distance learning programs. This indicates that society has recognized the value of online learning.

more likely to be sluggish for their lessons or to be distracted by a huge amount of

Modern courses apply traditional text-based instruction and lecture styles, where students typically participate in content saturated discussions by responding to weekly module course work (assignments given in a folder online) and discussion board posts (content based questions in the form of discussion forums) (Gillett-Swan, 2017; Jaggars, & Xu, 2016). Instructors gravitate towards systematized teaching approaches online in an effort to reduce confusion and increase course completion, however studies have shown no direct link between course completion and structured organization of course content (Jimoyiannis, 2012; Mayadas, Bourne, & Bacsich, 2009).

Compared to classroom learning, the interaction occurring at online courses is more international. Learners can develop online conversations on forums and interview other students around the world by using web-conferencing technology (Kruger-Ross and Waters, 2013:182). However, it is reported that students prefer face to face contact directly with the tutor who was seen as the focal point of learning, a channel through all interaction that connects ideas, builds understanding, provides feedback and gives summary immediately (Sweeney et al, 2007:316). Additionally, establishing social relations may need classroom environment (Paechter & Maier, 2010:295). Classroom teaching and learning is a complex, multilayered, and social experience, which develops friendship, connection and satisfaction among students. Social community is considered to be relatively poorly experienced in online learning due to learners’ disconnection and could probably cause isolation (Baturay & Bay, 2010:44).

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