Christie Horrigan RDG 5410

Face-to-Face Vs. Face-to-Screen Which is better?

What is Online Education?  Online Education uses the Internet to conduct education at a distance, usually in the form of courses or instructional units. It uses teaching strategies based on the same instructional design principles as those employed in classrooms, except...  The teacher and student are in different physical locations and perhaps on different time schedules.  Student-teacher interaction is primarily through e- mail, web sites and web chat rooms, and usually involves special software for presentation, discussion, testing, assignments, resources, records, etc...

YES! Online Education is a Good Alternative to Face-to-Face Interaction…  Opportunities for participation, enhancement, enrichment, remediation and credit retrieval not otherwise available or possible.  Opportunities for individuals who are unable to be in a classroom for a variety of reasons.  Flexible access to particular classes that fit the student's schedule, circumstances, interests or needs, and opportunities not otherwise available.  Cost Effective

YES, Students Can…  Develop self-discipline and independence in time management.  Have the intrinsic motivation to succeed in their coursework.  Confront technical problems on their own.  Develop sufficient technical skills to fully engage in the course.  Overcome academic and technical anxiety.  Teachers can more easily individualize instruction to meet unique student needs and learning styles.  Access to new educational methods and resources “ Students in online conditions performed modestly better, on average, than those learning the same material through traditional face-to-face instruction.”

No…Online Education is Not a Good Alternative to Face-to-Face Interaction  Less Social Interaction among peers and students/teachers  Missing out on the non-verbal communication because you “can’t see it”. So they lose out on the valuable experiences that go along with those interactions.  May not learn to work with others well  Technical challenges  Inability to produce higher-order thinking skills, problem solving skills  A way to cut costs without really thinking about the students and their needs.  Cuts back on the need for quality teachers  Students may not adopt the work ethics hoped, such as time and motivation. Information take from Illinois Online Educational Network (2010) and Northwest Educational Technology Consortium (2005)

NO…  “Web-based training places most of the responsibility for learning squarely on the shoulders of the student. This is the primary reason that statistics are skewed in favor of online training. Motivated learners do well with online training because it is a stimulating efficient alternative to classroom training which is often perceived as a waste of time. Unmotivated students either never start or don't finish their online training course and the results are often never reported.” Wenzel, J. (2007, August 12). [Web log message]. Retrieved from online-courses-vs-traditional-classroom htmlhttp://voices.yahoo.com/pros-cons- online-courses-vs-traditional-classroom html

Arne Duncan-U.S. Secretary of Education…His view on online education… “The heart of the classroom is found in the unique relationships between students and teachers. In the same way that a family turns a house into a home, a physical and emotional transformation takes place when teachers and students work together in community to reach common goals. We see it in the trust, the expectations, the experiences and the knowledge of every person in the class.” ~United States Department of Education

Bibliography  Bakia, M., Shear, L., Toyama, Y., & Lasseter, A. U.S Department of Education, (2012). Understanding the implications of online learning for educational productivity (ED-01-CO-0040). Retrieved from Center for Technology in Learning SRI International website:   Illinois Online Educational Network. (2010). Online education overview. Retrieved from  Northwest Educational Technology Consortium (2005, September 10). Connections for k-12 teaching & learning over distance. Retrieved from  The Huffington Post. (2011, April 13). Online learning: The pros and cons of k-12 computer courses. Huff Post Education. Retrieved from cons_n_ html cons_n_ html  Wenzel, J. (2007, August 12). [Web log message]. Retrieved from