An article in today's New York Times looks at online university classes. The article presents a number of anecdotes and examples -- some supporting and some criticizing online undergraduate teaching.
Students like the convenience of online classes and universities hope they will save money (though not all do). On the other hand, some students and parents want contact with faculty in relatively small classes. The Times gave the example of Ilan Shrira, who teaches developmental psychology to 300 students. He said he chose his field because of the passion of a professor who taught him as an undergraduate, but he thought it unlikely that anyone could be so inspired by an online course.
Good or bad, online classes are taking off. The Sloan Survey of Online Learning reported that 4.6 million students took a college-level online course during fall 2008, up 17 percent from a year earlier. More than one in four higher education students took at least one course online.
The article and report reminded me of the tension between classes in large lecture halls with teaching assistants and those in classrooms with a professor. Many online classes are replacing large lectures, and we need to differentiate between that and replacing small classes.
I was taken by professor Shrira's comment. I believe that in my small classes I connect with and make a difference to one or two students a semester. Since students take many classes, the odds of one or two such connections during their time in school are good. I would hate to see that dimension of education eliminated, so:
Perhaps we should be focusing our online efforts on the lecture hall, not the classroom.
Another finding from the Sloan Survey caught my eye. Jeff Seaman, co-director of the survey, said that a large majority, about three million of the 4.7 million online students, were simultaneously enrolled in face-to-face courses, many in community colleges. That indicates that we are not doing as much "distant education" as we might think -- most of our online students are local, which leads me to wonder:
Should we be leaning more toward hybrid than pure online classes?
Finally, the Sloan survey showed that students at large, public universities are more likely to take online classes than those at small, private (expensive) universities. With steadily growing income inequality in the United States, the move to online classes may widen the gap between mass and elite education.
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Online classes -- hybrids? Large lectures? A growing elite education gap?
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"Good or bad, online classes are taking off". This quote from the post makes you think. I think online classes are a good thing because it allows getting an education to be more flexible. I personally preferred online classes when I was working full time because I wasn't committed to a set time of having to be in a classroom and this made my time management less stressful. Online classes are just more convenient for a student that works full time or has a family. It's always a plus if the university gives the student both options.
ReplyDeleteProfessor Press, would you be open to teaching CIS275 online if given the option? and why?
Myesha Hopps
Myesha Hopps
"Good or bad, online classes are taking off". This quote from the post makes you think. I think online classes are a good thing because it allows getting an education to be more flexible. I personally preferred online classes when I was working full time because I wasn't committed to a set time of having to be in a classroom and this made my time management less stressful. Online classes are just more convenient for a student that works full time or has a family. It's always a plus if the university gives the student both options.
ReplyDeleteProfessor Press, would you be open to teaching CIS275 online if given the option? and why?
Myesha Hopps
Ky Hopps wrote:
ReplyDelete>Professor Press, would you be open to teaching CIS275 online if given the option? and why?
I do have the option of teaching the class online, but haven't yet elected to do so. I like the idea of making it more convenient (for you and for me) and allowing more people to take the class, but wonder about the quality.
Things come up in class that are not covered in the teaching module presentations. Without the questioning and free association of the classroom, would that be lost?
The importance of class time also varies depending upon your reason for taking a class. If you know what your major is, what you are truly interested in, and are taking a class just to satisfy a requirement, online might be more appropriate than if you are undecided and still trying to discover your passion. In that case, a classroom and getting to know the professor and his/her enthusiasm might be more meaningful.
The student's attitude toward school is also important. If class time is limited to the sort of thing Michael Wesch complained about in the video we watched -- listening to the teacher make presentations, trying to cram for exams, and asking "what will be on the test," then online is probably better than classroom instruction. If class time can be used for something more than that -- trying to formulate insightful questions (like the one you asked to start this conversation) and think together about the answers, then I would favor meeting in class.
(Coming to class is surely a waste of time if you are day-dreaming or browsing the Web).
The other day in class, Ben said something to the effect that the discussions in online classes he had taken were boring and trivial -- was that a problem with the teacher, the students or the basic idea of online classes?
There are also hybrid classes. Could we run CIS 275 so that it met only one day per week instead of two. Would students put in the self-study time to compensate? Would they make good use of the time they did spend in class?
Another variation on the theme would be to have some teleconference sessions, where we meet online at the same time.
One idea just came to mind -- how about allowing students to take only a certain percent of their classes online. That way they could decide which ones to invest their time in.
Well, I will quit rambling on -- I am sure there is a lot more to be said, but it is probably better to do it in a classroom discussion than a blog comment :-).
I love it, I love it! That's an excellent idea. If I could of taken all of my GE classes online that's what I would of did. But I wouldn't do that for your class and my other CIS classes. Those classes are more important to me and I want to learn and retain all I can from not only the class but the professor as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your insight
I feel that online classes have there goods and there bads. I personally would not take an online class. I was going to take an online class this semseter but it required far to much reading. Just the syllabus was 37 pages long, you can only imagine the reading assignments. I would not put as much effort on an online class as i would with a regular lecture class. I guess not seeing the proffesor or not being in a classroom would not give me the boost to try.
ReplyDeleteI feel that a hybrid class as Proffesor Press metioned would be far more successful. I am curently in a hybrid class and I treat it no less than a regular class. I feel that a hybird class would be successful becuase it is only one day out of the week. The day after tomaorw the class can have the teleconfrence session that was stated. A little bit of class lecture and a little bit of online communication. Can't go wrong with that.