Virtual Education vs Traditional Education
Online learning is very different from traditional classroom learning. In the past, online learning has been criticized because it was thought to be less rigorous and because there was concern over whether the student was really doing the work.
Well, things have changed.
Online learning is actually more rigorous than offline learning. In this framework everyone is required to participate in the discussions and they need to provide well thought out answers and be able to respond to questions. They also need to be reading others’ postings and responding to them. This is very time consuming.
On top of that, there is a lot of reading to be done. In a traditional classroom, I typically would go to the lecture and ignore the textbook. I admit it. I still got A’s and B’s. I hardly took part in classroom discussions and I spent little time at night working on assignments. With the online format, I am constantly checking to see if there is something new to respond to in the discussions. I’m always reading for class and the exams, rather than being multiple choice questionnaires, are full length papers or multimedia presentations.
A paper or presentation is much better at demonstrating mastery of material than a multiple choice exam. So, as far as educational value is concerned, I’d say give the points to online learning. As for making sure that the student is the one doing the work, traditional educational settings have the same problem. In the online framework we are using, there is enough live interaction for everyone to be familiar with everyone else. And, with the discussion questions, it is easy to recognize someone’s writing style and “voice”. So, having someone else do the work for you is actually pretty hard in this online environment.
Now, the online educational experience does lack something that a traditional university offers an abundance of. Partying. Since the beginning of my online educational experience, I haven’t been to a single party with other students. All that social networking through a glass of beer is missing from my educational experience. OK, seriously, though, there is a bit of socialization that is missing. College students learn as much from socializing with their peers and joining in with clubs and other extracurricular activities as they do from their classes. That is missing here. The thing is, that type of interaction should be available in the community. A college student should be able to take rigorous classes online and participate in social activities in their community.
Still, I will miss all the fraternity parties that I . . . wait a minute. . . I never went to them when I DID go to a traditional university. I was too busy working a full time job to pay tuition to have time for frat parties. Anyway, I think online is the way to go (at least for me).
