EDUCATOR’S CORNER Flexibility of Schedule
Another often cited advantage of online education is that the student has maxi- mum flexibility in terms of time and pace to finish the course. This will actually depend on the nature and operative tech- niques of online courses. It is true that in traditional correspondence courses, the student could take and finish the course in a year or so at his or her own pace. However, university-based online courses also have deadlines for submit- ting assignments and taking exams; interactive video classes also require students to attend the class virtually. In fact, a loose course schedule without a timeline and deadlines will not benefit the student because people may resort to procrastination, be overwhelmed by taking on a huge workload in the last day, and thus fall behind.
Even for online courses, it is prefer- able to set aside a regular time and quiet place for your studies in order to create a proper environment and vibe for maxi- mum learning.
Discipline and Learning Outcome
There is a clear relationship between discipline and learning outcome. Indeed, the word “discipline” refers to being a disciple (from Latin discipulus, meaning “pupil.”) Having interest and devotion helps learning. In my classes I have consistently noticed that those students who regularly attend the class and do their assignments on time also do very well in exams and get high grades. I often say to students that before they sign up for a course, they should make sure that it will really work for them; dropping a course in the middle of a semester or performing poorly in a class is a waste of time and money. Online classes require more self-discipline and time manage- ment than in-person classes.
In a 2012 survey of com- munity colleges in California, Ray Kaupp2 found that with- drawal rates for online classes were twice that of in-person classes. This corroborates similar surveys conducted by Connie McKissack of Tennessee State University3 and Ron Eskew of Hilbert College.4
Diverse Types of Learning
E-Learning and Professional Development
In a survey of 204 employees from 16 companies in 14 different countries, Kay Baldwin-Evans, head of research at SkillSoft, England, found the following:
34% of the respondents cited job competency and 20% cited compulsory training as their main motivations for e-learning, while only 4% needed accreditation.
68% did e-learning from their desks at work while only 14% studied at home.
Learning skills are differ- ent. Some students learn best graphically; some pre- fer reading and word-based thinking; some love sto- ries; some find quantitative knowledge and calculations more engaging; and some learn best through exercises and practical knowledge. It is important that students are exposed to and experience all these different methods and tools, and instructors thus need to balance the syllabus, study mate- rials and assignments to offer diverse learning opportunities: textural read- ings, discussions; case-based narratives; audiovisual materials, statistical data, and exercises and practices. Students can also maximize their learning by opt- ing for courses or instructors that best match their learning skills or request instructors to give them additional assignments.
46% cited time constraints and 27% cited work interrup- tions as the main reasons for not completing the course, while only 3% believed that slow technology was the factor.
Source: Kay Baldwin-Evans, 2004. Employees and e-learning: What do the end-users think? Industrial and Commercial Training, v. 36, no. 6/7, p. 269-274.
Designing the type and quantity of assignments is always a challenging skill for instructors. For online classes, the instructor may tend to give too many assignments because the students are not attending a traditional class. Such temptations need to be constrained so that online students are not over- whelmed by a heavy load of assignments.
Even before the 2020 pandemic, several millions of students in higher education in the US were taking online classes. According to the US National Center for Education Statistics, out of 19.9 million total college and university students in the US in Fall 2018, about 3.3 million (16.6%) were exclusively enrolled in online courses and 3.7 million (18.6%) took at least one online course.5 Even after graduation and during employ- ment, online education plays an impor- tant role in career and professional development. A survey of 2,500 compa- nies conduced by the American Society for Training and Development found that those companies with comprehen- sive training programs had 218% higher revenue per employee and 24% higher profit margins.6
Online education will increasingly be popular (especially during pandem- ics or other similar crises). However, compared to millennia-old face-to-face education, it will take time to perfect the art and techniques of online teaching
2. Ray Kaupp, 2012, Online penalty: The impact of online instruction on the Latino-White achievement gap. Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, v. 19, no. 2 (Spring 2012), pp 8-16.
3. Connie Ellison McKissack, 1997, A comparative study of grade point average (GPA) between the students in traditional classroom setting and the distance learning classroom setting in selected colleges and universities. ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI9806343.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI9806343.
4. Ron W. Eskew, 2011, A comparison of unsuccessful student outcomes for distance learning, hybrid and traditional course formats.
https://www.hilbert.edu/docs/default-source/Academics/Institutional-Research-Assessment/oira_a-comparison-of-student-outcomes- for-distance-learning.pdf?sfvrsn=0.
5. National Center for Education Statistics, 2019, Fast Facts: Distance Learning.
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=80.
6. “Profiting from learning: Do firms’ investments in education and training pay off?”:
https://businesstrainingexperts.com/knowledge- center/training-roi/profiting-from-learning/
42 TPG •
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