The online learning difference

 The online learning difference

Traditional learning doesn’t have this online learning advantage. While the question of how to cover this content online may seem daunting, as an example, a required science course like geology can be taught with a few weeks of readings and then the textbook. This makes for faster and more efficient learning than traditional learning, because students don’t have to wait days or weeks to learn something they should know already. Online learning might be the next step in learning technology, just as blogs and wikis are today.

First, by making the material available online, students are accessing it by their own choice. Traditional classrooms are often out of their control. A college student might leave class and then go straight home and study or research the material. The final exam might only provide feedback after hours of classroom study and debate. If a student wants to learn how to create a web page to share a science lab experiment, they might have to start the project at the end of the semester. This can lead to lack of ownership, unevenness, and frustration. By making all of this information available for instant learning, online education provides much faster feedback and engagement. This is true online learning with traditional classes.

Second, online education offers the added benefit of solving the online learning problem, which I think is an over-conceptualization. First, if the school is educating students on technology in a relatively unstructured fashion, this provides an opportunity for failure. This happens when students are not continually evaluated and prompted for improvement. When there is only one exam for a large amount of work, students must know how to work with the tools provided for learning, and there is no pressure to use these tools correctly in order to learn.

The classroom is also a tricky place for learning. Students need ongoing instruction with assessments to assess what they have learned and set goals for future learning. A school that doesn’t have this problem can rely on traditional methods, which may not be as effective in the classroom setting.

Third, online courses provide feedback and feedback to the teacher. Students are in control of what they are learning and can report this immediately. This is easier for teachers to do when they understand how learning happens online. This allows the teacher to engage with individual students quickly, and to provide faster feedback on what students have learned and work to keep students engaged.

All of this is consistent with digital learning theory and its focus on students engaging with technology and learning differently in order to teach.