EduGeek Journal

1 | Tracey Rockett

June 4th, 2007 at 10:09 am

I don’t have any research to suggest that online learning is more difficult, but I do have some anecdotal evidence from students at UTD. I just had a student in my office last week asking about my online class. He took my f2f intro OB class this semester and would like to take my online elective. However, he was very concerned because other students told him it was 3 times the work and much harder. This is not the first time I have heard this concern from students.

I assured him that in my class the added difficulty of the course was due to the need to be self-motivated rather than more “work” assigned by me. However, it appears that there is at least a perception that online classes are HARDER than f2f classes. It may actually be the case that some online classes are harder since some professors might assign more work to make up for the perceived lack of control they feel. As an instructional designer do you have any evidence that this is happening?

2 | Matt Crosslin

June 4th, 2007 at 1:18 pm

There does seem to be some of this. I’ve noticed that good face-to-face teachers make good online teachers, but bad face-to-face teachers can go either way. For the most part, online instructors seem to try and convert in-class activities to some type of online equivalent – with varying degrees of success (usually depending on how well they listen to their instructional Designer :)). Actually, the success seems to depend on how willing they are to flex what they think has to be accomplished in a class. If they are dead set on long lectures being converted to text, long multiple choice quizzes, etc – they might end up with a large percentage of upset (and failing) students. Those that embrace active learning and social communities end up being much more satisfied with the results. But those two concepts mean releasing control.

3 | Erin Jennings

June 5th, 2007 at 1:55 pm

My experience in an online masters program has been that the quality and difficulty of the course depends on the instructor. The ones who respond to discussion posts, comment on your assignments, and encourage additional research create a course that is engaging and requires continuous critical thought about the subject matter. Those who don’t… don’t. I do not feel that I’ve gotten my money’s worth on all of the online courses I’ve taken, but so far the proportion of worthwhile classes to not has been higher than that of my face to face education.