2008 Woodie Awards
Tech innovation shows pros, cons
Keisuke Ono
Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: News
Originally published: 10/9/08 at 7:26 PM EST
Last update: 10/9/08 at 7:23 PM EST
Online learning has been growing among academic programs in recent years. People all over the world can take classes in any academic program online.
According to America.gov of the U.S. Department of State, almost 3.5 million of all college students took one or more online course from 2006 to 2007. The most popular courses are the fields of business, education, engineering, nursing, public health and library science.
Nancy Scanlan, assistant professor of the nursing program, said: "The advantages of teaching an online course from both the students' and instructor's perspectives are convenience and comfort. Being able to log on and do assignments when one is most rested and open to learning is a real plus."
As an instructor, she said she can take the extra time to respond to students' questions and can encourage the more reticent students to participate.
Scanlan said, "The main difficulty with online teaching is that the instructor cannot respond to the subtle non-verbal communication of the student - such as puzzled looks (from) new concepts." She added that typing is a lot slower than speech (at least for her) as are expressions of excitement when learning.
Carla Hendrix, a librarian in acquisitions/collection development, said the difference between face to face lectures and online classes are that "lectures in a face-to-face class require listening skills; online lectures require reading skills. Depending on the students' skills, listening or reading may work better for them. With an online lecture, everything is written down, so a student can go back and read again if something's not clear."
Margarita Garcia Notario, adjunct lecturer of foreign languages and literature department, said the main advantage is the flexibility with respect to the management of students' time and the savings in gas money.
"I think it is very convenient to have online classes available for students who are too far from campus or who can't make the classes at the scheduled time," she said.
According to America.gov of the U.S. Department of State, almost 3.5 million of all college students took one or more online course from 2006 to 2007. The most popular courses are the fields of business, education, engineering, nursing, public health and library science.
Nancy Scanlan, assistant professor of the nursing program, said: "The advantages of teaching an online course from both the students' and instructor's perspectives are convenience and comfort. Being able to log on and do assignments when one is most rested and open to learning is a real plus."
As an instructor, she said she can take the extra time to respond to students' questions and can encourage the more reticent students to participate.
Scanlan said, "The main difficulty with online teaching is that the instructor cannot respond to the subtle non-verbal communication of the student - such as puzzled looks (from) new concepts." She added that typing is a lot slower than speech (at least for her) as are expressions of excitement when learning.
Carla Hendrix, a librarian in acquisitions/collection development, said the difference between face to face lectures and online classes are that "lectures in a face-to-face class require listening skills; online lectures require reading skills. Depending on the students' skills, listening or reading may work better for them. With an online lecture, everything is written down, so a student can go back and read again if something's not clear."
Margarita Garcia Notario, adjunct lecturer of foreign languages and literature department, said the main advantage is the flexibility with respect to the management of students' time and the savings in gas money.
"I think it is very convenient to have online classes available for students who are too far from campus or who can't make the classes at the scheduled time," she said.
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