Online instruction is referred to as teaching and learning that is mediated by a computer (Jones, 1997). Although the motivation for enrollment and retention in an online program for adult students is discussed in the literature review, the types of instruction may vary from simple correspondence or asynchronous communication through electronic mail, chat rooms for classroom discussion, and video-taped classes.
Online programs and virtual universities are an answer to adult students who are very busy with their lives in their careers and family life and cannot or will not attend a traditional university that holds sessions in a classroom on a campus, most often during the daytime hours when adult students are at work. However, online
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Discussion
Profiles of Online Students
The Colorado Community College (2001) or CCC found that students were "older, more mature" meaning perhaps that they were not the usual age ranges of eighteen to twenty-one. The gender was 63% female, and 37% male, as opposed to the ratio of 40% females and 60% males for CPU (Drews, 2001, personal communication) which includes not only Americans, but Asian and Southeast Asian students as well. Ten percent of CCC students are from abroad from countries in South America, Africa, and in the Caribbean (CCC, 2001). Lakeland College (2001), gave a profile of online students as forty-four percent being between the ages of twenty-six to forty. Sixty-five percent female, 52% have a family income of $25,000 to $50,000 per year, 60% employed for thirty or more hours per week, 83% having their own computers, and 79% accessing the Internet from the home (LLC, 2001). Dille et al. (1997) noted that in the community college studied, the more academically successful student is likely to be married, with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, completed more than thirty college credit hours, with an internal locus of control and an abstract learning style. For CPU, as confirmed by the president and administrator, the students are also older, ranging from mid-twenties to sixties, with full-time employment, good computer skills, and some college experience and
To obtain answers to the concerns previously listed, an 8 week study of students in an online class was conducted. This study consisted of monitoring online communication and classroom activity among students with different backgrounds with geographical location and age being two of the main contributing factors.
Their primary findings was that participation and communication is certainly a requirement for successful completion of online courses. When instructors are involved and encourage students to participate it motivates students to not give up or drop the class. They were able to classify students into different categories, and they found these types of students in the online class:
Although taking online courses may appear to be very time consuming and hard at times, the idea of obtaining your college degree from the convenience of your own home has made it easy for students to continue on with their everyday life. This article has given me a whole new perspective to this online learning experience. Through the group assignments and class participation, online learning generates relationships amongst peers and instructors and allows us as the students to value each individual student’s walks of life under the same subject. This online course will prepare me to become the educator that I need to be when dealing with the different diversities with the students, parents,
While tuitions rose and salaries static, families no longer see the need to splurge on the “college experience”. Not only are students paying for the expense of academics, but on campus dorms and a meal plan as well. Although Students could choose to commute to cut out the cost of dorms, many colleges are too far away from home to do so. If living on campus and commuting were out of the question, then students may enroll in online schooling to get the education they need
B. As an on-line college student, I am able to continue my education without the time constraints of attending on-site classes.
The University of Florida’s (UoF) realization that brick and mortar schools no longer serve as the only means to attaining a higher education established an institutional paradigm shift (Kuhn, 2012) on education delivery. The university’s evolution of an online education developed alongside the growth of technology (Blocher, DeMontes, Willis, & Tucker, 2002) and the needs of the community (University of Florida, Distance Learning, 2016). For the UoF, online programs began transforming as early as 1947 when challenged to adapt during world events such as the need to deliver GED home study courses to nearly 6,000 immigrants (University of Florida, History, 2016). In years that followed, an increasingly competitive environment (Volery & Lord, 2000) led to the video taping of lectures in 1991 and to the online courses and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that initiated in 2013. In its early development MOOCs were housed under the Coursera website since it provided an opportunity to test online courses (Coursera.com, 2016; College Factual, 2016). Today, the UoF houses both MOOCs and online programs within the Division of Continuing Education (DCE), which the university established in 2009 and dedicated full-time faculty to it due to the steady growth of online education (University of Florida, Distance and Continuing Education, 2016).
A little over a decade ago a shift began taking place in the in the post-secondary education system. There was a time when a student in pursuit of a higher education had to attend a major university or college campus, and physically sit the classroom environment. However, thanks to technologies non-stop evolution, there are nearly an uncountable number of online classes available for students to take. Students are not limited to just a few courses there are entire degree programs available to them. The explosion of the online classes and programs available to students has been rapid. While this has been considered a positive shift in the education industry by many, it has also been provided some misconceptions, and is not for everyone. It is important for anyone considering an online education to know all the facts about these programs and what their benefits are.
My first experience with a course conducted completely using computer-based instruction as an adult learner occurred during the fall semester of 2007. I was nearing the completion of my first Master’s degree and enrolled in ED500A, which was an educational research class. Although I had extensive experience utilizing technology and the Internet, and had dabbled in CBI, this course was conducted entirely online and proved to be challenging for me. The challenges were not due to the content, but were based on the limited connectivity with other course participants and the instructor. I quickly adapted to the format of the course expectations and developed a schedule in order to meet
Online classes offer more flexibility to adult learners, allowing them to balance work, family, and their education for success. Brenda earned her degree through this platform for this flexibility; however, the school’s representative also played a role in her decision to go back to school and attend Ashford University in San Diego, California.
Online degrees are becoming an ever more trendy method to receive a college education and many students are switching to online education due to the quality of material, ease, and the level of flexibility in distance education programs. Recently, the internet has developed into a reliable capital of information for college seekers. Everything from applying for financial assistance to taking a course can be done online. Now, a student can even obtain online degrees from one of many schools offering online education as a practical choice to a traditional classroom education. There’s a load of information regarding online education, and distance education is becoming increasingly popular for students everywhere.
In today’s society, so many people are continuing their education beyond high school. We realize that in order to make a decent living, a degree is most likely a requirement. In some cases even a bachelor’s degree is not enough to qualify for many positions. Nevertheless, thanks to technology, we now have the option to learn online or in a traditional classroom setting. There are very few differences between the two, and students need to understand that as much time and energy will need to be devoted to the online courses as on a campus. “A 2010 meta-analysis and review of online-learning studies concluded that online learning was as good as or slightly more effective than traditional face-to-face instruction” (Mendenhall, 2011).
Education has long been the frontier for society and academic advancement in one’s life. Long gone are the days where only a handful of people were expected to enter into college and earn a degree. In 2014, there are so many colleges and universities that one can choose from. Not only is the choice, whether or not they attend school, but the choice is, whether they want to attend school online or in a traditional college setting of brick and mortar.
Education has undergone significant changes because of the development of information and communication technology over the 21st century (Lin & Jou, 2012:2). As a convenient and inexpensive way to gain knowledge while pursuing higher education, online learning, a form of training or teaching that takes place over the Internet, has been considered as an alternative to traditional classroom learning (Zhang et al, 2004). This essay will argue that even though online learning has benefit such as flexibility which could outweigh traditional learning, traditional classroom learning might still not be entirely replaced. This essay will discuss positive and negative aspects of online and traditional learning in terms of four criteria:
Learning is more than just receiving information. Traditionally learning was to be in campus, where students would interact with one a another, there were no other ways for learners to get educated beside going to the classroom and listening to the instructor. Nowadays the Internet has brought different ways for people to receive information, such as getting education and degrees online. A few years ago online education was never thinkable, and yet it has become to reality and it is widely expanding with popularity. Online education is a type of educational instruction that delivers learning to individuals to their own homes, and it is getting very popular among nontraditional student and others. Individuals prefer online education
Technology is changing every aspect in our lives, even the way we learn. Online classes are a rapidly growing trend it today’s society. Online classes are a cost-effective substitute for traditional courses and more convenient for many, so more schools and universities are offering this option. Due to the increase in online course enrollment, people are questioning if students truly learn something from online classes because it’s not a traditional learning environment. Online classes are just, if not more, effective as traditional classes because grades have increased and online discussions provide students with the chance to interact through networking while earning a degree for less than what it would cost to enroll at the same university.