

Professors Regard Online Instruction as Less Effective Than Classroom Learning - ilamont
http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=YtzQy6hv9pvrCkjqQsn6rsxB8pKftcqh

======
thredup
Imagine that? Who loses when online instruction wins? Professors. This has
been a problem for innovation in education for decades. Established interests
have a seat at the table, but not kids. Did anybody ask students about their
experience? The beauty of online learning is that it is a supplement to core
instruction that can be paced to meet the needs of students. As a replacement
to AP english it probably is not as effective but when schools cut out German,
what's a kid to do? Clay Christensen notes this in his new book, Disrupting
Class - I'd encourage anyone thinking about innovation in education
(especially as it relates to online learning) to read this important book.

------
gcheong
I'm not sure why it would have to take longer to prepare for an online class
vs. a regular class. I had been taking online graduate CS courses through
DePaul University and those were set up as regular classes with an online
component being recorded. All the technology was there to view slide
presentations, capture writing on a physical whiteboard, and recording of the
lecture which made not only distance learning possible but reviewing the
material possible for the regular students. All assignments were submitted
online as well. The only time it seemed extra onerous to the professor was one
time when the professor forgot to set the equipment to record and he had to
redo the lecture for the distance learning students.

------
niels_olson
Less effective at what? Job protection? My own survey suggests it is almost
equally as effective

[http://nielsolson.us/STLHE020409/Olson_TimeValueOfStudyHabit...](http://nielsolson.us/STLHE020409/Olson_TimeValueOfStudyHabits_STLHE.pdf)

more context here:
[http://nielsolson.us/Haversian/2009/02/some_current_thoughts...](http://nielsolson.us/Haversian/2009/02/some_current_thoughts_on_teach.php)

------
miked
There's not a shred of real data about learning outcomes in that article, only
subjective opinions from decidedly biased sources. Also, there's no hint of a
cost-benefit analysis. Online instruction may not be as good, but it should be
much cheaper and save time, which could still make it worth it.

Universities are bloated bureaucracies full of people who can't be fired (for
the most part), most of whom don't really want to teach.

