Online learning better than classroom learning?
By siliconindia   |   Friday, 21 August 2009, 14:54 IST   |    13 Comments
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Online learning better than classroom learning?
Bangalore: Students in online courses learn more than those in traditional college classrooms. According to a recent report prepared for the U.S. Department of education, by SRI International, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face to face instruction. Online learning for students and for teachers is one of the fastest growing trends in educational uses of technology. It has become popular because of its potential for providing more flexible access to content and instruction at any time from any place. The study states, "The study's major significance lies in demonstrating that online learning today is not just better than nothing - it actually tends to be better than conventional instruction." Initially more than 1,000 empirical studies on online learning were identified, after which the researchers concentrated on 51 independent studies that offered a way to measure online and classroom learning methods. The study found that, on average, online students would rank in the 59th percentile of all college students, while average classroom students would be in the 50th percentile. Although advances in online education have really made it a real alternative to traditional studies thanks to tools like video streams and rich media content as well as better collaboration and communication tools, this doesn't mean that online resources will replace the classrooms anytime soon. The report underlines the fact that it is not making a case for online studying. "Despite what appears to be strong support for online learning applications, the studies in this meta-analysis do not demonstrate that online learning is superior as a medium. In many of the studies showing an advantage for online learning, the online and classroom conditions differed in terms of time spent, curriculum and pedagogy," the report read.

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