Qualitative_Article_Review

Qualitative Article Review: The Online Advantage Patricia Carter Liberty University Qualitative Article Review: Identifying the Online Advantage The challenge of traditional learning versus online learning has been in effect for over the last twenty plus years. Technology has since become an effective and vital part of the classroom. However, not only has technology become a part of the classroom, it has evolved into becoming “the classroom”. Online learning has become a very huge alternative to traditional learning and for good reason. It allows students to gain a solid education without ever having to physically be in a classroom. It gives educators and course designers the capability of being more effective to more students and allowing them to force students to be more successful through collaboration, meaningful discussions, and engage students in a more beneficial way of learning. It presents the world with the advantage of committing to their tasks, learning more content, and working not just in a classroom but within a community of learners. Summary The purpose of this study is to determine the advantages of the online learning community against its predecessor, traditional face-to-face learning. The study seeks to discover how commitment, content and community play a huge role in the success of online learning. In this particular article, researchers didn’t include a description of participants that was used for the study. The research design for this article is meta-analysis, which is “results of several studies that address a set of related research hypotheses.” (Wikipedia) Meta-analysis was an appropriate design choice because the article was based on 12 other research studies. The author of this article has hands on experience as an assistant professor in the online youth development leadership graduate program in the College of Health, Education, and Human Development at Clemson University. In order to determine if online learning held an advantage over traditional learning, research implied that interviews were used to gather information. Higher education has soared in the college world. More than one in every five, college students have taken an online course. Students who took all or part of their classes through online learning, performed better than their peers who took the exact same course in a traditional face-to-face learning environment. It was stated that students have more time to focus on the task and argumentatively they can do this when time is right for them. This gives the student flexibility and the ability to sit down and focus when possible and not necessary. Research reveals that it is not where the student learns or how the student learns, it is simply that the student learns. “…Poor pedagogy is poor pedagogy…” meaning, students learn only from the content that is given. (Barcelona, 2009, pg. 193) This article also shared information on synchronous versus asynchronous learning. In a traditional classroom, synchronous learning is the basic format that can be practiced. Students come in for a set time and they all listen to the same thing for that time. While in an online community, asynchronous learning is practiced. While all students are learning the same thing, they are learning it at different times and possibly in different ways. They have the ability to spend less or more time on content and then request feedback if needed from not only their instructor but from their peers. One extremely helpful tool is the discussion board in online learning. This is where students and the instructor come together and discuss pertinent information for that week on a specific topic. It too is a way to learn. In personal experience, reading and replying on topics gives students the ability to see things from a different perspective, often times helping others to understand something better then by just reading it from a book. One student stated, I thought it was awesome that everyone could comment when something came to mind, rather than having to wait for your turn like in a traditional classroom. We would never be able to have such an open conversation in a classroom setting- even when we do ‘tone it down’.” (Barcelona, 2009, pg. 195) This shows how important the community of learning is for the online learning environment. Students were also asked what they looked for in their professor. It was clear that the students that responded wanted an instructor that can treat their students more like a partner.; someone who can share examples, life experiences and viewed as someone who is willing to learn as well as teach. This is what makes the online learning environment seem more like a community. Instructors would serve as the facilitator of the learning experience, giving students the feeling that they are being supported, motivated, and taught material that they could never actually learn in the classroom. In conclusion, it was stated, “If we focus merely on increasing access and efficiency in course delivery, and not on producing high quality online learning experiences that increase commitment, deliver cutting edge course content, and improve collaboration among faculty and students, online learning environments will never reach their full promise. Traditional learning fosters this attitude of learning and online learning is being driven to break that prehistoric cycle. (Barcelona, 2009, pg. 197) Analysis Further research could be conducted using specific participants. More students that are in online courses and more students that are in traditional courses. Another great opportunity for research would be to use instructors instead to see what type of curriculum one could use and if that same curriculum would reap the same type of results from their traditional learning students. Gauge whether they believe that the students really are retaining more information from the online community instead of the restrictive classroom. It is the my conclusion that no matter the place or time a class is held, it is the content that is important in the form that is given. It is how the instructor includes technology and uses his resources to keep the attention of their students. In the traditional classroom, lecture is all you really get at the college level. Virtually, you have many different avenues to ensure that a student gets what he/she needs in order to be successful.. Many online education programs adhere to an asynchronous environment; therefore, researchers would need to discover if the same conclusions arise in a complete asynchronous setting.. Online learning is constantly changing and growing; the more research to support the advantages and benefits of online learning such as committing to their tasks, learning more content, and working not just in a classroom but within a community of learners then, the more beneficial online programs will become for the online student. References Barcelona, R. J. (2009). Pressing the Online Learning Advantage: Commitment, Content, and Community. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education (57), 193-197. Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2010). Applying educational research (6th ed). Boston, MA: Pearson Education. Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2012, from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wilipedia.org