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You can do it in your jammies, and other things we should never say about learning online
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Lowenthal, Patrick R. Dunlap, Joanna C. |
| Copyright Year | 2011 |
| Abstract | Faculty and students often think about things differently. When faculty think about teaching online (especially those who have never done it), they often think about how teaching online is harder, takes longer, and involves more work.1 However, when students, especially first time online students, think about learning online, they tend to think of things like: Not having to go to campus to attend a class, Working on their coursework in their jammies, Coursework not getting in the way of their busy lives, Working on their coursework (only) when it’s convenient, Completing their coursework at their own pace, and Not working that hard to receive a good grade. Now there are exceptions to this. And many might argue that some of the ways students think about online learning—such as the first and second point above—aren’t necessarily bad outcomes of participating in an online course. We argue however in this chapter that thinking of online learning in these terms leads to student expectations about the online-course experience that are over-simplified and inaccurate. Let’s face it—often online courses do get in the way of busy lives, aren’t convenient, offer very little choice in terms of pacing, and are just as difficult if not more difficult than an oncampus course. Online education grew out of the correspondence tradition of distance education, which was characterized by things like the faculty and the student being separated by space and time or the student progressing through the course at his/her own pace. Therefore, it is not surprising that certain defining characteristics of early forms of distance education have stuck with us over the years. To be fair, students haven’t derived this inaccurate view and expectation of online education on their own. One—if not the central—reason why students continue to think of online courses as easier, convenient, malleable, and so on is directly related to how colleges and universities, both for profit and non-profit, market their online programs. In other words, the way postsecondary institutions promote their programs set expectations about the online learning course experience that may be very different than what students will actually experience once enrolled. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/CUOnline/FacultyResources/additionalResources/Handbook/cuonlinehandbook2011/Documents/chapter2.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
