by Charlotte Bianco

From Joel Friederich's DE ENGL 391 class:

Teachers expect students to abide by certain rules set forth at the beginning of the classes they attend. Preparation of materials and participation in class discussions are some of the constraints among classes. The rules of each class differ by subject and teacher. Recently another variable has been thrown into the pot, the environment in which classes are taught. With new technology, classroom rules may have to change to fit virtual classrooms. Ellen Laird is a veteran distance education teacher. In reference to the difference between the two types of classes that she teaches she writes, “The two experiences are as different as a wedding reception and a rave” (Laird). She teaches the same courses in the classroom and online and has experienced results that are as different as night and day.

With the growing popularity of distance education the question in many people’s minds is, “Do online classes and traditional classes have the same standards?” Since both types of courses are held in different environments, there are many difficulties that arise in holding each to the same standard. Given the same classes, students seem to be guided by different standards based on the environment that they are in, Internet or classroom. The standards implemented in distance education are very different from those that are expected of students taking courses in class. The difference in standards all stem from the medium used in the classroom. The standards set for students in distance education go above and beyond what their peers in class are expected to do. Higher standards imposed by distance education require more work from students and teachers, more interaction among classmates, and less contact and accountability for students.

Distance education is an increasingly popular way of earning an education. More and more students that would not usually be able to attend college now have a chance to further their education. As this type of learning environment grows, the realization of how different the education a student receives becomes clearer. Both students and teachers are expected to put forth more effort and work into what they do. Many people want to try distance education courses because they are more convenient, but are not necessarily less work. In fact, most would agree that they are more difficult. Distance education courses are like independent studies. You have to read all the material and understand concepts in order to answer questions and be able to participate in discussions with classmates.

Teachers are put through special training in order to equip them with the knowledge they need in order to run an online classroom effectively. The American Federation of Teachers published the “Distance Education Guidelines for Good Practice” in May of 2000. One of the first guidelines says, “Faculty teaching Web based courses must possess strategies and skills to communicate with their students electronically in the absence of visual and oral cues.” Teachers must put in extra time in order to acquire the skills needed to teach distance education. They have to learn or know the system well enough so that they can effectively teach students in the classroom. If the teacher does not know what they are doing the class will fall apart.

The preparation time for teachers in distance education is much more than the time it takes to prepare materials for a classroom based course. The American Federation of Teachers also reported, “Some estimates range anywhere from 66 percent to 500 percent longer.” This statistic was in regard to the time that distance education teachers spend preparing for a class. The National Education Association surveyed teachers who have had the experience of teaching distance education courses. One faculty member said, “It’s a tremendous work load to maintain a good Web site, you’re forever changing it.” Another teacher commented, “Most of the courses that I teach online take more time for me per student than they would if I was teaching in class.”

Not only does the larger workload of distance education directly effect the teacher, but it also effects the students. Students have to spend a lot more time on materials in an online environment than other students who attend classes on a campus do. Dr. John Baker Jr. and Dr. George Lucas in their presentation at the Distance Learning and Teaching Conference discussed the difference in preparation time in regard to the learning environment, “Many students come to classes unprepared. In an online course, by contrast, a student cannot get by without a sufficient amount of preparation but has the luxury of not having to proceed until fully attentive and prepared.” Baker and Lucas go even further and say, “Students who are uncertain as to whether they have adequately prepared for an online course can simply pause the course, review the homework again, thereby getting maximum benefit from the online class session.”

Students, like their teachers, have to know how to use their classroom in order to get the most out of their education. Jamie Merisotis and Ronald Phipps, president and senior associate of the Institute of Higher Education respectively, wrote an article in May of 1999, which compared the classroom based and online courses. Merisotis and Phipps said, “Computer mediated learning requires special skills of students and more sophisticated technical support if students are to interact fully.” If the student does not know how to get around the classroom problems may arise which may affect their grade. There are special skills that students must acquire in order to surf the classroom to get their work done. Also, students have to take the time to get technical help if necessary because they have hit a stumbling block and are having trouble with their computer (Merisotis). In March 2002 Phipps reported, “Low literacy levels are a major hindrance, in addition to the more mundane tasks of using a mouse and working on a keyboard.” Nancy Carriuolo is a teacher, online student, and member of the Office of Higher Education in Rhode Island. Her experience as an online student has helped her to understand the technological stumbling blocks that students face. She comments, “In the case of the nontraditional student electronic learning can be problematic not only because of the complexity of technology, but also because of the technology’s dependence on print.” These things take time and effort. Technology may be convenient, but it also requires much work.

One of the biggest parts of a student’s grade in a college course is interaction and participation in the classroom. This allows students to show that they understand the material being taught. It also allows for them to pose questions to the class in order to understand certain topics a bit more. In the online environment human interaction is not a part of the classroom atmosphere. Each individual goes to their computer each day and writes their responses to the teacher’s questions and makes comments on their classmate’s responses without interacting with others.

The online classroom is one in which classmates are set apart from each other. Baker and Lewis said, “The traditional classroom setting often regulates otherwise bright and able students to the role of passive spectator rather than active, engaged learners.” In regard to online classrooms Baker and Lewis describe the change these passive students go through when they are in an online setting. They reported that students “function as the active and engaged learners they desire to be.” Passive students are given a chance to voice their opinions without the danger of confrontation. The National Education Association’s survey of distance education teachers reported, “Students always like the additional interaction, the loads of interaction with faculty. For example, like they can send e-mail, they can do a lot of different ways to interact versus one which is typically classroom or setting appointments.” Carriuolo states in her opinion, “online learning seems to offer convenient and plentiful opportunities for interaction.”

The environment of distance education requires different ways of teaching. Online courses often put a large emphasis on student to student interaction on class material. Carriuolo says, “Advocates of electronic learning often point out that learning styles of most students are accommodated not by lectures, but by engaging students in active learning accompanied by continuous feedback and review, which can be provided online.” In distance education the interaction among students and between students and teachers is very important because it is the backbone of online courses. Baker and Lewis say, “Such courses are thought to depend more upon, direct personal interactions among teachers and students in the development of intellectual capacities and core competencies then upon a simple mastery of course content.” Baker and Lewis both agree that the standard of interaction in distance education is greater than that of the traditional classroom because the course depends on that interaction in order to apply concepts. Students are reading and understanding concepts in order to meet the criteria set forth, but it is through the interaction with other students that they apply the concepts they are learning. It is especially important in the Web based environment because that is the only way it can be done.

When a student attends a class on campus they are kept accountable by the requirements set forth by the syllabus and the teacher standing in the front of the classroom each week. What happens when the teacher is out of the picture and the student is sitting in their office or in their room and stares at a computer screen all day doing their schoolwork? Where is the accountability then?

Ellen Laird compared the attitudes of her students in her traditional classes and those in her online classes when it came to deadlines. Her students in the traditional classes stuck by the given dates and if they did not make the deadlines they knew there would be consequences that effected their grades. She put it so eloquently as to say, “Even Cinderella had a deadline.” Her online students on the other hand chose when they wanted to turn in assignments. Her online students seemed to be lax about the deadlines and dictated to her when they were going to turn in their assignment. Taking that personal barrier out seems to make a big difference. To students it may seem that the consequences are not concrete. The classroom is no longer three-dimensional. It becomes a two dimensional atmosphere where the teacher has a harder time to assert their authority and keep students in check (“Focus on Distance Education”). An opinion expressed by a teacher in the NEA survey on distance education said, “I think the relationships in education are critical and I think you have to be a very dynamic teacher and if you’re on a flat screen you have to be able to come out of that screen.”

Human contact plays a big role in education. It allows for a relationship among students and between students and teachers to form (Merisotis). Seeing a teacher face-to-face keeps the students accountable for time spent in the classroom. Attendance in class is part of a student’s participation and it counts toward his study hours every week. In the distance education setting there is not accountability for hours spent in the classroom per week because attendance is not taken every week. This time in the classroom is referred to as “seat time” (Young). This is the time a student is engaged in discussion or “educational activities” (Young). In a classroom based course a student usually spends between 100 and 150 hours studying in the classroom. Students in the distance education environment, on the other hand, spend less than 50 hours in the classroom (Young). There is a big difference in the hours spent in the classroom. The accountability to be in the classroom working on tasks is not there in the Internet classroom equivalent.

Laird reported that her student’s responses in the classroom are difficult to censor in the environment of Internet learning. There is a freedom that student’s get from not seeing a teacher face-to-face. Students seem to become fearless and say things they would not usually say if they were in a traditional classroom setting “Technology cannot replace the human factor in higher education” (Merisotis).

As distance education evolves with the improvement of technology, so do the standards to which students are held. With each different learning environment come different standards that help to maximize the learning experience. There are many difficulties that students and teachers experience in the distance learning environment. This just means that there have to be different standards put into place in order to fit the situation. Interactions between students online are not going to be the same as in the classroom. The online environment often opens up a door for the passive students to share their ideas with others because there is no pressure. Also, students have a chance to think about what they want to say. There is no need to answer right away. The student just needs to answer within the time the teacher gives them. Web based learning takes the human contact out of the classroom. Taking out the human contact makes it hard to keep accountability in the classroom. Teachers are present and moderate the conversations but there is no attendance taken to make sure people “show up to class” and requirements do not appear to be as concrete as they are in the traditional classroom. Teachers set forth requirements in the syllabus and reiterate them in class all the time, but online the syllabus is there without the presence of the teacher. Therefore, the accountability is not there. The student does not see the expressions on the teacher’s face and does not feel the urgency or concern that he would in the class on campus. Lastly, the workload online is much more online than in class. It is necessary for more work to be done in order to finish what is expected of both the teacher and student. The student and teacher must both learn to use the classroom. It allows for better teaching and the student acquires the skills necessary to accomplish the tasks necessary for the week. Overall, distance education places higher standards on the student because of the learning environment. Since there are so many stumbling blocks students and teachers experience in this environment the bar of standards is raised in order to achieve the same success that traditional students get in the classroom.

Works Cited

“Distance Education Guidelines for Good Practice.” American Federation of Teachers. May 2000. Accessed: 1 May 2004. <http://www.aft.org/higher_ed/downloadable/distance.pdf>.

“Focus on Distance Education.” National Education Association. March 2001. Accessed: 29 March 2004. <http://www.nea.org/he/heupdate/vol17no2.pdf>.

“Is online education off course?” American Federation of Teachers. January 17, 2001. Accessed: 1 May 2004. <http://www.aft.org/press/2001/011701.html>.

Baker, Dr. John Jr., and Dr. George Lucas. Accrediting for Educational Effectiveness in Distance Learning Degree Programs. 2001. American Academy for Liberal Education. 10 February 2004. <http://www.aale.org/baker-lucas.htm>.

Carriuolo, Nancy. The nontraditional undergraduate and distance learning: is higher education providing a portal or just a keyhole to social and economic mobility? Dec 2002. LookSmart. 3 February 2004. <http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1254/6_34/94129286/print.jhtml/>.

Laird, Ellen. I’m Your Teacher, Not Your Internet Service. January 2003. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 9 April 2004. <http://www.chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v49/i17/17b00501.htm>.

Merisotis, James P., and Ronald A. Phipps. What's the difference? (college-level distance and classroom-based education). June 1999. Institute for Higher Education Policy. 3 February 2004. <http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1254/3_31/55015324/print.jhtml>.

Young, Shannon J., Jerome Johnston, and Susanna E. Hapgood. Assessment and Accountability Issues in Distance Education for Adult Learners. September 2002. Improving Distance Education for Adult Learners (IDEAL). 28 April 2004. <http://projectideal.org/pdf/assessment/IDEALAssess_AccExSum.pdf>.