Research Post #7: Traditional Classroom vs Online Classroom

[rGandhi]

Introduction:
The education system has evolved a lot over the years with advancement in technology sector and availability of the most advance resources. There have been major changes in the way students are taught in schools. Changes have also taken place in the way the lectures are being conducted where more technical tools are being used to effectively communicate the message of the particular subject matter. Apart from the changes in the traditional methods of education system, technology has also opened the door for the new ways in which education can be provided to the students. One of such way is to conduct lectures online instead of going to class physically and learn in the most traditional manner. Both teaching methods have been debated for their advantages and disadvantages for the students to learn in a particular manner. This paper will try to look at both positives and negatives of learning through a traditional method or by participating in an online classroom.
Body:
The traditional classroom method has been the most proven way of teaching students over the years. The whole classroom system was started with an idea of providing knowledge to students on face to face basis. The most important advantage of this method is that the message can be communicated in the most efficient and effective manner. Since the teacher and students are get together to share knowledge, the level of interaction and participation is very high in this method. Other than that, the physical environment is created in this method for learning since students have to come together at a particular place and at particular time to get the knowledge. For some of the courses, it is important to have the physical class meeting so that students can have better clarity about the subject matter and improve the understanding in that particular course. Apart from that the traditional classroom method is recognized and valued all over the world when it comes to getting a job.
On the flip side, there are many courses which a student needs to take in order to complete the degree but they might not have as much practical importance as the other courses do so for such courses physically attending the class might not be very important. Besides that when it comes to graduate level courses, many students work full time simultaneously while getting a degree and for them going to class for each and every courses might not be possible and practical, so in that case the traditional classroom might not work as good for all the classes as it might for some of the undergraduate students. Also from the teachers point of view, if they can get away from some of the traditional classes, they can focus on the other aspect of the education which might benefit students in the future such as academic research.
The concept of teaching students online started with the help of development in internet technology and other necessary tools to fulfill the requirement of a virtual classroom. It has been a new concept which gained popularity in last one decade among students and teachers. As per the recent study made by Kim Clark (2009), there have been over 4 million students enrolled in fall semester of 2009 in US for getting education online which doubled the number than it was in 2003 [2]. The main advantage of having an online class is that students can have convenience of time for finishing the school work. As mentioned earlier, it is the most important thing for a full time working student who can manage time in effective manner to finish his/her degree in time. Secondly, it helps students to focus more on the core courses if they can take some of the pre requisites courses online which helps them to finish their degree in timely manner. According to Cynthia Jones, One more important aspect of having an online class is that students from distant places don’t have to travel much in order to attend the class so it provides a place convenience to them (2009) [1]. Some of the universities extend their geographic base by providing education in foreign countries so in order to exchange knowledge between students from different parts of the world, such scenario proved to be very useful. Another important aspect of having a virtual classroom is like giving training to students for the future since working in virtual teams is the new trend in business world and such set up gives an idea of how to work in teams where members are located at different places.
Despite of having so many advantages, critics of the system still feels that there is long way to go before online classroom method can proved to be the most effective way of learning for students. According to Peters, “It reduces education to a kind of Industrial production process, lacking the human dimension of group interaction, even alienating learners from teachers” [3]. One more argument often made against the online teaching method is that many teachers are not well versed with the technology and sometimes it becomes difficult for them to communicate the message effectively to students and that can create lot of confusion. Other than that there has been this uncertainty about the universal acceptability of this teaching method since some of the organizations do not recognize the degree obtained through online courses. From students’ point of view, online classes sometimes lacks the depth in providing the knowledge about the subject matter which requires more face to face meeting environment for teaching. Lastly, for having online courses, the technical infrastructure needed to be very strong and not every school is been able to provide it so creating such infrastructure is a big task for some of the institutes.
The comparison of both teaching methods helps us understand the positive and negative aspects related to it from student as well as teachers point of view. Though it is hard to replace the traditional classroom method of teaching with any other method but online method can be a better option when it comes to more convenient way of providing education. As development can be seen in each and every sector of the economy despite having some of the negative side to it than education system is also needed to grow with the time and when technology is easily available to everyone, it is beneficial to take its advantage in the most effective way possible. The decision of selecting the method of teaching can be taken based on the course requirement and the difficulty level of understanding for the students. So instead of just choosing one method over the other, the course should be designed after considering the all attributes related to it.
Conclusion:
In the end, we can say that any new development is going to be criticized initially till people really understand the complete system. In this case whether it is traditional classroom or online classroom, the decision can solely be taken depending upon the situation. As we have seen the both side of the coin so one can say that since we have many options available, it is important that schools designs the courses in a way that it helps student in acquiring the knowledge in the best possible way depending upon the career choices they make. At the end of the day it is important to provide knowledge and education to future generation with utilizing the best possible communication resources available.
Questions:
(1) According to you does online class provide the depth that a particular course requires?
(2) Given a choice, which method of teaching you prefer? Why?
(3) How far technology should be involved in providing education to students over the traditional methods of teaching?
References:
[1] http://college-degrees-programs.suite101.com/article.cfm/traditional_classrooms_versus_online_learning
[2] http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/online-education/2009/04/02/online-education-offers-access-and-affordability.html
[3] http://thejournal.com/articles/2001/04/01/teaching-college-courses-online-vs-facetoface.aspx

[ABauer]

In regards to question #2, I think this answer is obviously varied on a case-by-case basis. Some people don't need to be in a classroom every other day in order to fully comprehend the content. Other people find it very helpful to be present when a teacher can explain the content in person. Others can balance going physically to class as well as taking classes online. Online classes allow many people to balance their work-life with their school life, which most people find very convenient.

I believe I have been able to find a balance with my work-life and my school-life that includes taking online classes and physically going to class. Online classes at first seem too good to be true for the person taking the class. The key to successfully completing an online course is to not lose focus and procrastinate on the work at-hand. It can be easy to forget your workload, but when you leave it all to be done at the end is when you really start scrambling for answers and by then it is too late.

1. http://custompapers.com/writing-tuto...nline-classes/.

[sswaminathan]

With this current course we are studying I feel this is a very interesting topic for discussion. This post is very well written by rGandhi. I would like to further discuss the pros and cons of traditional classes vs online classes.

Traditional Classes:

Pros:
Traditional classes gives us a responsibility to go to class on time on a specific date and not at our leisure. We have lots of projects and group work which helps us to communicate with other students and professors and helps us to learn more and also in developing our communication skills. There are no problems of technical snags in a traditional system of class, we can meet the professor anytime during class hours and clarify all our doubts and the issues that we need to discuss with him.

Cons:
They are not very flexible. So for people who are working and studying at the same time, it becomes very difficult as they cannot afford to miss either of them and so they have to make choices which affects them either way. The size of the class might be huge so it is difficult to contribute effectively in these kinds of classes. The one-on-one contact with the professor becomes very difficult in those cases.

Online Classes:

Pros:
People have the opportunity to continue their studies without having to change their schedules or sacrificing work for school or vice-versa. There is a great flexibility in online courses and the posts which have to be made are announced earlier itself which gives the students an opportunity to finish their work as and when time permits. The cost of education online is much cheaper than the cost of a traditional class, so people find it more affordable too. Online system of learning gives us various chances to research on a subject and write about it ourselves so hence helps us to learn it better. The cost of travel and accommodation expenses can be spared in this system of learning and so it is more economical.

Cons:
The disadvantages of an online system would just be less chance to know people and also the lack of one-on-one communication with the professor.

Questions:

(1) According to you does online class provide the depth that a particular course requires?

Yes, I would definitely say that Online class does provide a depth. Here the postings are left to an individual's preference. A person can choose any topic, do research learn new things and then write about it in a simple way and this helps the other people who read posts written by others.

(2) Given a choice, which method of teaching you prefer? Why?

If it was left to choice I would any day prefer Online classes when compared with the traditional classes.This is because the Online classes are more affordable and also helps us learn more as we do the researching and the writing work on a topic of our own interest

(3) How far technology should be involved in providing education to students over the traditional methods of teaching?

I feel technology can be taken a step further to help the students have face-to-face discussions online and thus further expand their knowledge which would be useful for them in future too and also helps people in general to learn new things in life.