Joshua Beckmann

Slye

ENG 1201

20 March 2022

Are Students Able to Effectively Learn in an Online Environment?

For years, online learning has been criticized by many scientists and professors as there

seems to be a statistical disconnect between effective engagement and intellectual

growth/outcome. Since 2020, however, the acceptance of remote learning has increased

drastically in correlation to the rise of Covid-19 cases and the governmental regulations of

public-school closings. However, is online learning just as effective as in-person coursework?

Are there benefits and/or drawbacks to learning in a remote environment?

Online learning was first introduced in 1983 by Ron Gordon, former president of Atari.

His program entitled the Electronic University Network, was meant to offer online courses to

those with personal computers. In 1985, the EUN had over 15,000 participating students and

over 1,700 universities including Cornell University, Boston University, and Virginia Tech.

However, EUN failed due to its inability to perform at high standards. It wasn’t until 1993 when

Jones International University became the first web-based accredited university (Etherington).

One of the disadvantages seen in online learning is the need of internet access for

students; that need is not always met especially in households that fall under lower

socioeconomic statuses. In countries such as India, internet access is expanding, but is still

lacking in many parts. In fact, school aged children can have difficulty in navigating to school as
the closest school may be miles away. Sugata Mitra, an expert in the field of education, places a

Kiosk in the Village of Chandrakona, West Bengal, India over the span of 13 years to test

whether the direct access to education via online learning will increase school attendance and life

readiness. The results demonstrated that children are prone to attend more classes in less

privileged communities and that they will be better prepared for a world ripe with technology.

This documentary also expounds that online learning decreases in-person social awareness, but

increases knowledge toward other cultures around the world through the access of cultural

information worldwide (DW Documentary).

Online learning has been on the increase over the past two decades. Issues around online

learning are expounded in researching the time period between 1990 and 2010. The studies are

from sample students who give qualitative data on the issues surrounding online learning. The

main sources of concern and error in online learning from the years 1990-1999 have been

focused around “design issues, learner characteristics, and strategies to increase interactivity and

active learning” (Florence). The issues during this decade were in response to the creation of

online leaning as a main platform and how bugs were worked out of the systems. From 200-

2009, the main issues addressed began to shift as technology grew. The main issues include

“access, equity and ethics to deliver distance education for developing nations and the role of

various technologies to narrow the digital divide, teaching and learning drivers, markets, and

professional development in the global context, distance delivery systems and institutional

partnerships and programs and impact of hybrid modes of delivery” (Florence). As stated, the

general use of technology in its bugs had been worked out by this time. However, the impact of

online learning and the general outcome had become the main issues surrounding the rise of

online education.
 Students believe that education offered in strictly an online format does not offer the

same quality as in-person courses. A poll was sent anonymously to 1,055 college presidents in

the year 2011. The poll asked each university if they offered online courses. 77% of the

presidents responded “yes.” This data includes 4-year private, public, and for profit universities.

Pew Research asserts that one-in-four college graduates (23% report) they had taken at least one

online college course. Within this same sample, 29% of respondents believe that online

education offers the same educational value compared with an in-person course. Those older

than 30 years of age report 30% approval and those under 30 years of age report 28% approval to

online leaning as equivalent to in-person (Kim Parker and Amanda Lenhart). (*This research was

written in 2011, thus the information is over 10 years old and not as credible, but noteworthy for

the essay as it contributes to correlational review.)

Many teachers have refused to utilize online learning as a teaching tool for education.

However, due to the forced closures of almost every school district in the United States, teachers

were forced to utilize the online environment to continue their student’s learning. Students in

sub-degree and undergraduate degree programs had a decreased motivation for online learning

and therefore had a lower degree of readiness than postgraduate students. Postgraduate students

also found to have an increased technology readiness (Yunyi Zhu and Jialin Ma). (*This data

was reported during the covid-19 pandemic and contribute heavily to research in a time period

that online learning is more acceptable given the circumstances.)

As a result of data and analysis from the beginning of online learning to the present,

online learning has increased drastically. One major cause of the boom in virtual learning can be

contributed to the Covid-19 pandemic. Online learning has its drawbacks as well as positive

aspects. Online learning has given students the ability to work around their schedules more
efficiently and manage their lives with added time not having to drive to and from school. It also

has allowed students to become more technologically efficient and ready for a technological

world. However, the drastic rise in online learning has decreased motivation and efficiency in

learning readiness for college students. It has also caused primary education students to become

less socially competent with those around them. A furthered question can be made: how can

educational readiness be met with social readiness in an online environment?

 Works Cited

DW Documentary. “The Future of Education - Virtual Learning | DW Documentary.” YouTube,

DW Documentary, 16 Dec. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87rP26EIK70.

Accessed 4 March 2022.

Etherington, Cait. “What Happened to the Electronic University Network?” ELearningInside

News, 13 July 2019, https://news.elearninginside.com/what-happened-to-the-electronic-

university-network/.

Martin, Florence, et al. “A Systematic Review of Research on Online Teaching and Learning

from 2009 to 2018.” NCBI, Elsevier Ltd., Dec. 2020,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7480742/. Accessed 4 March 2022.

Parker, Kim, and Lenhart, Amanda. “I. Online Learning.” Pew Research Center's Social &

Demographic Trends Project, Pew Research Center, 31 Dec. 2019,

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2011/08/28/i-online-learning/. Accessed 4

March 2022.

Zhu, Yunyi, and Jialin Ma. “Comparative Analysis of Student’s Live Online Learning Readiness

during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic in the Higher Education Sector.”

Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 8 Apr. 2021,

https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210824.018. Accessed 6 March 2022.