Allen Covea

Cl 403
1echnology aper
1echnology ls Lhe deflnlLlon of Lhe 21
sL
cenLury and wlLh LhaL LducaLlon seems Lo be
changlng and growlng (some may say) ln Loday's socleLy Lechnology has been lncreaslngly
galnlng popularlLy ln Lhe classroom More and more Leachers are beglnnlng Lo use Lechnology
and flndlng ways Lo lncorporaLe lL ln Lhe classroom SLudenLs all over are embarklng Lhrough a
new experlence called onllne learnlng" Cnllne learnlng" here means someLhlng more
exLenslve Lhan supporLlng classroom lnsLrucLlonlL refers Lo an enLlre course of sLudy LaughL
prlmarlly onllne 1he quesLlon LhaL remalns ls how does Lhe effecLlveness of onllne lnsLrucLlon
compare wlLh Lhe effecLlveness of LradlLlonal" faceLo face lnsLrucLlon? 1hls paper wlll focus
on Lhe comparlsons and effecLlveness beLween LradlLlonal lnsLrucLlon and onllne learnlng" ln
educaLlon
As of SepLember 2007 42 sLaLes had slgnlflcanL supplemenLal onllne learnlng
programs (ln whlch sLudenLs enrolled ln physlcal schools Lake one or Lwo courses onllne) or
slgnlflcanL fullLlme programs (ln whlch sLudenLs Lake mosL or all of Lhelr courses onllne) or
boLh" (LvaluaLlng Cnllne Learnlng Challenges and SLraLegles for Success) 1hls shows Lhe greaL
lncrease of onllne learnlng sLormlng Lhrough Lhe unlLed SLaLes lL shows Lhe lncrease of schools
LhaL are somehow lncorporaLlng onllne learnlng lnLo Lhelr currlculum wheLher lL ls a course
solely based onllne or an acLual LradlLlonal course LhaL has some onllne componenL AL Llmes
some of Lhe effecLlveness of Lhese onllne courses ls based on Lhe experlence wlLh Lhe use of
Lechnology of some sLudenLs ln Lhls arLlcle lL sLaLes When comparlng Lhe experlences of
Algebra l Cnllne sLudenLs and LradlLlonal algebra sLudenLs LuC evaluaLors found mlxed resulLs
Cn Lhe one hand onllne sLudenLs reporLed havlng less confldence ln Lhelr algebra skllls
Speclflcally abouL LwoLhlrds of sLudenLs from Lhe conLrol group (Lhose ln LradlLlonal classes)
reporLed feellng elLher confldenL or very confldenL ln Lhelr algebra skllls compared Lo [usL
under half of Lhe Algebra l Cnllne sLudenLs 1he onllne sLudenLs also were less llkely Lo reporL
havlng a good learnlng experlence ln Lhelr algebra class AbouL oneflfLh of Algebra l Cnllne
sLudenLs reporLed LhaL Lhey dld noL have a good learnlng experlence ln Lhe class compared Lo
only 6 percenL of sLudenLs ln regular algebra classes. 1hls flndlng suggesLs LhaL Lhe onllne
algebra sLudenL's performance dld noL correlaLe wlLh Lhe LradlLlonal algebra sLudenLs
Accordlng Lo Lhese flndlngs lL shows Lhe effecLlveness of an onllne course compared Lo Lhe
LradlLlonal course SLudenL reporLlng's are cruclal ln analyzlng Lhe effecLlveness of an onllne
learnlng" class so Lhls should be looked upon as an opporLunlLy Lo furLher examlne why Lhe
resulLs came ouL Lo be Lhe way Lhey are
WlLh onllne learnlng" come a loL of quesLlons regardlng lLs effecLlveness Slnce Lhe
work ls onllne some lndlvlduals may Lhlnk LhaL Lhe course ls noL effecLlve for everyone because
LhaL [usL means LhaL some sLudenLs could be copylng oLher sLudenLs work and only a bundle of
sLudenLs would acLually beneflL from Lhls course roblems llke LhaL are already LhoughL ouL of
ln llorlda ln llorlda onllne courses have revoluLlonlzed educaLlon as a whole 1he llorlda
vlrLual School ls a school where lLs courses are all onllne wlLh open enrollmenL 1he open
enrollmenL ls beneflclal Lo sLudenLs because Lhey do noL have Lo be walLlng for school
schedules Lo sLarL before Lhey acLually sLarL geLLlng ahead ln Lhelr educaLlon Plgh school
sLudenLs are glven Lhe opporLunlLy of open enrollmenL and are able Lo graduaLe from hlgh
school aL leasL one semesLer early (whlch ls a poslLlve Lhlng) 1here was research done by
llorlda 1ax WaLchan lndependenL nonparLlsan nonproflL 1helr goal was Lo see Lo whaL
exLenL does Lhe llorlda vlrLual School offer an efflclenL alLernaLlve Lo Lhe LradlLlonal sysLem of
educaLlon ln Lhese flndlngs lL compared sLudenLs who Look a class aL llorlda vlrLual School
(lvS) and sLudenLs who Look LhaL same course aL a LradlLlonal school 1he facLs showed LhaL
sLudenLs who Look Lhe courses aL llorlda vlrLual School showed hlgher grades ln Lhe same
sub[ecLs LhaL Lhelr counLerparLs LhaL Look Lhem aL a LradlLlonal school Answers as Lo why
sLudenLs enrolled ln lvS scored hlgher Lhan Lhe sLudenLs ln Lhe LradlLlonal classroom accordlng
Lo Lhe arLlcle sLaLe 1eachlng and learnlng are sclenLlflcally lnLlmaLe 8esearch sLudles of
longsLandlng have sLaLed LhaL boLh Lhe sLudenL and Lhe Leacher musL be personally lnvesLed for
maxlmlzed resulLs Slnce lLvS sLudenLs are enrolled by cholce Lhere ls lnlLlal evldence of Lhelr
dlsposlLlon Lo poslLlve learnlng ouLcomes" WhaL Lhls means ls LhaL Lhe flndlngs are a resulL of
boLh Lhe sLudenLs and Lhe Leachers lL means LhaL onllne learnlng" ls only as effecLlve as Lhe
moLlvaLlon LhaL sLudenLs have lf sLudenLs are opLlmlsLlc abouL Lhe onllne course Lhen Lhey are
more llkely Lo perform well ln LhaL course because of LhaL moLlvaLlon LhaL wlll be golng on vlce
versa lf a sLudenL ls noL exclLed or looklng forward Lo Lhe class Lhen Lhere Lhe resulLs would noL
be as hlgh as Lhey are ln Lhe llorlda vlrLual School Powever Lhese flndlngs already accounL for
sLudenLs who wlLhdrew from courses from lvL whlch ulLlmaLely messes wlLh Lhe correcL"
resulLs
1radlLlonal learnlng has always been Lhe way socleLy grows up learnlng buL Lo whaL
effecL ls LhaL effecLlve? SLudenLs have Lhe opporLunlLy Lo have access flrsL hand for help ln Lhe
classroom how can LhaL and onllne educaLlon be lncorporaLed LogeLher? ln Lhe arLlcle 1he
Convergence of Cnllne and laceLolace LducaLlon" lL sLaLes 8lended learnlng comblnlng Lhe
besL elemenLs of onllne and faceLoface educaLlon ls llkely Lo emerge as Lhe predomlnanL
Leachlng model of Lhe fuLure" 1hls ulLlmaLely means LhaL Leachers all over need Lo sLarL
reachlng ouL Lo some sorL of use ln Lechnology as form of educaLlon Lven posLlng a homework
asslgnmenL onllne Lhrough emall ls a sLarL Lowards onllne educaLlon because lL wlll be glvlng
sLudenLs LhaL lnLroducLlon Lo Lhe world of Lechnology and educaLlon 1he arLlcle says 1oo
many schools are still attempting to prepare students for this world without teaching within the
mode that students will find when they move on to post-secondary education or the workforce.
nstead, we appear to be preparing students for information-based jobs where they will share a
single desktop computer with 25 co-workersjobs that clearly do not exist. The effectiveness
of using both traditional schooling and "online learning will be helping students in the future.
People in this world will be exposed to different jobs and that experience in the classroom of
using the technology as a form of a full fledge course, or a blend between traditionalism and
online learning will be the ultimate deciding factor in the productiveness of the job.

ln my oplnlon l belleve LhaL faceLoface lnLeracLlon ln Lhe LradlLlonal
classroom ls Lhe mosL effecLlve ln my experlence wlLh onllne courses l have been faced wlLh
challenges when a quesLlon arlses and l wanL a qulck answer WlLh onllne courses l would
have Lo walL for a response from Lhe course professor buL wlLh a LradlLlonal classroom my
quesLlon would be answered seconds afLer my hand has been ralsed l feel llke Lhe faceLoface
lnLeracLlon ls needed ln order Lo fully undersLand Lhe maLerlal because Lhe conLenL ls explalned
wlLh deLalled examples buL wlLh an onllne class lL's preLLy much Lhe lecLure noLes and Lhe
LexLbooks LhaL you have Lo help you
1he effecLlveness of boLh onllne learnlng and LradlLlonal classrooms really
depend on Lhe lndlvldual and how he/she performs references could have a greaL lmpacL on
Lhe resulL of Lhe educaLlon and Lherefore musL be looked aL wlLh greaL deLall














Works ClLed
. 'A Comprehensive Assessment oI Florida Virtual School. Florida Taxwatch (2007): .

2. 'Challenges and Strategies Ior Success. U.S. Department oI Education (2008):7.

3. Watson, John. 'Blended Learning: The Convergence oI Online and FacetoFace
Education. The North American Council Ior Online Learning (2008): 7.