A Comparison of OnLine and Classroom Learning

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A Comparison of On-Line and Classroom Learning

• Keith Sullivan
• Dalhousie University
• Halifax, Canada

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Introduction

• In Deloitte and Touché study
• All of the countries, except one, ranked staff
  expertise as the number one contributor to better
  customer service
• Over technology tools and better customer
  feedback..

• The question for governments is
• how much more training should we provide and how
  to use the new information technology to do it?

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Factors requiring continuous learning for
employees

• 1. IT Improvements provide greater opportunities
  to gather, store and transmit knowledge
• 2. Increase in number of jobs producing and
  manipulating knowledge
• E.g. the Canadian Federal government estimates
  that 75 of the public servants are knowledge
  workers.
• 3. Employee mobility increasing
• Yearly turnover of 40 percent of the U.S.
  Workforce

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What is On-line Learning?

• Online learning is a part of e-learning, but is
  web-based.

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What is known about the quality of on-line
classes?

• So far, not enough
• First, because most on-line programs are only a
  few years old,
• Second, technology is changing so rapidly that
  each month brings new possibilities for teaching
  on-line.
• Third, remember that we still dont know the BEST
  way to teach in a regular classroom

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Studies

• Some studies about on-line learning are
  developing a body of knowledge
• e.g. MBA programs at Athabasca University and
  the University of Western Ontario
• Findings indicate that distance students may
  actually learn more that the traditional
  classroom based students

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Learning, not teaching, must be the major goal of
on-line education

• Dr Yapp is correct to emphasize the possibilities
  for personalization of education through
  technology.
• Two important questions
• Is on-line learning an effective way for students
  to acquire new knowledge and skills?
• Can on-line education personalize learning?
• Director of Edmonton public school system

• Learning is focused on the student not the
  teacher!
• Teachers have always had learners with different
  needs and the technologies available up until now
  have required teachers to use the one-size fits
  all methodologies.

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How should students evaluate the quality of
on-line education?

• Instructor and Course Developer
• Content and Course Requirements
• Reputation of the Institution
• Cost
• Instructional Methods
• This is major focus of my study and paper

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A study of on-line and traditional

• To determine and compare the instructional
  methodologies used in both on-line and classroom
  based classes in two MPA programs.
• To compare students perceptions of the
  effectiveness of the learning experiences in the
  two MPA programs.

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Background

• Used three almost identical classes taught in
  both the Dalhousie MPAM (on-line) and MPA
  (classroom) by the same professors.
• Used a random student sample of 30 classroom MPA
  and 30 on-line MPAM
• 10 from each of the 6 classes
• Students were interviewed by telephone by an MPA
  graduate student

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The Two MPA Programs Studied were at Dalhousie
University, Halifax, Canada

• Masters of Public Administration
• Classroom residential 18 class program
• Each class is 13 weeks, three hours per week
• Students mainly come directly from an
  undergraduate degree.
• Masters of Public Administration (Management)
• On-line non-residential 14 class program
• Each class is 12 weeks with a 2.5 day intensive
  in Halifax or Ottawa at the end of each class
• Students must have at least five years of public
  administration experience,
• Are generally older than the MPA students

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The studys conceptual framework is the learning
pyramid
Average retention rate after 6
weeks Least Most
Source National Training Laboratories, Bethel
Maine
Lecture
Reading
Audio-Visual
Demonstration
Discussion Group
Practice by Doing
Teach others/Immediate Use
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What content and/or experiences do you remember
most about Class X taught by Professor Y?
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From the conceptual framework lecturing equals
low retention

• Easy use of audio and video
• A relatively new development for the internet,
  and it is exciting
• However, the low retention rate for lecturing
  should make us cautious

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Were lectures a component of your class?

• The classroom based students had lectures and
  on-line students did not.

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How valuable was lecturing as a component of your
class?
Classroom students perceived lecturing as
valuable while on-line students did not.
Not Valuable 1 Somewhat not valuable 2
Neither not valuable or valuable 3 Somewhat
valuable 4 Valuable 5
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From the Conceptual Framework, Reading Equals Low
retention

• Reading text on the screen was the first use of
  the internet for learning
• HTML combined with the internet
• Opportunity to link different sources of text
  around the world
• Make this text readily available to learners
  around the world

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Reading Low retention

• Should the low retention rate for text only
  reading caution us against relying too heavily
  on this method of instruction?

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How valuable were reading materials as a
component of your class?
Both on-line and classroom classes required
reading and students generally found reading
valuable

Not Valuable 1 Somewhat not valuable 2
Neither not valuable or valuable 3 Somewhat
valuable 4 Valuable 5
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Audio-visual Low retention

• On-line learning software allows for the use of
• power-point
• pictures
• video and audio
• E.g. Centra, Wimba
• http//www.centra.com/

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Were audio/visual aids a component of class?
Both types of classes, with one on-line
exception, used audio visual aids

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How valuable were audio/visual aids as a
component of your class?
With the exception of one classroom, audio visual
aids were considered valuable
Not Valuable 1 Somewhat not valuable 2
Neither not valuable or valuable 3 Somewhat
valuable 4 Valuable 5
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Demonstration medium retention

• Use video streaming
• Advantage of being able to be replayed by student

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Were demonstrations of course material a
component of your course?
Demonstrations were not used as much in the
on-line classes although there was some
confusion about their use.

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How valuable were demonstrations of course
material as a component of your class?
In both class settings, the students indicated
that demonstrations were valuable.
Not Valuable 1 Somewhat not valuable 2
Neither not valuable or valuable 3 Somewhat
valuable 4 Valuable 5
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Discussion Group medium retention

• In a classroom setting,
• Advantage ? a student can see body language and
  hear fellow group members, normally providing the
  richest communication environment.

• Problem ? Personalities give certain people an
  advantage or disadvantage because prejudices
  based on irrelevant characteristics (e.g. Size,
  accent) can distort communication.

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Discussion Group medium retention

• Accomplished through chat rooms or bulletin
  boards

• Asynchronous or synchronous
• while in-class discussions can only be synchronous

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Were discussion groups a component of this class?
Amazingly, discussion groups were used more in
on-line classes than in classrooms
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How valuable were discussion groups as a
component of this class?
Discussion groups were seen as valuable for all
classes
Not Valuable 1 Somewhat not valuable 2
Neither not valuable or valuable 3 Somewhat
valuable 4 Valuable 5
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Practice by doing high retention

• On-line provides opportunities for practice
  outside of class time.
• On-line tests, chat-lines, bulletin boards and
  e-mail.
• Can be frequent and revolve around the learners
  time and learning rate.
• For example, an on-line program can have a
  practice test available 24/7

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Was practice by doing a component of your class?
On-line students felt they had more opportunities
for practice-by-doing
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How valuable was practice-by-doing as a component
of your course?
On-line students felt practice-by-doing is
valuable for a class
Not Valuable 1 Somewhat not valuable 2
Neither not valuable or valuable 3 Somewhat
valuable 4 Valuable 5
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Teaching others high retention

• Teach others
• Most people can identify with the amount of
  learning when required to stand before others and
  teach a concept

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Was teaching others a component of your class?
Both on-line students and classroom students
felt they were teaching others.
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How valuable was teaching others as a component
of your class?
Students in both types classes felt that teaching
others was a valuable component (weaker in class
2).
Not Valuable 1 Somewhat not valuable 2
Neither not valuable or valuable 3 Somewhat
valuable 4 Valuable 5
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Immediate use high retention

• Immediate use
• Computer mediated learning (especially web
  learning) offers an exciting opportunity to move
  training closer to work
• closer to facilitating learning in the context of
  work practice.
• Therefore, is the regular classroom the
  distance learning

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Was immediate use a component of your class?
Was perceived as a component in all on-line
classes but not in two of the three classroom
classes.
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How important is it that your class incorporate
immediate use as a teaching method in the future?
Somewhat valuable to two online and one
classroom.
Not Valuable 1 Somewhat not valuable 2
Neither not valuable or valuable 3 Somewhat
valuable 4 Valuable 5
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Second Question

• Asked about 8 specific methodologies in teaching
  and how the student interpreted them related
  directly to Course X
• There are no right or wrong answers.

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Rank the methodologies on their effectiveness for
your learning. (Number 1 most effective and
number 8 least effective)
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Instructional Methods Learning Pyramid
Lecture
Reading
Audio-Visual
Demonstration
Discussion Group
Practice by Doing
Teach others/Immediate Use
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Instructional Methods Learning Pyramid
Val Valuable ? Questionable
Lecture
Reading
Audio-Visual
Demonstration
Discussion Group
Practice by Doing
Teach others Immediate Use
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Conclusion

• That on-line education provides at least as
  powerful a learning experience as classroom
  experience.
• Lectures are not an important component of
  on-line education.