Running head: ONLINE LEARNING IN 2013

Online Learning in 2013 Dustin Ellis Azusa Pacific University Emerging Trends in Technology EDTC 515 Dr. Jim Brown June 24, 2013

ONLINE LEARNING IN 2013 Online Learning in 2013

Online learning has been something in the minds of forward thinking educators since the early days of computer technology. But the beginnings of what we would consider online learning today began in the early 90s with the advent of the World Wide Web("E-learning," n.d., p. 8) and a fast growing user base on the Internet. In the last 20 years much has matured, much has changed, but the desire to connect students to good pedagogy in an efficient and open way have stayed constant. As a result we now have a variety of online learning models that are growing and morphing each and every day. Online Distance Learning is but one form of online learning. It is synonymous with virtual schools, virtual academies and E-learning. Online distance learning really is the repackaging of traditional school in a nontraditional space delivered in a nontraditional way. Some parts of the two are very similar, and others are very different, for example, a brick-andmortar school might have classes divided into subject areas, and a virtual school might as well. A brick-and-mortar school might have a teacher for each class, a virtual school usually follows this model too. But brick-and-mortar schools track students based on age and session, where a virtual school might let students progress at their own rate as they master concepts. A brick-andmortar school would rely on face-to-face interactions with the teacher and the other students to create a richer learning environment, where a virtual school relies on digital means of interaction to create richness. These might be in the form of chats, forums, video or audio recordings or even video chatting! So as you can see there is a big difference in the method of communication, and in the transmission of the lessons between the two, but in key ways these differences make a world of difference. Often times for reasons beyond a students control they may not be able to attend traditional school due to time constraints. But because virtual academies tend to lend

ONLINE LEARNING IN 2013 themselves to flexibility of time and place these students who would otherwise be left out are now able to complete their educational obligations. And while the number of virtual academies is on the rise so to is another type of online learning, blended learning. Blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace and at least in part at a supervised brick-andmortar location away from home.(Dabbs, 2012, para. 4) Blended learning is an entry point for many teacher and students into the realm of online learning. But why would one want to try

blended learning? According to Catlin Tucker (2012), gifted California teacher and author of the book Blended Learning in Grades 4-12: Using an online learning platform, online discussions, and/or work online to compliment your class can: 1. Save Time 2. Save Money 3. Spend Less Time Grading 4. Spend More Time in Class Doing What You Love 5. Increase One-On-One Interactions with Students 6. Provide Students Opportunities to Practice Standardize Exams Online 7. Facilitate Group Work That Works 8. Communicate More Effectively with All Students 9. Build Community and Relationships 10. Have Fun(Tucker, 2012, para. 1)

ONLINE LEARNING IN 2013 These are some compelling reasons to try blended learning. It is also a great way to engage todays students who may not have grown up with the skills to sit still and listen to another human for an extended period of time, or been taught how to sit quietly or any number of other skills adults take for granted and have not thought to teach their children as they grew up in the era of 24 hour TV networks, Internet, and a sea of media at their fingertips. Blended learning is another viable online learning style that is making education more appropriate for todays students. But perhaps the most impressive and certainly fastest growing of the online education models are the MOOCs. MOOCs are now sweeping through American academia faster than anyone thought conceivable just five years ago. Almost every week, some elite private college of public university announces plans to put professors on camera and beam lectures to students

half a mile or half a world away.(Pappano, 2013, p. 1) MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course, and is exactly what the title claims. MOOCs often have hundreds to hundreds of thousands of students! In 2011 a course offered by Dr. Sebastian Thrun of Stanford University had 150,000 people sign up!(Pappano, 2013, p. 2) So massive is not a stretch when defining this type of course. Open simply means that anyone with access to the websites that host these courses may sign up, not tuition, not acceptance, no prerequisites, simply sign up and participate! MOOCs are perhaps the best suited for the online environment. After signing up the whole course pops up on the landing page and is easy to explore with the click of a mouse: schedule, syllabus, brief lecture videos, assignments, video deep dives explaining topics only touched on in class, discussion forums, and a progress page to track how you are doing.(Pappano, 2013, p. 2) After this you can go at your own pace and complete assignments mostly on your own schedule. MOOCs have great promise, and more and more universities are jumping on board

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the MOOC ship each year. But do they work. While most MOOCs see a significant drop off of students from sign up to completion the failure rate of those that finish the courses can be lower than its traditional equivalent. For example, San Jose State, offers a conventional in-class course on circuits and electronics required for engineering majors. It has suffered from a high failure rate 40 percent. SO last fall the school tried teaching the same course through a hybrid MOOC. The school assigned students randomly to the online course or a traditional one. The failure rate for the MOOC ended up at 9 percent, while students failed the other classes at similar high rates as in the past.(Pappano, 2013, p. 6) So are MOOCs the silver bullet that will put to rest the giant that is the traditional University, we will see! Whichever model you choose to focus on there are definite strengths and weaknesses in each model. The virtual school allows students to interact with others and their professors in an online space that creates true camaraderie that I experience on a daily basis as a student in this type of program currently. Blended learning is a new model for traditional schools that will be a gateway into the world of online learning for many teachers and students. It takes the best of both worlds and stirs them together to meet the needs of all that are involved. And lastly the new kid on the block, the MOOC. With its incredible scalability and the fact that it is a bit of a prepackaged course that just runs itself will show itself to be very attractive to an industry bent on making more money all the time, as well as those that are truly interested in meeting the needs of the worlds learners. Which will be the most valuable in the end? Nobody knows and I will guess that in two years we will see new models and the discussion will begin again afresh.

ONLINE LEARNING IN 2013 All of this is great for education, as it will only serve to improve pedagogy and stimulate new and different ways of learning.

ONLINE LEARNING IN 2013 References Dabbs, L. M. (2012, October 1). Blended Learning: We Are All New Teachers [Blog post].

Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/blended-learning-getting-started-lisa-dabbs E-learning. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 24, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_learning#History Pappano, L. (2013, June 2). How online learning is reinventing college [Magazine]. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2013/0602/How-online-learning-is-reinventingcollege Tucker, C. R. (2012, January 3). Top 10 Reasons that Blended Learning is Worth the Hype! [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://catlintucker.com/2012/01/top-10-reasons-that-blendedlearning-is-worth-the-hype/