Online Education: Problem or Solution

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Online Education Problem or Solution?

• By Zachary Utz, Robert Golden, and Ian Wall

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Introduction

• The purpose of this presentation is to determine
  the effectiveness and efficiency of online
  education, or E-learning, in higher education by
  examining its pros and cons. Ultimately, it is
  our goal to show online learning to be an
  important step forward in educational. This is
  especially true in todays society.

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Benefits of Online Study Cost and Convenience
Cost Effective

• Studies have shown that at lower class enrollment
  levels, the relative cost of online courses is
  identical to traditional classes.
• However, at higher class enrollment levels, the
  price goes significantly down for online courses.
• This is due to the fact that there are fewer
  maintenance and material costs tied in with
  online classes.
• This allows schools to increase enrollment
  without the extra costs that would normally come
  with it.
• This also reduces the transportation cost and
  burden on students of online classes. Therefore
  benefiting the environment.
• This is encouraging many schools to offer larger
  lecture courses online since they can maximize
  the amount of students in such courses.

• Finkelstein, M., Frances, C., Jewett, F.,
  Scholz, B. 2000

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Benefits cont.
Convenience

• Online classes allow students and educators to
  study at their own pace.
• This is especially appealing to older potential
  students.
• Online education is allowing a demographic to
  receive an education that never could have in the
  past.
• Online learning allows you to customize your
  education to fit your already demanding schedule

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Criticisms of E-Learning

• Danger of Large Enrollment
• There is a limit to size of online class
  enrollment
• Supporters of larger classes size fail to
  acknowledge the pressures put on the teachers of
  such classes with grading and performance
  assessment of students
• An Ineffective Advance
• Even though E-learning solved the problem of
  educating more people, it still hasnt solved the
  problem of educating more effectively.
• Many believe online education supporters are only
  interested in developing technology to increase
  the amount of students, rather than developing
  technology to help students learn better.

Bray, H., Maeroff, G., R., Massy, W. Zemsky, R.,
(2007, January).
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Criticisms Cont.

• Depersonalization
• In a sense, E-learning is trading computer
  literacy skills for personal communication and
  relationship building skills.
• Many educators believe a professors has a greater
  chance of captivating a students interest, in a
  subject, in a face-to-face environment.
• Studies have also shown students personal
  interaction to be critical in developing good
  work ethic and mental health for students.

Schwartzman, R., 2007
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Student and Teacher Opinions and Impressions
Students

• Students overwhelmingly prefer the great amount
  of schedule flexibility that online class provide
• Students also like the ability to be able to work
  and go to school
• Many students feel as if they arent learning as
  much in online classes as they would if they were
  being taught face to face.
• Students also have trouble remembering class
  assignments when they arent constantly reminded.
• One study showed that the number one complaint
  from students is the lack of technical experience
  necessary to function in an online class.
• This prompts many students and educators to
  suggest a required online skills class, which
  must be taken before an online class

(El Mansour, B., Mupinga, D., 2007)
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Student and Teacher cont.

• Teachers
• Teachers also prefer the ability to be able to
  work from home, especially teachers with
  families
• However, teachers also have a problem with the
  technological issue
• A growing number of educators feel that the
  technology takes too much classroom control away
  from them
• A small amount of teachers also fear that the
  technology may ultimately end up replacing their
  educational roles

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Large Online Schools

• Three of the most popular large online schools
• University of Phoenix
• Devry University
• AIU Online
• Popular Programs of Study
• Criminal Justice
• Psychology
• Business
• Degrees Possible
• Associates
• Bachelors
• Masters
• Doctoral

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University of Phoenix

• University of Phoenix is the largest of the
  online schools
• It has 190 campuses nationwide, and almost
  300,000 students
• In 2006, it had 2.3 Billion in Revenues
• It has also been the most heavily criticized

• Controversy
• There is great concern about the effectiveness
  and accreditation of University of Phoenix
• School has reputation of being purely profit
  oriented
• Faculty is accused of being nomadic. 95 percent
  of faculty is part time. This is double the
  national average for Four-Year Institutions
• U. of Phoenixs tuition is 9,360 per year.
  Almost twice the national average at four year
  schools.
• Students at U. of Phoenix only get half the
  credit hours as four year students.
• Employers often view U. of Phoenix degrees as
  inferior, to four year degrees, when hiring

Dillon, Sam 2007
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Smaller Online Schools

• Smaller Online School systems are generally more
  effective than large ones
• Smaller systems can be more easily monitored and
  maintained than larger conglomerate systems
• There is also a higher degree of personalization
  in these schools
• One good example is the Florida Virtual School

• Florida Virtual School
• This school is available in every district of
  Florida, with 31,000 students
• It offers more than 90 courses
• The school administration actively issues surveys
  to the students and teachers to monitor progress
  and problems
• Virtual School Administrator
• The VSA is a unique and groundbreaking database
  developed by the Florida Virtual School
• It serves to back log all communication between
  students and teachers
• The VSA also keeps administrators up to date on
  how many assignments a teacher needs to be
  graded.
• This allows for an unprecedented amount of
  student and teacher supervision, especially in an
  online environment

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Future of Online Education

• In the next ten to twenty years, online school
  programs will likely double in size
• Many prestigious research universities, such as
  UNC and University of Illinois, are currently
  expanding their online learning programs
• The amount of students who enroll only online has
  jumped from 200,000 in 2000 to 1.5 million in
  2006
• In 2005, specifically, 3.2 million students took
  an online class. This number will certainly
  increase in the coming years.

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Conclusion

• Education is slowly becoming a fast food
  industry. In todays world, speed and efficiency
  are dominant. This isnt always a good thing, but
  this is the way it has to happen. The current
  populations demand, and necessity, for the
  commodity of education could not be greater. As
  we have seen with the innovations of such school
  as the Florida Virtual School, there is great
  hope and promise for the future of E-Learning.
  The traditional approach, subsequently, cannot
  keep up with this demand. The supplementation of
  E-learning is absolutely necessary to get the job
  done.