Why Online Education Is Bad - Research Paper Example

Jordan Lancaster English 102 27 November Why Online Education Is Bad I. Introduction The advent of computers along withinternet has attracted so many people to web-based schools otherwise known as e-Learning or virtual learning or online education. Terminologies have in fact multiplied (according to the History of Virtual Learning Environments) to include Computer Assisted Instruction, Computer Based Training, Computer Managed Instruction, Course Management System, Integrated Learning System, Interactive Multimedia Instruction, Learning Management System, Technology Based Learning, Technology Enhanced Learning, Web Based Training, and On Demand Training.(Wikipedia, 1) All these terminologies refer to the same Virtual Learning Environment or VLE. VLE is simply called Online Education in this research paper. Briteschool summarized what online education is for. “There are seven main reasons why students particularly value online education and supported Home Education as a serious alternative to attending physical schools and colleges: Worldwide residents / expatriates wanting a British-style education, but not satisfied with local provision, or living too remote for the desired schooling (and not wanting to have their children attend a Boarding School, for example); Disability or health issues - either of the student, or a close family member; Confidence issues, perhaps associated with: Bullying in a mainstream school; High achievers and independent learners, perhaps with less common learning styles; School "refusers" (for other reasons than above); Philosophical, social or religious principles.” (Briteschool FAQ) There were multiple advantages with studying online, namely, (1) for those tied up with work, lack of time to travel will not be a problem when it comes to getting knowledge from a virtual eLearning source; (2) the time to get started with any course is flexible or dependent on when the student will be available; (3) even the pace of completing each part will be up to the persons initiative and his own time management; (4) the choice of environment is up to the student himself; (5) and oftentimes, cost savings can be realized due to less travelling expenses, usually lower fees, and cost of food can be lowered. After considering all these advantages and weighing the consequences of getting online education, this thesis will prove that Online Education does have adverse results that are stressful and difficult, such as a non-respected degree when finished, less chances of being chosen for a professional work in the office, having harder time grasping concepts, delay in teacher to student conversation, and also little to no social interaction. II. Problems With Finished Online Degrees A comprehensive study was done in 2006 tapping USA Executives who were looking forward to hire applicants to fill vacancies with Accounting, IT, Engineering, other business courses. The sample size was 269. It was discovered that 96 % chose candidates with traditionally acquired education.“When comparing traditional degree to hybrid delivery, 75 percent would still prefer traditional over the hybrid. In addition, 72 percent answered “yes” to the question of whether the type of degree makes a difference in the decision to select a candidate.” (Adams & De Fleur, p.32-45) In a more extensive research which lasted for nearly seven (7) years, the findings reported “stigma attached to online degrees throughout the hiring process ”. The research further said: “In summary, all scholarly research to date has concluded that the “gatekeepers” have an overall negative perception about online degrees.” (Columbaro & Monagham, 1) Gatekeepers included all employees connected to the procedures of hiring. They could be the Receptionists, Preliminary Evaluators, HR Managers. (Mitchell, 1) Henry O’ Lawrence, Coordinator of community college leadership in the Occupational Studies Department, College of Health and Human Services at California State University, performed a research and reported that there was not much of a difference in the content being taught in online education. But “instructional strategies are what really make a difference in how adults learn online, not technology itself (p. 49).” He recommended validation of whatever online students learned, by going to traditional schools. “Finally, and in the author’s opinion, students rate distance learning in various ways. Most students are not suited to this type of learning, and some subjects are not taught as effectively online as others. These opinions are totally based on classroom assessment, students’ answers to the questions asked via e-mail, classroom discussions and phone interviews.” ( O’Lawrence, p.49) This process of validating will add to the cost of education. It does not assure those who have taken online education of passing a course in the validation. Thus, for students of online education, there is a greater possibility of repeating a course instead of moving on. The American Bar Association, as of 2010, did not accredit the first internet law university, Concorde Law School. Students who graduated from that eLearning course cannot practice as lawyers in States where ABA approval is required. (Wong, 1) Another recently discovered major problem involves the needed technical support by students engaged in online studies. According to survey results made up of senior campus officials who were responsible for managing eLearning programs by WCET – Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, and CCNet- campuscomputing.net, Kenneth C. Green said that the Technical Support infrastructure has to be guided by the different schedules needed by students. ( p. 2) Table A. How Tech Support Should Be Scheduled to Assist Online Students Educators of online students were not qualified for technical support. That required additional personnel and cost which leads to another problem: the tuition fees. Respondents believed that 30% of the online students pay about the same tuition fees as students on campus while 70% of the online students pay higher tuition compared to on-campus students. (Green, p.11) A chart below (Table B) shows the details of response. Another chart showing other problems with online education (Table C) summarizes problems why online schooling is having difficulties with expanding. That presentation reveals many other problems that have an impact on the performance of online students and the outcome of questionable quality of education they receive. Apparently, the faculty resistance was identified as the biggest drawback. This was followed by lack of key instructional resources. (Green, p. 8) As of November 12, 2010, David Nagel of Campus Technology reported the changing environment which had to take place to improve the quality of online education. He said, “Forty-four percent of colleges and universities in the United States have restructured their online education programs in the last two years. And, according to new research, 59 percent will restructure them in the coming two years. Whats more, the research found that of organizations that have already restructured, 30 percent expect to do so again within the next two years.”(Nagel, 1) These actions speak of a confession concerning the quality of eLearning even as of today. III. Problems With Teaching & Learning Styles Unlike for students who report to their classrooms, those who take online education have to adjust to a program designed by the provider. There are no human instructors except in situations wherein they have to call by phone or chat online to ask questions about some points they do not understand. While the substance can be learned by reading and listening to online presentations, the knowledge is what students absorb. There is no interaction with a human Table B. Results of Survey Regarding Tuition Fees Problem instructor anytime. Furthermore, there is no seatmate to discuss with for the enrichment of newly acquired knowledge. The standpoint of supportive instructors who can be contacted should also be considered. Perhaps the reason for “faculty resistance” as a problem is also because the faculty would have no idea of what the student is doing on the other end, making it so hard to understand how to teach someone not seen in an interaction. An instructor cannot oblige the online student to setup a webcam for purposes of allowing the faculty to know if a student who calls up is lying in bed and just wants to talk to someone about a subject matter instead of first read and understand. Table C. List of Other Problems Admitted by Online Schools Different students have different learning styles. In general, it is defined as “a consistent way in which a person perceives, conceptualizes, organizes and recalls information.” (British Council, 1) In principle, students learn best if the teaching style is matched with the learning style. There are those who learn more using visual aid while others learn more by listening. But it is difficult to do this in a situation wherein the student is not known and does not interact with the instructor. The alternative modes of teaching are as follows: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, and tactile. Kinaesthetic style refers to the use of physical activities to improve learning, such as, contests, games, role playing, table workshops. Tactile mode utilizes “board and card games, demonstrations, projects, role plays while listening and reading.” ( British Council, 1) Most of the alternative forms of learning and teaching are obviously missing with Online Education. Aaron Richmond and Rhoda Cummings tried to study the Theory of David Kolb (1984) for online education. “Kolb has described four basic learning styles: accommodative, assimilative, divergent, and convergent. Incorporated within each learning style is a combination of two of the four learning modes: Concrete experiences, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation.” (p.1) What did they discover ? In their investigation of results after using Kolb’s Learning Style to study the results from the sample size students, they concluded that there is no evidence about style predicting success in online learning. (p.6) IV. Social Interaction Not Possible With Purely Online Education A survey was done way back in the year 2000 to find out if the emails, chat rooms, and instant messengers can replace social interaction. 239 respondent employers were randomly chosen. 61 % said NO. “The survey explored employers hiring practices and attitudes towards candidates with online degrees, and covered topics ranging from the degrees credibility to the industries most likely to embrace them…Respondents claim that a great deal of learning occurs through the interaction between students and educators. That discussion is lost online and students dont get to hear other students opinions and teachers real-time interpretations." ( Business Wire, 1) Knowledge has to be communicated and shared with other people. While it is true that online education allows for the learning of subject matters, the other part of the education which has to do with human relationships and interactions cannot be practiced while learning online. This is necessary during the formative years of students who will be working in a world filled with different people. It will be good for those who already have been through with the world of interactions, people who are retired or who do not need social interaction for whatever reason. To this day, lack of social interaction is the biggest deficiency of online educational attainment. Students will have to find a way to make their newly acquired knowledge meaningful in conversations or discussions face-to-face with other people. Table D. Survey Respondents According to Level of Education I conducted a random sample survey of students to compare my findings with the findings of other researchers. 21 people responded out of 25 who were given the survey form. Their age brackets turned out to be 16/21 or about 80 % within the age bracket of 17 to 25; about 5 % or just 1 fell within the age of 31-40. And 3/21 or 15 % were at least 41 years old. Of these respondents, 16/22 or 72.7 % have 1 to 4 years of college. 10/22 or 45.5 % already had a High School Diploma. Only 2/22 or 9.1 % reported themselves to be with a college degree. 1/22 or 4.5 % said they have been in college for at least 5 to 8 years. And 1/22 has a graduate school education. 59.1 % or 13/22 were made up of male while 40.9 % or 9/22 were female. They were all asked if they had ever attended online schooling. 12/22 or 54.5 % said yes. 45.5 % said no. Of the 12 people who said yes, I summed up the number of online education attended.A total of 42 or an average of 3.5 online schooling per person. Including those who did not get online schooling, the average would be 2.8. And then they were asked which style of education would work best for them. Their answers varied. When summarized, however, 12/19 or 63.16 % preferred campus education due to the importance of interaction with others and motivation to study. 4/19 or 21.05 % agreed to online education. 1/19 or 5 % agreed to both. 2/19 or 10.53 % said it depends on the student. Unanimously therefore, students would rather go to the campus to get formal education. 47.6 % or 10/21 of the 21 respondents who completed the survey believed there are problems with online schooling. Those who said yes there are problems, identified the following issues: (1) Stress of studying should be left in school and not be made a problem at home; (2) Cheating, rushing of studies, and too many distractions make online education difficult. One other respondent reported cheating by letting somebody else study for the actual student. (3) Outline of the course is not made available and instructors do not clarify expectations. It also takes a week for the online instructor to respond. (4) Students are allowed to use anything during exam and quizzes, thereby training them not to rely on memory. Later on, it will be discovered how the student did not learn anything. (5) Instructional materials need improvements. More effort is needed to know the subject. (6) It leads to poor ability to grasp concepts and grow with social skills. (7) If the website of the online school is poor, the student performance will also be poor. (8) The actual presence of a professor cannot be experienced in order to be helpful. A total of 8 respondents felt that the communication with online teachers were either bad or not good or not helpful. Note that there were only 12 who said they tried online schooling. That would be 8/12 or 75 % not satisfied with communications from online instructors. Finally, respondents were asked about how they feel an online college degree would help them when they apply for work as against a campus degree. 72.7 % or 16/22 said their chances will be worse. Nobody said it can be better. The remaining 27.3 % or 6/22 believe in having the same opportunity and chance of being hired. V. Conclusion By now it is very clear why online education is bad. This research paper pointed out multiple research results that emphasize major problems of the virtual learning system, like non-accreditation or non-recognition of degrees after course completion, failure to learn how to grasp concepts, delays in feedback from instructors to online students, lower chances of getting hired because 96 % of the “gatekeepers” prefer candidates who are educated by real universities rather than online schools. Even those who have hybrid ( mixture of traditional and online) education are less favored compared to traditionally educated students. In fact, this research paper presented the results of an extensive 7-years study in the hiring process. It reported that those who finished from traditional schools receive preferential treatment compared to those educated online, primarily because companies doubt the quality of education provided by eLearning courses. Various methods of surveys were disclosed to have been used by those who arrived at survey results (including my survey) and that were presented in this thesis. Classroom discussions, phone interviews, news articles, forum, various assessments, email surveys had been used. Findings were consistent. From different points of view, instructors, students, and employers, depending on Online Education for a degree is a bad decision. E-Learning is inferior to traditional education as of this stage of its technology. It cannot yet provide quality education. There is no certainty it will be able to do so in the near future. Among the many reasons why quality of education was identified as the major drawback for online education are: (a) the need for and lack of technical support, (b) lack of key resources, (c) difficulty with matching teaching style and learning preferences, (d) lack of social interaction between instructors and students that is supposed to train them with spontaneous, responsive communications, (e) lack of training of students to grasp concepts due to delayed response of answers to questions from online students. To further confirm some of these findings, I had ventured to do my own survey and found out a similar negative feedback about Online Education. Indeed, the greater majority, 75% showed dissatisfaction for the online instructors. 63.16 % believed in the importance of social interaction as a major part of education. Of those who took online education, 72.7 % believed that their chances for employment will be worse if they base it only on their eLearning courses. My survey therefore affirms the information that Online Education is bad for those who plan to apply for employment soon after finishing a degree in college. Works Cited Adams, J., & DeFleur, M. (2006). “The acceptability of online degrees earned as a credential for obtaining employment.” Communication Education, 55(1), 32-45. Print. Allen, Elaine I., Seaman, Jeff. “Online Nation Five Years of Growth in Online Learning.” Sloan Consortium. Sloan-C, 2007. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. Bonanno, Karen. “Online Learning: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” Australian School Library Association. N.P., April 2005. Web. 7 Nov. 2010. British Council TE Editor. “Learning Styles and Teaching.” BBC World Service, Bush House, Strand, London, UK. 8 Sept. 2010. Web. Accessed 27 Nov. 2010. Business Wire Education Writers.“Lack of Social Interaction Biggest E-Learning Problem; Vault.com Survey Uncovers Drawbacks of…” All Business- Champions of Small Business. Business Wire. 20 Nov. 2000. Web. 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