Is Online Education Proving to Be Successful - Example

Is online education proving to be successful? Module PM203 Table of Contents Introduction 3 Literature Review 3 Defining Online Education 4 How it works? 4 Current Market analysis for Online Education 6 Effectiveness of Online Education 7 Findings and Analysis 8 Conclusion and Recommendation 9 References 10 Introduction With the emergence of such revolutions in technology side, there has been seen a shift in ways of doing business, shopping, communicating, and also getting the education. This is the information era, where people can do a lot of things just by “clicks”, the technology advancements have revolutionized every aspect of life. In the same way, the education ways are shifted much, where the learning ways are being reinforced by communication technologies (Anderson, 2008). The online education is a new way of learning that is accepted by new communities nowadays. It is no more an unfamiliar thing, and not restricted to have the knowledge of information technology and digital mastery. Rather, it has many different forms where it also includes hybrid techniques, especially using software applications, CDs, online, internet, and other electronic ways (Anderson, 2008). In online education, mostly the internet is used as an intermediary mode for communicating, collaborating, discussing and interfacing, where the teachers and students interact with each other through virtual means. As Burbules and Callister (2000) have pointed out that “learners and teachers engage in unique and irreplaceable learning opportunities” (Burbules & Callister, 2000, p. 277). The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of this new way of learning, “online education”, with reviewing the previous literature and studies conducting over it. Literature Review The literature review presents the overview of the current literature present in assessing that either the online education has proved to be successful or not? In this section, the definition, method or technique and also the current market for online education is elaborated. Defining Online Education There is a history behind this term, which evolved from distance education to the online education. In early 90’s, it was termed as the distance education, where the computers were the medium in providing education to a person sitting far away from its teacher. As it is defined as, “The instructional delivery included an instructor who was physically located in a different place from the learner, as well as possibly providing the instruction at disparate times” (Moore, et al., 2011, p. 129). It can be argued here that this definition lacks the methods and techniques of learning which is vastly different from traditional ways of education (Moore, et al., 2011). Later on, there has been a number of terms and definitions proposed for this type of education, where the researchers argued that e-learning, web based learning, distance learning, web based training, online courses, and online learning are terms which can be used interchangeably (Khan, 2001; Triacca, et al., 2004; Wagner, 2001). Though, still the term and definition lack consensus in literature. However, the online education or online learning or e-learning can roughly be defined as an interactive learning, where the learning material can be accessed from the internet, and this interaction is through virtual means (Mitchell, 2010). How it works? Online education can be in different forms, but it is a process where sometimes the students or learners can have their feedbacks spontaneously. This kind of learning involved a two side communication, from which the students can get a lot of benefits by taking and giving feedbacks, and also it allows proper discussion. This way, the computer networks support the student’s learning and augment it with more visual and printed learning materials. In this regard, the online education is highly dedicated to the learning material and its designing rather than other factors which may come as a hindrance in learning (Mitchell, 2010). The online education needed the employment of educational expertise using technology, Information and communication technology, computer networks and automated media in education. According to (Leidner & Jarvenpaa, 1995), this implementation of internet and computer assisted programs have altered the system of teaching and acquiring education. It develops the classrooms as an entirely different place to learn. In this scenario, applying IT tools does not mean making the education system speedy or to assist the shy students in increasing their pace. However, it means to reduce the dependency of students on teachers and books. In fact, it trains the students to find the appropriate resources relevant to their assignments. In addition, teachers will not spoon feed students. They will only guide students for getting learned. In view of the fact that learning of students depends on the training of teachers, hence a well-trained teacher can help students in a better way than an untrained teacher (Leidner & Jarvenpaa, 1995). Usually, the online education has various ways of learning, where it can use a number of media forms that provide text, written, audio form and also videos or computer graphics to learn more practically. It encompasses technology procedures and students can have video tapes, audio and computer-centered learning. This kind of education is not restricted to have a classroom, or it can either be self-patrolled or headed by a teacher or sometimes, it can use the asynchronous learning. Nonetheless, such kind of learning usually prefers the students sitting at a distance or with flexible timings, or it can also be employed as a hybrid technique of learning (combining both traditional and e-learning techniques) (Morabito, 1999). There is a varied degree of supporting and substituting the traditional ways of education with online education techniques. The hybrid forms may be successful, but such forms are seen quite rare. However, the online education is present in the industry as zero or full. It is still a question that either the online education should be present in global education industry or not, as its effectiveness is still a question and seen in literature, but mostly lacks practical evidence. It has some obvious benefits too, such as it is good as economically, and young students gives such methods of learning more priority than traditional ways. Current Market analysis for Online Education The trend of online education has been increasing nowadays, as there is seen an upsurge in the development of such communities and universities providing education services online. There are number of factors which have contributed in this development of online education trend (Morabito, 1999). Such increase in the online education across the globe has resulted from the increase in different types of courses and programs as well as the altering demographics of students wishing to get higher education and more practical learning from all over the world (Haythornthwaite & Kazmer, 2004). First factor can be described as there is expansion in more specialized programs attributed to some specific kind of job, such as hotel management has in itself a number of programs. Secondly, the learners have quite varied demographics, where people of different ages, retired or job-holder, married or single are trying to get higher education, rather than only young students. With such growth and development, online education has allowed people to get higher education by allowing their reach to them. It has seen recently that there is an increase in online institutes, as less demand for facilities coupling with the more enrollments have let the institutes to get greater profits (Haythornthwaite & Kazmer, 2004). It is seen that there is 33% increase in the enrollments in online education each year, which is mostly due to the fact that enrollments are of usually married people or employed persons who do not have time to attend the traditional classes. Thus, it has affected the education industry on the globe positively (Shelton & Saltsman, 2005). This online education trend and environment is being adopted by a number of well-known institutions on yearly basis due to its offered benefits. As it gives a different way from traditional class method. This upsurge can mainly attributed towards the increased availability and usage of internet where these elements are highly connected to technical capabilities (Anderson, 2008). Effectiveness of Online Education With regard to the effectiveness of online learning, a number of studies have been conducted to access and have different perspectives over it. According to Quillen, (2010), the effectiveness of online learning has much effectiveness in learning capabilities of the students, where the students feel more collaboration with the instructors and higher access to learning materials (Quillen, 2010). But Quillen (2010) has also suggested that it depends on the subject or the course, where its methods can be effectively employed. On the other side, a number of studies found that there is not much difference in motivation, effectiveness and success of education among the traditional education ways and online learning techniques (Bernard, et al., 2004). However, some other studies conducted to see the effectiveness of online education has argued that online learning can be equally significant as the traditional education method (Zhao, et al., 2005). USA Department of education also conducted a study in 2009, where it is suggested that students show much improved performance in online learning methods rather than in traditional ways of face to face education (Feintuch, 2010). Feintuch (2010) also concluded that there is more learning and discussion in the inline collaborative environment, as the students feel less hesitant and more confident (Feintuch, 2010). The effectiveness also depends upon the age of the learners, as Toch (2010) suggested in his study that “The younger and more disadvantaged students are, the more they need school to be a place rather than merely a process, the more they need to be connected to a network of adults supporting them in many different ways every day” (Toch, 2010, p. 73). This shows different views and evidence present in the literature regarding the effectiveness of online learning. Findings and Analysis The above presented literature review suggested that there has been an upsurge in the online education trend. This section has presented main findings of this paper. The online education has a number of forms, and in literature it is named differently. However, it’s effectiveness in learning outcomes has been questioned and much of literature is dedicated over this debate. It is important to see that either this kind of learning is more effective than the traditional way of learning methods. The increasing concerns in online education has challenged the traditional educational institutes in order to reconsider their pedagogical, organizational, cultural and academic structures and parameters, where they are in need to adapt to a very different and novel culture of learning and teaching (Howell, et al., 2004). With regard to the definition of the online learning and also for the term used to describe it is still debated and in literature, there is little consensus found in this area (Moore, et al., 2011). The online education provides different methods and techniques for learning, which encompasses written text, audio, videos and graphical representation of different subjects (Mitchell, 2010). There is positive market for the online education, as the trends of higher enrollment of people from diverse age groups, income levels, and marital status, as well as the development of more specialized courses and programs can be attributed to this increase level in online learning (Haythornthwaite & Kazmer, 2004). With regard to the effectiveness of the online learning, there is little agreement of the evidence and studies conducted over it. But it is suggested that there are some factors on which the effectiveness is highly dependent, such as the age groups and also the subject for which learning is being attained. As there are different requirements for different kinds of courses or programme, which entails the need for different education ways. As Toch (2010) suggested that the online learning has its own importance but the school and classes have their own environment, which is also needed for students, especially for the young students. Many studies suggest that there is no debate over it as there is no difference in whatever method is used (Triacca, et al., 2004). But some studies also supported that there is more effective learning in online education (Feintuch, 2010). Conclusion and Recommendation This paper has presented the critical review of literature over the online education, its definition, and its working, current market for it, and the effectiveness in learning ability of students. The literature presents no agreement over the definition and effectiveness of online education as compared to the traditional method. It is suggested in this paper that this area requires more research by inclusion of a number of other factors, such as the online education effectiveness depend on the age and subject of the education. Thus, it is recommended that the online education has a lot of benefits and is needed in this new era of information, but it should be kept in mind that it is not for all circumstances. References Anderson, T., 2008. The theory and practice of online learning. 1st ed. Edmonton: AU Press. Bernard, R. et al., 2004. How does distance education compare with classroom instruction? A meta-analysis of empirical literature. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), pp. 379-439. Burbules, N. & Callister, T., 2000. Universities in transition: The promise and the challenge of new technologies. The Teachers College Record, 102(2), p. 271–293. Feintuch, H., 2010. Keeping their distance. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 27(3), pp. 1-20. Haythornthwaite, S. & Kazmer, M. M., 2004. Learning, culture and community in online education: research and practice. 1st ed. New York: Peter Lang. Howell, S., Saba, F., Lindsay, N. & Williams, P., 2004. Seven strategies for enabling faculty success in distance education. The Internet and Higher Education, 7(1), p. 33–49. Khan, B., 2001. Web-based training. 1st ed. Englewood Cliffs: Educational Technology. Leidner, D. & Jarvenpaa, S., 1995. The use of information technology to enhance management school education: A theoretical view. JSTOR, MIS quarterly, 1(1), pp. 265-291. Mitchell, R. L. G., 2010. Online education. 1st ed. San Francisco: Calif, Jossey-Bass. Moore, J. L., Dickson-Deane, C. & Galyen, K., 2011. e-Learning, online learning, and distance learning environments: Are they the same?. Internet and Higher Education, 14(1), p. 129–135. Morabito, M. G., 1999. Online distance education: historical perspective and practical application, New York: Universal Publishers. Quillen, I., 2010. E-learning delivery debated. Education Week, 29(30), p. 5. Shelton, K. & Saltsman, G., 2005. An administrator’s guide to online education+. 2nd ed. Greenwich: IAP-Information Age Publication. Toch, T., 2010. In an era of online learning, school still matter. Phi Delta Kappa, 91(7), pp. 70-79. Triacca, L., Bolchini, D., Botturi, L. & Inversini, A., 2004. Mile: Systematic usability evaluation for e-Learning web applications. AACE Journal, 12(4), pp. 1-10. Wagner, E. D., 2001. Emerging learning trends and the world wide web. In: Web-Based Training . Englewood Cliffs: Educational Technology Publications, p. 33−50. Zhao, Y., Lei, J. Y. B., Lai, C. & Tan, H., 2005. What makes the difference? A practical analysis of research on the effectiveness of distance education. Teachers College Record, Volume 107, pp. 1836-1884. Read More