Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning Review

I can't say that I found much in the article that surprised me, based on the other readings that were done as part of the class. Most of the article was confirmation of what was already presented in prior readings. I found the evidence suggesting that online classes were equally effective to traditional classes helpful in supporting our church's decision to offer online classes. The following were the benefits listed in the article that we would be able to capitalize on immediately; availability, cost and outreach. For small institutions such as ours, they are essential to the success of any education effort that we pursue. The article confirmed our decision to use on-line training for our ministry.

What I found most interesting and helpful was that blended classes were most effective in learning. The interaction with a teacher, which would give the student the opportunity for clarification of difficult subject matter, is the apparent reason that blended courses were more effective.

The article also points out that online quizzes were more effective in the learning process. I am not sure that offering online quizzes to enhance the learning process, but rather facilitates the requirement of testing whether or not the content was learned.

In addition, the observance that K-12 was not found to be as effective is not surprising. The benefits listed for online courses were availability, cost and outreach; not areas that the average K-12 student would be interested in.

As I stated in another review of online classes, I believe the subject matter is a key component in determining whether or not a particular online courses is successful. Courses teaching motor skills, for example, would be less effective as online.  Examples include chemistry, music or any specific skills, such as carpentry or plumbing. That does not mean that online courses could not be utilized for specific areas within those disciplines.

What this article does bring out is that as educators we can often get in the way of the learning process. We can wax eloquent on subject matter we are most comfortable with, or in an attempt to show the student how much we know, we often hinder the learning process. Unfortunately, I have experienced this problem, particularly in seminary classes. Bible classes tend to lend themselves very nicely to application and what I often find is that the teacher will lecture for the entire class when application of truth reinforce the material.

Finally, regardless of the subject matter or media used, whether online or traditional, the design and implementation of the course is the most important aspect of teaching. If an online class is poorly designed and the corresponding traditional class is well designed, then the traditional class will be more effective.