Online Learning - Wave of the Future
by Alison Hollingworth
Universities and colleges are all jumping at the chance to run courses online. The question is, are online courses really an effective way for students to learn?
Faster, cheaper computers and speedy modem connections have made the web much more accessible to users around the world. Educational institutes have jumped on this enormous trend and are beginning to run many of their courses online. By offering classes over the web, schools can decrease their costs and, at the same time, increase their enrollment by huge numbers. For many students, an online education is a less expensive and more flexible way to learn. Critics, on the other hand, are quick to point out many disadvantages of learning over the web.
How exactly does an online course work? The idea of creating teaching tools to run online originated from the idea that the web could be used to enrich the learning experience. Murray Goldberg, president of WebCT Canada - the biggest web-based learning company - originally created teaching tools for the web for his own use as an instructor at the University of British Columbia. The company now has close to 900 licenses in over 40 different countries. WebCT provides teachers with the software to build their curriculae online. Instructors then choose which elements they want to incorporate into their online course. Publishers also use WebCT to sell their materials over the web. Students can purchase course material on the web instead of buying textbooks. Some of the course tools instructors can use to supplement their class lectures include conferencing, on-line marking, grade storage and distribution, and searchable image archives (where the instructor uploads images to be included in the course). The most popular course tools are bulletin boards, which allow communication among teachers, students and markers, and chat rooms, which provide students with the opportunity to discuss course issues online in real time.
More than 17,000 courses are now available online around the world, with the number rising dramatically all the time. Almost 3000 of these courses come from Canada. Alberta is considered to be a leader in web-based learning - the highest number of kindergarten to grade 12 students in the country are enrolled in online courses in this province. SAIT has been quick to jump at this opportunity. The institute is planning to offer up to 45 percent of its courses online by 2004 and officials have dubbed the school "cyber-SAIT". Running this many courses online will increase the institute's enrollment by 10,000 students. Another leader in web based learning is Seneca College in Toronto, Ontario. The college has opened a $55 million "wired campus" at York University. This new campus features an electronic library service and a computer lab which provides access to internet and distance programming 24 hours a day.
Online courses have a number of tremendous advantages. For schools, online learning has provided an excellent opportunity to improve their financial situations. Many students who might otherwise not be able to attend post-secondary institutions are able to enroll in college and university programs via the web. Although the cost of taking a course online is not much different than taking
it a school campus, there are no additional travel or living expenses involved. Students also have greater flexibility - taking a course online means they can work on their own time. Proponents of web based learning also argue that there is an increased access to instructors (through bulletin boards and e-mail), and that chat and discussion groups provide lively communication among course participants.
However, many people are quick to criticize this new form of learning. Online courses are becoming so widespread because they decrease administrative costs and increase enrollment, providing an institution with much needed funds. Obviously teachers are concerned about job loss. At some universities, professors are refusing to sign over teaching materials for Internet courses because of the issue of intellectual property rights. Many parents are concerned that their elementary-school aged children are spending too much time on computers and not enough time learning basic skills.
No matter what the advantages, web based learning should be used to enhance the traditional learning environment. Online courses provide the opportunity to present information in new ways. All people learn differently, and online courses allow students to learn in different ways. However, online courses cannot replace the role of the teacher. For a web course to work well, there must be small student to teacher ratios and a great deal of communication between instructor and pupil. There's no question that the web has made huge amounts of information much more accessible. In the same way, online courses can enrich the learning experience for students of all ages.