March 2005

Online Classroom March 2005 full issue PDF
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Are On-Site Courses as Effective as Online?
By Dale Fowler, instructional designer at the Center for Distributed Learning at Indiana Wesleyan University
Despite the fact that online learning is a pretty well-established learning modality, there are those who continue to discuss and debate whether online is “equivalent” to on site. There are thousands of “no significant difference” studies. For those of us who have been online for some time, the issue is settled. We no longer entertain the question. It is a moot point with us. In fact, a recent experience of simultaneously teaching online and onsite has me asking quite the opposite question: Are on-site courses as effective as online?

Tips from the Pros
Habits of Effective Distance Educators

Moving Students Toward Autonomous Online Learning
Online courses often require a degree of autonomous learning that many students are not used to, and a lack of technological and intellectual skills can make the path to autonomy difficult, particularly for disadvantaged students. But as a preliminary case study of learner autonomy indicates, there are things instructors can do to help students in this new learning environment.

17 Tips for Successfully Including Peer Collaboration in an Online Course
By Teshia Young Roby, Ph.D.
Building relationships and communities through peer collaboration in online courses is a concern for many instructors, and finding a starting point might be a challenge. Fortunately, there are instructors who have undergone the processes.

Study: Friends and Web-Based Exams Encourage Cheating
Are you concerned that your students are collaborating on electronic exams? If not, perhaps you should be. In recent study of academic integrity among a sample of 824 students, 24 percent reported that they had already cheated on an electronic exam, and 42 percent indicated that they would if given the opportunity.

Using Writing Assignments to Jumpstart Threaded Discussions
Tom Vilberg, psychology professor at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, had difficulty getting his introductory psychology students to engage in meaningful threaded discussions. Students’ lack of subject knowledge and their inexperience as college students and online learners resulted in postings Vilberg calls “terrible and shallow.”

Blended Learning Design Considerations
When developing blended courses — face-to-face courses that include online learning activities — it's important to avoid merely adding online course elements without carefully considering the overall course design.