Unless you follow educational news or technology news, you may have missed one of the most significant shifts in education since the advent of the chalkboard: the availability of online learning programs. The signs are, of course, everywhere. Blogs abound. E-readers (such as the Kindle, Nook, and iPad) have almost become “must have” technology. Most major universities have developed online educational programs, and a variety of online-only programs have earned accreditation by principal educational accrediting organizations.
It is easy to see why online education has been gaining ascendancy. It provides access to learning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from any location where an Internet connection is available. When you take an online class, you can work on the course from your bedroom while still in your jammies. No one will care (or know, unless you send a video). You can take your course with you when you travel, using a WiFi connection while waiting for your plane. When you arrive at your destination, you can work on your course from your WiFi-equipped hotel room.
This wasn’t always so. As one of the pioneers of online instruction, I became well-acquainted with the downside of online teaching and learning, especially in a traditional (“bricks and mortar”) university having certain required standards and requirements for traditional 3-credit-hour classes. The problems associated with early online programs were exacerbated by the absence of controls over who could enroll in the online version of classes also being offered in traditional classroom environments.
While many of my best students ever (including the individual Debra and I hired to design our website, Rebecca Stuurwold) were in my online classes, too many of my online students were at the opposite end of the scale. The online classes also attracted foreign students whose English skills left a lot to be desired, and also appealed to students who thought that the online class would be easier and less time-consuming than a class that met three times a week for 50 minutes. The fixed, 15-week semester was also less than user-friendly for those students who were also working full-time jobs, some of which required out-of-state travel with regularity.
The advantages of online learning, however, often outweigh the disadvantages, especially when courses may be completed at the convenience of the participants. Several studies have shown that blended environments, consisting of a combination of face-to-face instruction with online instruction provide the best student outcomes. The most comprehensive study, a metastudy of online learning by the U.S. Department of Education, showed that this type of blended environment provided superior learning outcomes than either classroom-only or fully online environments alone. Download a PDF version of the complete report or view an online summary, depending on your level of interest. The metastudy was conducted of K-12 education, and my experience with both graduate and undergraduate students in business and managerial communication classes suggests that the same is true for adult students.
It seems to me that the blended environment works well because it provides the best combination of cognitive knowledge and experiential application. The thought processes are different and are mutually reinforcing. While I know of no way to test this hypothesis specifically, the quality of “student outcomes” is indirect proof. That doesn’t, of course, mean that all classroom environments produce the same outcomes, or that all online programs are equally effective. Both classroom environments and online learning environments can be well-designed or not. The ideal is to have both aspects of the blended environment be well-designed, and to have them be mutually supportive.
I have been retired from the academic environment for about 5 years now, but I am still teaching—primarily Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) at this point. I spent a lot of time learning the cognitive aspects of NLP before I elected to take workshops and selected those with whom I did most of my training based on viewing videotapes and conversations with a number of Practitioners and Master Practitioners who had been trained by different trainers. In my meetings with a number of NLP Practitioners and Master Practitioners, I was surprised by the number who had a good cognitive grasp of the principal concepts but were not able to demonstrate the associated skill. They could, for example, define anchoring without being able to set an anchor and then use it later. I also encountered a number of people who were adept at application without having a clear understanding of the concepts.
After 30 years teaching business communication and related courses at the university level, I knew that not all students achieve the same level of proficiency in any given subject, whether biology, business communication, chemistry, or statistics. The learning environment doesn’t account for 100 percent of the results. As the meta-analysis of blended learning environments illustrated, however, it does have an important influence. One of the principal advantages of most online learning programs is that they allow for “anytime, anywhere” learning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Participants can complete assignments, ask questions, and participate in discussions at those times and from those locations they find most convenient. As it turns out, that freedom is also conducive to learning.
The advantages of face-to-face learning including explanation, demonstration, and directed practice are primarily the following:
- The communication environment is especially rich, providing visual, auditory, and kinesthetic information.
- The learner has the opportunity to apply concepts in a safe environment, which allows for corrective feedback and confirmation of learning.
Because we are aware of its advantages, Debra and I have wanted to provide online instruction in NLP, Energy Medicine, and The Intuitive Process for a long time now. Twice we had installed and set up a popular Course Management Software program only to have it fail. Most colleges and universities using the program have full time technical support to help ensure that the program continues working. We have, however, finally found a reliable program we can use: WordPress. It is the same program we are now using for the SCS Blog.
We currently have the NLP program online and available. If you’ve always been curious about NLP, this may be your most convenient introduction to the subject. Our current plan is to offer online instruction on a month-by-month basis, so that those who simply want a sampling can have that, and those who are looking for a certification program that can be organized in a way that meets their needs while allowing them to meet other personal and professional obligations. We anticipate supplementing the online instruction with face-to-face learning in ways that will provide all the advantages of a blended learning environment.
For a quick overview, visit http://www.scs-matters.com. For more information, you can comment below, or send me an e-mail message at joel@scs-matters.com.
