As students, teachers and parents embark on a journey into uncharted territory, there is much concern about how hybrid and online education impacts student learning.
More and more courses are being offered online, especially at the high school and college level.
There is a common myth that in-person is always superior to online learning, when in fact, there are many advantages to online learning over the in-person classroom experience.
One valuable asset of online learning is that discussion forums on platforms such as Quip or Blackboard are more in-depth than traditional classroom discussions. Students can take time to read and reflect on their own and their peers’ entries in order to compose and revise a well-thought-out response.
They can also go back and revisit a current or previous thread, enabling them to draw even more substantive conclusions. An online conversation about a specific topic can go on for a week or more, as opposed to an hour or less, in a brick and mortar classroom where time is limited.
An additional advantage to an online discussion board is that many students are more comfortable giving their opinions and ideas online, and asking questions, than in a traditional classroom. They also tend to be more honest and open about their thoughts, particularly when confronting difficult topics.
Students with special needs get more time to formulate their thoughts and writing rather than being asked to spontaneously participate when they often need extra time for such a task, overall making the online discussion forum more egalitarian and inclusive, leveling the playing field in many ways.
Taking an online course also teaches students that there is a more serious, purposeful and educational way to use their minds and creative skills online as opposed to their time spent on social media platforms, such as Tik Tok, Instagram and Snapchat.
Using visual representation such as pictures and videos of individuals telling their own stories, side-by-side written histories, helps to create a more accurate account and a more engaged connection with other human beings, while challenging familiar and preexisting narratives.
Students are also proud of and amazed with the end results of the multidimensional and visually stunning presentation they can create about a topic in addition to their written papers.
Online presentations can be shared among the entire class, and receive feedback, as opposed to the linear and monolithic written paper that is only shared between student and teacher.
Some of the more common visual online resources include:
- eBooks, text and digital images, animations
- Interactive maps, images, and video
- Interactive journals and blogs
- Podcasts
There are also a few downsides to online learning, as in any model, such as an inequity in access to technology, which is an important issue and challenge throughout public education. And of course, it is a given that nothing replaces the valuable social interaction that students glean from an in-person classroom experience.
A combination, however, of online and in-person, establishes a hybrid model that creates an ideal educational experience.
Online learning can be quite exciting and effective if done properly, with the added benefits of fostering self-discipline, time management and self-agency skills in students, which is extremely important for success when going out into the world.
As a new fall semester approaches, don’t be afraid to encourage your high school and college students to take an online course or two, along with in-person classes, creating a multidimensional and interactive educational experience.
And teachers, don’t be afraid to add an online element to your courses where students can go home and journal together, further engage in a discussion forum that they’ve started in the classroom, and create visual presentations expanding upon what they’ve learned that day. You have all summer to prepare!
(Note: Dr Gale Bellas-Papageorge has served on multiple higher education curriculum committees and has designed Comparative American Literatures, Composition and Rhetoric courses both in-person and online at multiple universities, particularly Fairfield University.)
The Cultural Easton 