The author writes to answer the articles heading on “Is online education good or bad? And is this really the right question?”. He proposes that online education is neither a straight good or bad, rather a balanced analysis on both traditional and online education should be given.
As shown below:
“Enthusiasts of online courses say “of course it is good,” but I see this as a kind of “trick question.””
“In the same way that we can have good (and not so good) traditional classroom courses, we can also have good (and not so good) online courses. “
Summary of theory,research findings or arguments:
Author provides research/main points of three topics: research about online education, developing an online course, focus on learning. Firstly, he outlines that research on online education explores effectiveness based on criteria including satisfaction,retention and achievement. Of the select two he found, How Does Distance Education Compare with Classroom Instruction? A Meta Analysis of the Empirical Literature and Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies . Based on the two meta-analysis studies, he concluded that “online learning can be effective – but that alone is not a guarantee that it will be effective. It is not predetermined that online education is better (or worse) than a physical classroom.”.
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o He emphasises that support and assistance be given to faculty members who are developing online courses and maintain open discussion of pros and cons of online