Newswise — Freshman taking distance learning classes were twice as likely to receive grades of D or F or to withdraw from the course compared to their counterparts in face-to-face classes, according to research at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Older students fared much better in the online courses.
"Freshmen really stood out," said Mark Urtel, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Education in IUPUI's School of Physical Education and Tourism Management. "It's counterintuitive -- people say younger students are the ones who grasp technology, use it most, and know it the best, but it's my opinion that they grasp the technology and use it on their terms, not necessarily ours."
Urtel's study is based on students' grades in a course he taught both online and face-to-face. Initially, he noticed patterns in students' grades so he sought funding for further study because of the growing popularity of online courses. Freshmen, he said, are generally under-represented in research involving online courses. And he said online courses also enjoy the perception that they must be better, appropriate or even easy because they involve high-tech approaches.
Urtel said distance education courses work well for some students, but freshmen need to be aware of the pitfalls and challenges involved. In his study, 60 percent of freshmen received either a D, F or withdrew from the class.
"Given the rapid growth of distance education and on-line learning, some people may assume that it involves technology, it's got to be better," he said. "Our findings, as they relate to freshmen students in particular, suggest otherwise."
Distance education experts at Indiana University offer the following suggestions and considerations:
* First semester freshmen, in general, should not take online courses, Urtel said.
* A student needs to be an organized, disciplined type of person to do well in an online course, said Lesa Lorenzen-Huber, a clinical assistant professor in IU Bloomington's Department of Applied Health Science and Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology. Usually older students do better, although older students with jobs and families can sometimes get easily overwhelmed. If a child is ill and work is demanding, the online course is the easiest thing to let go or procrastinate about because there is not a required time to attend or work on the course.
* A good online course should also be well organized, Lorenzen-Huber said. If you can't easily find your way around after a day or two, it may be the fault of the course design. Or, you may not have the technological expertise necessary for that particular course. There should be good opportunities for student-student and student-professor interaction.
* Investigate what kind of experience an online course is offering, said Elizabeth Boling, chair of the Department of Instructional Systems Technology in the IU School of Education. Online experiences run the gamut from the simplest self-paced study course that feels a lot like going through a workbook on your own and at your own pace, to courses like those in her department's master's degree program that may require students to carry out collaborative project work with peers (who may be located in another state or country), learn and use new media, make frequent contributions to discussions, meet deadlines for assignments and maintain a certain grade point average.
* Think carefully about what you want out of an online course and ask questions about it--or check details online--before enrolling, Bolin said. The highest quality course will not seem like a high quality course if it does not match students' interests or learning style, yet a less-than-polished online tutorial on the students' obscure hobby might be just right.
* Consider your own habits and preferences before you jump online as a learner, Bolin said. If potential online students have never been able to schedule themselves independently with much success, or discipline themselves to work without direct guidance from an instructor, or face the prospect of spending hours in front of the computer, they might find that online learning is simply not appropriate for them.
* Ask yourself what you can afford to put into a course, Bolin said. Every online learning experience takes time. Students might save on the time it would take to commute to a face-to-face course, and the will probably be able to study efficiently because they can schedule their own work periods around their other demands. But learning takes time and it's important to be realistic about how much time it might take. The month that you start a new job, get a promotion, plan a wedding or move into a new home may not be the time to squeeze in an online course. Many people have no choice but to work online learning into their already busy schedules; just realize that those who do find it to be a challenge.
* Look for information about the way online courses are developed and administered, Bolin said. Do they come from an accredited institution, or an organization with credentials in the subject matter? Who is teaching the course - a knowledgeable instructor or someone hired to administer "canned" lessons? Is there information available, online or via email or phone, about the kind of experiences students will have in the course? Are potential students encouraged to speak to current or former students if they ask to do so?
* Ask early what the process will be for getting into an online course, Bolin said. If buying a start-anytime web course from a commercial vendor or a professional development company, students might be able to take a credit card to the Web and begin on the same day they decide to enroll. But if students are taking a course in a degree or certificate program at a college or university, they will probably need to apply and work their way through some kind of admissions process, and likely study on a semester schedule.
* Online learning has a lot of advantages, Lorenzen-Huber said. Most adults really enjoy an opportunity to think deeply about a topic and write (and edit!) their thoughts about it. Most of her graduate courses feel like a group of close friends or a book discussion club -- Lorenzen-Huber said she really miss writing with them when the semester is over. She said there are advantages to writing over face to face meetings. I think we all feel freer to express ideas, feelings, and experiences in the relative anonymity of the online discussion forum.
Here are some Web resources: A checklist to see if online courses are suitable for you, http://onlinenurse.nb.uah.edu/distance/online/readiness_list.htm; reports from the Sloan Consortium about online programs, http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/index.asp.
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