Katie Hanson Source 1

How effective are online courses in teaching students?

Swartz, Louis B., Michele T. Cole, and Daniel J. Shelley. "Measuring Effectiveness in Online Instruction."
Encyclopedia of Distance Learning. Ed. Patricia Rogers, et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, 2009. 1399-1403. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3512500213&v=2.1&u=morenetuomcolum&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=83122c5af37db4df14243dc40d1610


Higher education has had to offer more and more online courses in order to remain competitive. Online courses allow universities to reach out to more students who they wouldn't of been able to reach because of distance, disabilities, army, or age. There have been numerous studies that have looked at the effectiveness of online courses by either measuring students learning, grades, or student satisfaction. The article mentions multiple investigations that support that there is no grade difference between online and "traditional", how the article refers to in class courses, even while including factors such as race, gender and background. In some studies online courses have provided higher grades than traditional. However, there have been differences between student satisfaction with the course when comparing online and tradition. Students are usually less satisfied with online courses. There has been mixed data, though, when researching student satisfactions. Research has also not been able to identify the causes of why students are less satisfied. The author does mention how online courses may begin to change with the use of web cameras and video chat. It is suggested that the key to an effective online course is interaction between the instructor and student. The author mentions that one researcher has suggested that the question about how effective are online courses should change to "Are on-site courses as effective as on-line?"

I feel like this sources confirms that when comparing grades online courses are going to be equal if not better to traditional courses. However, I am still wondering about student's study methods and the way tests are delivered. I feel like this source really emphasizes interaction between student and teacher which is an aspect I had not really thought about. I do not think there is really any place I would disagree with the author. I think I am more shocked that there wasn't as big of a grade difference. However, this is only my first source and I could come across more compelling evidence. I think this source does answer my question to how effective are online courses in teaching students. I was interested in grade and the article says that they teach students just as effective.

This source has lead to me to wonder how much time do students who take online courses spend on their course and how much time do they study. I feel like this article has lead me more to look at a student's satisfaction and what does teacher interaction provide students. I might also go into looking at how online courses are changing with the use of web cams that could provide student/teacher interaction.