Another 'Inferior' Online Course: Debunking Myths with a Side of Reality Check for Higher Ed

Dec 12

Dec 12 Another 'Inferior' Online Course: Debunking Myths with a Side of Reality Check for Higher Ed

Another day, another academic saying that online learning is inferior to face-to-face classes.

When I read this statement, I hear that they never have A) enrolled in a well-designed online course before and B) researched the preferences of students. It seems easy to disparage online learning, especially with emergency learning still fresh in everyone’s mind. I can personally tell you that I can’t sit still for 8 hours on Zoom calls and the idea of having this be the primary method for learning sounds like a living nightmare. I’ve also seen plenty of the videos of the instructors trying their best, but speaking in poorly lit rooms, without microphones, and not understanding Zoom, is not going to go well.

While this was a time of craziness, this wasn’t genuine online learning. There are decades of research on how to design meaningful and relevant learning experiences and when followed properly, the online courses are surprisingly great. Huge shocker, I know, but look at the major institutions right now researching, innovating, collecting feedback, perfecting their online learning strategies and having tremendous success. They are aware that their courses can't just be monotonous with readings, discussion boards, and essays. They go above and beyond to center the designs around the latest with learning strategies and techniques.

What doesn’t get enough attention, if we really want to play the comparison game, is that we have all taken horrible face-to-face courses before and the issues still persist. If you are like me, you’ve taken face-to-face courses with overly crammed PowerPoint slides read to you word for word or being asked to copy the instructor’s notes line by line from a projector or being talked at for 2 hours without the opportunity to ask questions or being asked to spend $500 on textbooks and then be told they won’t be used that semester. Fun times really and these problems are still kicking around, depending upon the institution, in 2023.

Now, here is the thing I’m willing to share though: I’ve taken part in many amazing face-to-face courses. The professors deeply cared about the students’ well-being, they genuinely loved the course content and you felt their passion. They could explain how the lessons would relate to the real-world to connect the dots. They designed the lessons to be thought provoking, creative, fun, and memorable, and the list goes on and on. These professors shaped me into who I am today. I’m not going to say that all F2F courses are inferior to online courses, because of common sense, but I promise you that there are online learning experiences that are vastly better compared to traditional courses.

While some people wonder why higher education enrollment is declining at a rapid rate, I don’t. If the poor learning experiences from my college days still exist, which I promise you they do, then enrollment trends will continue to plummet. When students have incredible learning experiences, they do this really odd thing called sharing it with others. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool. Students have more choices than ever before with how they want to learn and whoever meets their needs will get their votes.

This all comes down to flexibility. Those who prefer online learning can enjoy this style. Those who prefer the face-to-face classroom setting can enjoy this option. The idea that these delivery methods have to be locked into some form of heated head to head battle is insane.

I don’t have all the answers for how to fix higher education, nor do I want to play in that sandbox, but I am confident in saying that the quality of learning experiences needs attention. The ones that figure out how to provide flexibility, autonomy, meaningfulness, and relevancy in their courses are the ones who will come out on top. And maybe, just maybe, incredible online learning experiences can help this.

Stay nerdy out there.

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