I did find it interesting that the Evaluation of evidence based practices contradicted the textbooks findings when it came to learning and delivery methods. On page 18 it stated that classes with online learning, weather blended or completely online, produced stronger learning outcomes than classes with solely face-to-face instruction. The math and statistics that the article used to back-up its findings, to be honest, confused me thoroughly. However the numbers that stood out to me were on the charts from pages 21-26 and the retention rate. Online learning wasn't always the highest percentage wasn't always the highest percentage when it came to retention. That to me speaks more to what our text says about the delivery medium and instructional methods.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Promise and Pitfalls Reflections
The one aspect that really stuck out to me from our textbook was learning doesn't increase, or for that matter decrease, from e-learning methods. The text states "From all the media comparison research, we have learned that it's not the delivery medium, but rather the instructional methods that cause learning" (page 21). To me, that tells me that the teacher/instructor is still the most important part of the learning process.
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Hey Graeme,
ReplyDeleteI too was also struck by that learning was not increased or decreased from e-learning. I guess, at least in my own mind, I have elevated it to the such a high point that I assumed it had to make a difference.
As far as the other paper, it was very technically written, and I agree it was confusing. From the conclusions page, "Despite what appears to be strong support for blended learning applications, the studies in this meta-analysis do not demonstrate that online learning is superior as a medium, In many of the studies showing an advantage for blended learning, the online and classroom conditions differed in terms of time spent, curriculum and pedagogy. It was the combination of elements in the treatment conditions (which was likely to have included additional learning time and materials as well as additional opportunities for collaboration) that produced the observed learning advantages. "
I wish they would have spent a little more time in the article giving comparisons of what they meant here. Is it better or not?
Honestly, it may have addressed this, but I did not read it as carefully as I could have. Great points here though.