Claims for online teaching: separating the real from the virtual

Reasons put forward for claims of enhancing pedagogical effectiveness include –

§         Increased channels of communication

§         The role of the teacher changes to that of a facilitator and mentor

§         Education becomes more student-centred

§         More active participation by students

§         More detailed discussions and interaction

§         Students become more independent

§         Learning is self-paced: greater time to reflect and respond

§         Increased collaboration

§         Increased access to resources

Unfortunately, there may be more inappropriate uses of technology in education than examples that clearly demonstrate enhanced student learning (McNaught, 1995). Many of the online subjects currently promoted as ‘flexible’ often do little more than place lecture notes on the web (McNaught, Kenny, Kennedy, & Lord, 1999).

Perhaps the most important observation to be made is that technology is not a panacea or ‘silver bullet’. It cannot provide the solutions for all educational problems. There is no guarantee that tools, which have potential to enhance learning, such as computer-conferencing, will be used effectively if at all.

“It would seem self-evident that Web based strategies have the potential to be just as inflexible and inappropriate as any other form of poor instruction. In other words it is not the technology that is important, it is how it is used by the teacher to create new experiences for the learner” (Bennett et al., 1999)

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