Claims for online teaching: separating the real from the virtual 

Much of our learning will continue to occur, formally and informally, through interaction with others.

“As I watch my three children learn, I am most impressed with nontechnologically centred learning -- saxophone lessons, dinner table deliberations, art projects in social studies, discussions of plays or musicals, drawing and writing projects. Computers add to all these noncomputer activities; they are not a substitute for them” (Woolsey in Fowler & Dickie, 1997)

Are the benefits of teaching online real? The answer is that it depends on

·         the needs of the student, the teacher and the institution and

·         the way in which online education is implemented.

Technology has the potential to enhance and transform teaching, but it can also be used inappropriately or in ways that actually interfere with learning. Greater attention needs to be paid to the negative perceptions of students and to the failures of educational innovation (Hara & Kling, 1999). We must be careful not to treat technology as an educational panacea. Some of the claimed benefits may actually turn out to be drawbacks. For example, moving a course online may decrease rather than increase access; increase isolation by forcing students to spend many hours at computer screens or result in reduced motivation as the novelty wears off.

Professional development will be critical, but needs to go beyond training in basic technical skills and build on the pedagogical re-engineering prompted by the move to online teaching. Some new teaching skills will probably be required, but more importantly there is an opportunity to review good pedagogical practice in general. Perhaps there may even be room for re-visiting the role of education and the values we promote. Mechanisms for collating and disseminating best practice in online teaching need to be encouraged. There needs to be a shift from the ‘attractive repackaging of existing materials’ to a focus on how students interact with the information and resources provided (Lander, 1999; Sawers & Alexander, 1998). Given the importance of dialogue and relationship to the educational process, human communication will be one of the keys to successful interactions.

In some cases, education that is provided totally online will be useful to add as a choice for distance education students although it is still too early to abandon print-based distance education. Providing some subjects totally online may even prove useful for some on-campus students. However, any wholesale move towards conducting the majority of education totally online needs to be guarded against. Many teachers and students report considerable frustration working in an online environment. In addition, more research needs to be done into the real, but often intangible, benefits resulting from face-to-face and hands-on interaction.

It is likely that the most appropriate role for technology will be as a supplement to our current methods. Most of the techniques related to good teaching, such as providing authentic assessment, are applicable regardless of whether the learning environment is online or face-to-face. However, technology does provide some unique benefits. It allows greater access to information and provides powerful tools for communication and collaboration.

We need to explore the ways in which we can use technology to meet our needs and be careful not to have our practices dictated by the available technology. The real question is not whether effective learning can occur online, but rather how this can be most appropriately achieved?

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