This debate has gone on for a long time and there is a ton of research on this topic as well. But if we take a step back, the question itself is a bit of an illogical proposition. To explain, let me first describe my situation. I consider myself a super-student of sorts in that I have taken over 1000 online classes. I took a few online courses as an undergraduate at Kansas State University, I took my entire Master’s degree online at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and my Ph.D. program from Kansas State University was a hybrid program. Additionally, I have been in the Army for over 26 years taking many mandatory online training courses and many online self-directed learning courses required for promotion. Plus, I’ve taken a few online courses just for fun or for research.
On top of all of that, I have also spent hundreds of hours recording classroom lectures/instruction when I worked as a university cameraman. I’ve also taken thousands of face-to-face courses as part of my civilian, military, business, and personal educational development. Throughout this educational journey, I’ve had great courses online and face-to-face, as well as some really bad courses both online and face-to-face. It isn’t a matter of the delivery mechanism; it is a matter of the instructor/facilitator and how the course is presented and ran.
There are so many types of courses (both online and face-to-face) that comparing courses is difficult in and of itself. If we are talking about online courses we need to differentiate between synchronous (live components, meaning instructor and students are online at the same time either for audio/video conferencing or text chat) and asynchronous (no live components, done more on students’ schedule). Even then we would have to take into account the instructional presence of the instructor and how the class itself is managed and what other types of online technology are being used (message boards, quizzes, student video assignments, etc.).
I’ve mainly been discussing my experience and thoughts dealing with online vs. face-to-face instruction; what does the research say? Research shows again and again that the delivery method (online vs. face-to-face) has little to no effect on student performance outcomes (Cavanaugh & Jacquemin, 2015; Driscoll, Jicha, Hunt, Tichavsky, & Thompson, 2012). Some research will show small benefit to face-to-face and then some will show a small benefit to online learning (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, & Jones, 2009). This again gives more credence to my point that it is mainly about how the instructor conducts the class. In an interesting study (White, McGowan, & McDonald, 2019) dealing with 169 second-year college students in an anatomy class, researchers discovered: “Students performed at a similar level regardless of the content delivery format,” (p. 7) and that: “student engagement, rather than the mode of content delivery, is a determinant of student learning and performance” (p. 1). But what about student perceptions?
In general, students’ perceptions and preferences for online learning are the same as they are for face-to-face (Baker, 2018; Mann & Henneberry, 2014). But of course, students love the flexibility, time management, and instructional technology tools offered through online learning (Cantiello, & Hotchkiss, 2018; Mann & Henneberry, 2014). From my readings and observations, as millennials and Generation Z get older, and as older adult-learners continue to get more comfortable with good online learning, more and more will actually prefer online learning to face-to-face (Clinefelter & Aslanian, 2015; Murray, 2019; Zimmerman, 2018).
I feel that a hybrid solution is best (although I very much see the necessity for courses that are purly online) with some face-to-face instruction, I felt a greater connection with the instructor and the class. Although I think this could still be duplicated in a pure online form, it would require a lot more effort and interactive tools. For now, a hybrid solution seems to offer the best of both worlds, maximizing instructional presence and social interaction while at the same time using all the benefits of online instructional technology such as a learning management system, videos, discussion boards, games, quizzes (etc.) Research evaluating the effectiveness and student perceptions of hybrid instructional solutions are also showing very favorable results (Ali, 2018; Lim, Morris, & Kupritz, 2007).
Reference
Ali, W. (2018). Transforming higher education landscape with hybrid/blended approach as an evolving paradigm. Journal of Advances in Social Science and Humanities, 4(7), 143-169.
Baker, D. M. (2018). USA and Asia hospitality & tourism students’ perceptions and satisfaction with online learning versus traditional face-to-face instruction. e-Journal of Business Education and Scholarship of Teaching, 12(2), 40-54.
Best Colleges Report. (2019). 2019 online education report. Retrieved from trends https://www.bestcolleges.com/perspectives/annual-trends-in-online-education/
Cantiello, J., & Hotchkiss, R. B. (2018). How Are We Doing? Student Perceptions and Best Practices in Online Health Administration Education. Journal of Health Administration Education, 35(4), 505-525.
Cavanaugh, J. K., & Jacquemin, S. J. (2015). A large sample comparison of grade based student learning outcomes in online vs. face-to-face courses. Online Learning, 19(2), n2.
Clinefelter, D. L., & Aslanian, C. B. (2015). Online college students 2015: Comprehensive data on demands and preferences. The Learning House, 8.
Driscoll, A., Jicha, K., Hunt, A. N., Tichavsky, L., & Thompson, G. (2012). Can online courses deliver in-class results? A comparison of student performance and satisfaction in an online versus a face-to-face introductory sociology course. Teaching Sociology, 40(4), 312-331.
Lim, D. H., Morris, M. L., & Kupritz, V. W. (2007). Online vs. blended learning: Differences in instructional outcomes and learner satisfaction. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11(2), 27-42.
Mann, J. T., & Henneberry, S. R. (2014). Online versus face-to-face: Students’ preferences for college course attributes. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 46(1), 1-19.
Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2009). Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies.
Murray, G. (2019, July). Why more adult learners are opting for online education. https://www.educationandcareernews.com/college-affordability/why-more-adult-learners-are-opting-for-online-education
White, L. J., McGowan, H. W., & McDonald, A. C. (2019). The effect of content delivery style on student performance in anatomy. Anatomical sciences education, 12(1), 43-51.
Zimmerman, K. (2018, February). 3 reasons millennials might choose online learning over a traditional degree. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaytiezimmerman/2018/02/18/3-reasons-millennials-might-choose-online-learning-over-a-traditional-degree/#60813f73545b