The Interfolio Blog

Online learning vs. classroom learning. Professors, colleges, universities and students are all weighing in on the pros and cons related to "new" learning tools vs. "traditional" methods.

But is this really a valid debate? Many professors are beginning to include online tools in classroom teaching, while online courses support more ways to bring a more personal feeling to internet-based coursework. Instead of having to choose between the two options, are we actually moving toward a middle ground where technology connects students and educators in many ways, regardless of whether a class is "online" or not?

Take Catheryn Cheal for example, a professor at Oakland University who tested new kinds of online learning by immersing her students in the virtual world Second Life, creating a learning environment that as closely mimics real-life as possible. While the virtual world is an extreme example, other online courses include video chats with professors, scheduled live chat sessions with class peers, interactive coursework, use of social networks to connect with class members, and collaborative projects to foster communication with professors and classmates.

Online coursework used to simply mean completing homework and tests via the internet with no real interaction with professors or peers. Today that has changed dramatically, and with new forms of collaboration technology emerging often, we are likely to continue to see improvements in allowing online students similar if not the same benefits to interaction with the class as in-class experiences provide.

Similarly, classroom teaching increasingly includes online components that take place both within the confines of the in-class experience and outside of it. Monica Rankin and others made headlines this week for their use of Twitter in the classroom. The article points out that many professors are using the tool to foster collaboration in lecture settings that are too large for live debate. Others have used it to connect what students are learning in class to what is going on in the real world, helping students to build professional networks outside the walls of the classroom and even the University.

Use of online tools like Blackboard has expanded to include blogs, wikis, networks like Ning that can be customized by the professor for each class, Twitter, YouTube, and even Facebook and Second Life. These tools help professors expand learning beyond limited classroom time and encourage an internet-savvy generation to collaborate in new ways and bring fresh ideas into classroom debate.

Just as there are positive and negative aspects to most situations, there are pros and cons when it comes to the difference between virtual and in-class learning. Some argue that there is simply no substitute for the experience of in-class learning, some argue that there is no difference, and others argue that though in-class learning is ideal, the demand for education far exceeds the importance of learning in person. To date, little consensus has been reached, and perhaps that is because we are approaching the questions from the wrong angle. Instead of trying to decide which is better, we should be looking at how online tools can be used to enhance the online and offline learning environment, regardless of where the student sits.