Online college courses are rapidly growing. Professor of Education, International Public Affairs - Brown University 2ĭirector - Annenberg Institute at Brown University These students consistently perform worse in an online setting than they do in face-to-face classrooms taking online courses increases their likelihood of dropping out and otherwise impedes progress through college. As one new study that we completed with our colleagues Lindsay Fox and Eric Taylor shows, online courses can improve access, yet they also are challenging, especially for the least well-prepared students. The vast majority of online courses mirror face-to-face classrooms with professors rather using technology to better differentiate instruction across students. Yet today these promises are far from fully realized. These systems then adjust instructional materials to meet students’ needs. The latest “intelligent” tutoring systems, for example, not only assess students’ current weaknesses, but also diagnose why students make the specific errors. Moreover, online platforms offer the promise, through artificial intelligence, of providing the optimal course pacing and content to fit each student’s needs and thereby improve educational quality and learning. Online courses offer the promise of access regardless of where students live or what time they can participate, potentially redefining educational opportunities for those least well-served in traditional classrooms. Continued improvement of online curricula and instruction can strengthen the quality of these courses and hence the educational opportunities for the most in-need populations. These students’ learning and persistence outcomes are worse when they take online courses than they would have been had these same students taken in-person courses. However, in their current design, online courses are difficult, especially for the students who are least prepared.
Online courses have expanded rapidly and have the potential to extend further the educational opportunities of many students, particularly those least well-served by traditional educational institutions.
0 kommentar(er)
