Does the lack of face-to-face interaction diminish the quality of education?

I am somewhat skeptical about online degrees. I am used to having more direct face to fact interaction with my professors to be able to ask questions while in class, seek help during office hours, etc. How much does that diminish with online education? Are there other similar mechanizms in place that serve the same benefit, and if so, is the ratio of students to teachers much larger with online courses, thus potentially minimizing my access to professors regardless of any alternate communication methods?

Annata,

Just because you join an online program, does not mean you lose all contact with your peers and professors. In fact, I have found in my experience, that communication increases greatly. I am planning on writing an article on this in the near future (or I would like to), but because there is limited space in the distance learning tips topic, it might have to wait. So, in the meantime, I will briefly answer for you.

In most programs, the professor of each class will provide you with their office hours and telephone or email so you can contact them freely. However, if they are not a campus professor as well as online, they may not have an office and they may give you a personal email contact or home office phone instead. I have had both happen and have used these resources when doing my thesis, or have had a question on a paper or assignment as well.

As far as the student ratio goes, I believe it is actually smaller then that of large university. I attended the University of Buffalo in New York for my Masters which was completely online. The actual lecture halls on campus can hold a couple hundred students while my online courses could only hold about 25 or so. I was able to develop much closer relationships with my peers as well as it was easy to keep track of names. In fact, many of my professors' gave us our first assignment on peer introductions and discussion. Part of your grade depends highly on communication and discussions which is done on a daily basis.

Some professors even set up private chat times to discuss any issues you have with the program or class. I was even given an advisor for the program, just as I would be on campus. It was really reassuring to know that I was receiving the same (if not more) attention from my peers and professors with online learning as technology these days seems to overrule many other forms of communication.

I hope this helps for now and again stay tuned... :)

Thanks,

Sarah

Annata,

I have to agree a lot with Sarah's response. I have found that in my online courses I actually communicated more with my peers and professors than in a live classroom. However, with that said, there are other issues that come up. When your primary communication with your peers and professor is just text on a screen there is a loss of inflection/tone so it can be difficult to understand expectations.

In my article, "Am I Ready For an Online Education?," I talk about how sometimes it is hard to understand what is expected of you on assignments because the professor posts what he/she thinks is clear directions, but when people have questions it is not a live back-and-forth conversation. Sometimes the communication back from the professor is also delayed. It depends on the professor on how active they are with responding.

Despite those set backs, I have really enjoyed most of my online courses. I've never been so actively involved in a class before or since. I also bonded with my classmates because of our daily communications, and any problems we had we saught each other out and helped the other through it.

Ultimately, each online course and each college is different. Anyone who is interested in taking an online course needs to do some research. Look into the school's requirements and look at the course expectations. If possible, try and obtain a past syllabus to get an idea of what the course will be like. There is nothing worse than investing money into a course you don't like or ends up taking over your life. Be smart about your choices and I am sure you'll love it!

Annata-

I have been an online student for 6 years now and previously I was a student at a brick and mortar college(onsite). Believe it or not I truly believe I have more communication now with peers and professors as an online student than I did as an onsite student. Besides contacting each other through emails and discussion boards for school there are a variety of ways to keep in contact with your peers. An often overlooked way of contact is a school group ( I have one on Yahoo and Facebook) These sites can be used to you and your classmates advantage. You can also make them private in case you need to rant about classwork or prefessors! :)

I also feel that my professors are more personable with me. They have a set time for their office hours when students are able to contact them in the office and even give out emergency home and cell numbers...which belive me I have used before! Online professors also hold online group discussion in real time and try to touch base with students through email and telephone.

Jacquie

As I review online learning sites, one aspect of online learning continues to intrigue me: the limited offerings in science and mathematics. At least one online university offers degrees in mathematics, though it requires students to transfer in a full three semesters of calculus and advanced calculus from a traditional university before students can begin the online instruction in such classes as differential equations, linear algebra and more advanced mathematical topics. Are there any universities that offer lab sciences through online learning?

Schools that offer baccalaureate degrees in nursing tend to offer the RN to BSN program, which assumes all the scientific content and licensing of the RN program and then adds a number of classes in management subjects.

One school that offers an online degree in engineering studies writes about the general information students will acquire about a number of engineering fields. The description of the degree, however, emphasizes courses in teamwork, management, and communication.

There is no reason that an online school could not offer education in math or physics, though it is likely that such a program would require more synchronous instruction, lots of homework assignments and corrections, and many examinations proctored at exam centers.