Online Learning
From Facebook to the viral stars of YouTube, there is no disputing that the Internet is making a large impact on our society. And one of the most notable areas in which Web-based technology has been influential is on-line learning. In South Carolina and the Midlands on-line learning has caught on, and its potential is vast.
On-line learning consists of various forms of electronically (or Internet) supported information and communication, usually out of the classroom, and most often involves the computer-enabled transfer of skills, knowledge and curriculum.
Advanced Video, Inc., of Columbia specializes in projection and visual display systems and teleconferencing. Adam Dox, an Advanced Video Sales Engineer, says the company has seen vast movement in the ability to offer on-line learning in recent years. “The technology was here 10 years ago. But it has really changed in the last five years where more people use it, and even more changes have come in the last 18 months with 3D technology,” he says.
Dox says there are numerous advantages to on-line broadcasts.
“The global market is a lot smaller with Internet technology. You can collaborate with people all over the world without the cost and liability that are involved with travel,” Dox says. “With the technology we have now, you can display content, present a budget for instance, in PowerPoint. And you can make annotations to a document in real time. With gas prices what they are and constrained budgets, (teleconferencing) offers a huge advantage.”
Dox says on-line conferencing is no different from other technology in that the price has declined as the idea has become more commonly accepted and used more widely. He says Advanced Videos’ clients include the University of South Carolina, law enforcement agencies and the courts. Dox says the advancement in 3D technology has drawn more use of on-line learning by the healthcare industry. “If doctors in a more rural area of the state can be trained by on-line transmitting, it makes instruction more accessible.”
Aside from commercial use of conferencing over the Internet, professionals in public education have been quick to take advantage of on-line learning.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, “Online learning — for students and for teachers — is one of the fastest growing trends in educational uses of technology. The National Center for Education Statistics (2008) estimated that the number of K-12 public school students enrolling in a technology-based distance education course grew by 65 percent in the two years from 2002-03 to 2004-05. The research published by the DOE estimated that more than a million K-12 students took online courses in the school year 2007–08. Continuing education for professionals, especially teachers, is an area in which on-line learning is especially strong.
Programs include virtual classrooms, digital networking and collaboration between participants. The substance of courses is delivered by Internet, intranet, videotape, satellite TV and CD-ROM. Programs can be self-paced or led by instructors. Content can include media in the form of text, images, animation and streaming broadcasts.
Before the medium began to rise in popularity, online education was pretty much relegated to the e-mailing of text that would have once been accomplished through conventional mail, as was done in correspondence courses.
But the DOE’s study that researched on-line learning data from 1996 through July 2008 found that “on average, students in online learning conditions performed modestly better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”
Kathy Finger is the Information Research Coordinator for S.C. Educational Television’s TeacherlineSC courses. Teacherline provides online professional development. It has been recognized for excellence by the U.S. Distance Learning Association, the National Educational Association and the Software and Information Industry Association. TeacheerlineSC is a collection of more than 130 graduate-level courses for educators.
The program includes recertification courses, open to educators with a South Carolina teaching certificate.
Finger says she has seen steady increases in the number of enrollees in Teacherline courses since 2004, when she took the position in which she oversees the program. Teacherline has had an average of about 1,000 participants a year in a good economy. Finger says the number of people taking the classes in 2010 declined, but still more than 700 took them. “When we initially began offering the courses (in 2004) there was some hesitancy, but that is not the case anymore.” Finger attributes the drop-off in 2010 to economic factors. “I have seen it grow significantly since we began offering on-line learning. It is now an accepted avenue of learning,” she says.
Finger says one reason on-line learning is succeeding is convenience. “If a participant in Teacherline has family concerns, like small children at home or an older parent they are caring for, it may not be easy to leave home to take a class. Some of the people who take our classes may not have access to an institution that teaches the course they need. They may live far away from it.”
Finger says Teacherline is the leading partner for classes taught in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. She says many of the courses offered by Teacherline are needed by professional teachers to maintain their certification, but other courses are credits for degree programs and professional deployment. She says Teacherline conducts surveys, and feedback tells them that the on-line courses provide advantages face-to-face classes may not. “Participants are able to share experiences. They can get feedback from each other. There is lots of interaction and we have heard that (the on-line students) find it easier to discuss some issues. They like the anonymity. They feel more free in that environment.”