The post will compare and contrast the experience of teaching online and teaching in the traditional classroom.

There’s no denying it can be hard to conceptualize a new way of teaching a course and translating it into the online space.

Is online inferior or superior to face-to-face classes? It is neither. Online classes are different. Each style has different strengths and different weaknesses. Some examples follow. 

There are some things you can do online that you can’t do in the conventional classroom. For instance, discussions tend to be deeper, more considered and reflective online because students have time to think and reflect. This is an important asset for shy students who might never speak up in a face-to-face setting. I remember one student who was an insightful and articulate voice online, but painfully shy in a conventional class.

 At the same time, you will never be able to replicate the heady experience of dynamic real-time conversations that can lead to unexpected insights and fresh questions in a face-to-face class.

It will take longer to correct a misinformed student or students online, something that can be quickly done in a conventional class.

In a traditional class, students can slide into a seat and tune out, and compensate by cramming for exams or quizzes. In an online course, students are more accountable. With frequent feedback  and participation measures they can’t sit in the back and hide only to cram and regurgitate.       

No matter how well designed a face-to-face course is, no matter how passionate the instructor, the structure of college class schedules work against how people learn best. They attend one course, max out their short-term memory, rush to their next class with 15 minutes in between, and start over again with the new class with new information crowding out the previous class in short-term memory.

In addition, there is no time between classes to integrate information and transfer content to long-term memory, let alone reflect on the meaning of the lessons.  By contrast, an online class allows students to chunk learning, integrate, and reflect on core issues and questions. 

In short, both types of classes have strengths and weaknesses. As faculty we shouldn’t fear online teaching opportunities. It’s matter of playing to strengths of an online course, in the same way we do in a face-to-face course.

Of course, some people may never feel comfortable online, whether because of preferred pedagogical style, or philosophical objections. That’s fine.

Don’t expect to teach online perfectly in your first class. You likely didn’t find immediate success when beginning to teach in the conventional classroom. Take the long view. It may take anywhere from two to four iterations of a class before you feel comfortable.  And as with a conventional class you will continue to be responsive to feedback and tweak your courses.

In our next post we will look at first steps--- starting with your current course schedule and converting it into thematic modules on your online course page. This will help students follow the flow of the course and its content. The modules will house page links to your actual learning content.