Professors Need To Embrace Technology For Teaching

DANIKA KIMBALL

Online education has presented institutions with a great opportunity to expand their services to students who were previously less likely to attend. At the same time, however, new technology also threatens the higher education system as it currently stands. As this technology becomes more prevalent in years to come, universities will either have to keep up and rise in stature, or risk shutting their doors forever. What will separate the two lies in the willingness of faculty to adapt to new technologies.

Many professors have adopted the misconception that online teaching is of lesser quality than traditional instruction, and as such, many have hesitated to embrace online learning.

A 2014 survey of faculty views on technology revealed that although record numbers of students are enrolling in online education, faculty members worry that those students are receiving an inferior experience to what is offered in the traditional classroom setting.

“Virtually all faculty members and technology administrators say meaningful student-teacher reaction is a hallmark of a quality online education, and that it is missing from most online courses,” the study highlights. “Only about one-quarter of faculty respondents (26 percent) say online courses can produce results equal to in-person courses….most faculty members maintain serious doubts about being able to interact or indeed teach students in online courses.”

Professor Henry C. Lucas formerly identified as an online education skeptic. Now the chair of the Decision, Operations and Technologies Department at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, now believes that embracing online education is absolutely vital for the future of higher education.

“Until a few years ago I shared the common professorial knee-jerk opposition to online teaching, assuming it had to be of lower quality than traditional instruction,” Lucas writes. “But seeing in action software that allows real-time interaction between and among faculty and students convinced me that student-faculty exchange can remain at the heart of at least some kinds of online ed.”

What is behind the bias against online education?

Perhaps most notably, online classes have been tarnished by the recent prevalence of for-profit colleges which provide a subpar education, leaving students with large amounts of debt and no real job potential after graduation.

But online education comes in many forms, from “flipped” courses, to blended courses, to fully online programs, and dismissing online education outright will only stifle innovation. And by now, there is enough evidence that exists to prove that online education can be of high caliber.

“If I showed my colleagues the final exams turned in by students in my online MBA course and the exams from my full-time residential MBA course, I doubt they could tell which students were in which program.”

Other online learning naysayers argue that face-to-face communication is essential for students to learn, especially in humanities courses where a large amount of work and understanding comes through hearty debate and discussion.

Paul Ventura, Acting Director of the School of Business at Marylhurst University argues that online learning platforms can just as easily foster intelligent, thought provoking conversations, in the same way that face-to-face interactions can.

“They’re very dynamic discussions. In a class of 12 people, we might have a discussion question on reading a particular article of how a business has developed a sustainability plan…And out of 12 students, there’ll be a hundred different comments…they’re extensive,” Ventura states. “Our students are literally talking books. They’re bringing in resources. They’re bringing in links to videos–things that you can’t do in a spontaneous classroom.”

The fact of the matter is, online learning platforms are here to stay. Just as technology has changed the world of business and healthcare, it is rapidly changing–and bettering–the higher education system. If faculty don’t begin to embrace the inevitable, it’s too likely that students will find themselves navigating towards affordable, technologically driven institutions.

Rather than continue to spread misleading criticisms of online learning, professors, faculty, and administrators would be better off embracing the incredible potential available in online learning.

Danika is a writer and musician from the northwest who sometimes takes a 30 minute break from feminism to enjoy a tv show. You can follow her on twitter @sadwhitegrrl.