Online Learning is the New Normal

By Nicole Bagala

            Online learning. It’s a concept that didn’t seem fathomable for students and

parents in the past. But after COVID-19 hit the United States last March, online learning

has become the new normal.

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, more than 35.3% of students in the US were enrolled in distance education courses at degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the fall of 2018.

And since then, the number of students who use online learning has skyrocketed.

According to a Wiley Education Services survey, 2020 Online College Students Comprehensive Data on Demands and Preferences, 78% of online students who have learned in a face-to-face setting feel their online experience was the same or better than their classroom experience. And about 79% of those who completed their online degree agree or strongly agree that it was worth the cost.

So in light of the pandemic, schools have taken action to prevent COVID from spreading to their students. A number of schools have turned to distance learning, and online learning is expected to grow and expand to new platforms.

Stonehill College Associate Professor of Education Stephen Pinzari said online learning can come in different forms. It can be done using Google Classroom and Zoom, where assignments are posted, and the students meet with their teacher and classmates.

Another way to teach online learning through a Discussion Board format, which 

provides an opportunity for students to respond to the material, to each other, and it 

gives the instructor the chance to interact with each student in a more individualized fashion.

“This [Discussion Board] is especially helpful for the more reserved students who are typically too shy to respond during in-class discussions,” Pinzari said. “Students are actively engaged in discussion that takes the form of writing, which research has shown to result in better retention of information since students get caught up in the discussion, making them more motivated to consider the material.”

One survey from the Learning House and Education Dynamics, Online College 

Students 2019: Comprehensive Data on Demands and Preferences, found that online 

students believe they have acquired skills employers look for from using the online

learning format.

The participants of this study believed their critical thinking and problem-solving

skills improved significantly because of their online learning, but also felt that their

teamwork and oral communication skills were the least improved because of online

learning.

And that doesn’t mean online learning is the best way to educate students.

Stonehill College’s Associate Professor and Education Studies Department Chair,

Dr. Margaret E. Pierce, is the mother of a child with a disability who has experienced online

learning. She has heard that some students who struggle with anxiety thrive in remote

schooling, but she does not feel it is helping her child.

“I had to homeschool my child because he could not access online learning. That was

in addition to fulfilling the responsibilities of my full-time job,” Pierce said. “Parents have to 

supervise their children or find childcare in a difficult climate. I don’t know how to cope

with the stresses of online learning.”