Students enrolled in online courses performed significantly worse than their counterparts in traditional classroom-based courses, according to a Michigan State University study.
The results come as no surprise to many Dartmouth professors, who are not yet willing to abandon the classroom.
"There is no such thing as an online classroom that has the emotional component that a live classroom has," English Professor Thomas Luxon said. "And education always begins and is fostered by an emotional connection between people. "
Indeed, online students in the Michigan State study were provided with every learning tool -- from printed materials, videotaped lectures, and visual aids -- that traditional students were, minus the classroom and in-person instruction, according to Michigan State Professor and study coordinator Carl Liedholm.
"Ultimately there is no substitute for a good faculty member," explained Dartmouth economics Professor Amitabh Chandra.
Yet Chandra added, "I'm suspicious of one's ability to generalize from the results of the Michigan State study. Dartmouth as an institution is able to hire prime researchers and teachers, and Michigan State faces more constraints."
However, while Dartmouth professors affirm the importance of teaching and classroom interaction they are increasingly turning to technology as a learning supplement.
Luxon, for example, makes extensive use of Internet resources for English 28, a course he teaches on Milton. The entire course text is online and annotated, and hyperlinks allow students to research references in texts like "Paradise Lost," which is filled with allusions.
According to Luxon the added convenience has allowed many more students to conduct original research.
"Before I started using a web edition of the text, two to three students did original research every term. Now nearly every student does."
In another course, Luxon moderates an online forum allowing students to further discuss Shakespeare outside of class. Furthermore, Luxon has found that students who spoke less in class were more comfortable contributing their thoughts online.
Female students in particular were more vocal in the online discussion group, Luxon found, which parallels the results of the Michigan study. Females were found to be more aggressive cyber-students and less adversely affected by the lack of classroom than male students.
Another professor who makes extensive use of computer and online resources, German professor Bruce Duncan, explained that online materials are best used as supplements. "It's intended to expand the material available to students," Duncan said.
Online course materials, according to Duncan, can help increase "student interests and accommodates individual interests."Rather than diminishing the personal aspect of education, then, professors may use technology to tailor assignments to the specific interests of students, as a result of the wider body of accessible information sources, according to Duncan.
Chandra, however, emphasized that no technology can replace hands-on interaction. Although he uses a computer program for demonstrations in his economic courses, "There is a heavy emphasis on the quality of interaction," he explained.
Successful incorporations of technology depend on the skill of professor, William Fischel, chair of the economics department, agreed.
