What Influences Student Learning in an Online Course?

Introduction The widespread introduction of online courses for degree-credit in colleges and universities around the globe has sparked contentious discussion among administrators, faculty, and faculty unions (AAUP 1999, Ehrmann, 1999; Noble 1998; Roschelle & Pea, 1999; Tsichritzis, 1999). Two debates have emerged. The first centers around the workload for faculty conducting online courses. One finds broad agreement among faculty and faculty unions that teaching online is more work than teaching in the classroom. Teachers have to develop a new concept of what a course “is” online, develop a new set of instructional materials (after learning how to use the requisite technologies), rethink course pace and activities, and deal with extensive online communication with students (Almeda, 1998; Feenberg, 1999; Friedheim & Jaffee, 1999; Maloney, 1999). Paradoxically, administrators point to online courses as an efficient method of reaching more students without investing in new “bricks-and-mortar” infrastructure. Which, in turn, leads to the second debate: the quality of online courses (Agre, 1999; Martin, 1999; Newson, 1999). While most teachers, administrators and students agree that moderate-sized classes taught in person by experienced professors are ideal, the reality of today’s educational environment dictates incorporation of alternate formats into the model: large classes with hundreds of students, extensive reliance on teaching assistants and adjunct lecturers, and distance learning options. How can quality be maintained with less face-to-face access to the cornerstone of