Online education beats classroom education

Have you ever wondered if learning on-line is good for you?

Do you think that learning on-line is as good as or better than learning in a classroom?

What about ‘blended learning’ where you learn on-line and face to face?

A recent 12 year study by the Department of Education in the USA has shown that learning on-line is not only effective but also better than traditional face to face teaching.

Barbara Means, the study’s lead author says:

“The study’s major significance lies in demonstrating that on-line learning today is not just better than nothing- it actually tends to be better than conventional instruction”

The study showed that only learning on-line only was better than only having face to face classes , but the best way to learn was a combination of face to face and on-line,  a blended learning  approach.

There were some very interesting key points like:
·  Students who took all or part of their class on-line performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.

· Instruction combining on-line and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely on-line instruction.

· On-line learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection.

· Studies in which learners in the online condition spent more time on task than students in the face-to-face condition found a greater benefit for on-line learning

Click here to read the full report.

In other words if a student is studying at a local ESL school and comes to practice in English City every week they will perform better than students who online learn online or only learn face to face.