Business and Hotel Management School

B.H.M.S.

Business and Hotel Management School

Study and Research Methodology II

HMT 2700

Ms Elda Eicher

“Online education is better than classroom learning”

Varvara Kostenko

20.01.2015

Table of content

Abstract

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..1-2

Methodology…………………………………………………………………………3-4

Analysis………………………………………………………………………………5-9

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….10

References……………………………………………………………………………11

Appendix.…………………………………………………………………………..12-13

Abstract

The researcher was interested in new opportunities for studying and understanding if the online education is equal to or superior to traditional learning and is it possible that in future it will replace traditional universities and schools. The researcher’s hypothesis was “Online education is better than classroom learning”. Throughout the research paper she faced with some problems and limitations, such as lack of time, language difficulties, the risk of unreliable data and the limit of sources. Because of this reasons some practical and artistic gaps were appeared. During two days the researcher made the survey with twenty volunteers that belonged to a non-probability sample. The respondents were students all over the world, but majority were from Ukraine at the age of eighteen. Because of time limitation the researcher selected only three major questions from ten questions of the survey and made analysis and graphs of respondent’s answers. Due to collected data 85% of the students saw the main pros of getting online education in the opportunity to manage the time individually in better way for them. But at the same time, as an employers 55% of the respondents wanted to see potential employee with traditional diploma rather than online degree. Besides, 56% of them didn’t agree that online education is better than classroom learning. All the results of this research paper were general because collected data could not be one hundred percent reliable. After completing this research paper the researcher improved her language skills, refreshed memories how to write a research paper and expanded her knowledge about online education.

Introduction

This world is living in a century of globalization and new technologies. So it was not surprise that about 46% college students took at least one course online. Also it is projected by 2019, roughly half of all college classes will be E-learning-based. (E-learning industry, 2014)

The researcher’s hypothesis is “Online education is better than classroom learning”. The researcher is interested in new opportunities for studying and understanding if the online education is equal to or superior to traditional learning and is it possible that in future it will replace traditional universities and schools.

The researcher would like to define the three main words of this hypothesis. Online education is defined as “a type of distance learning, taking courses without attending a brick-and-mortar school or university” (eHow, 2015). According to The Free Dictionary (2015) better means “greater in excellence or higher in quality; more useful, desirable”. Learning is stated as “the activity of obtaining knowledge” (Cambridge Dictionary Online, 2015).

The researcher was used six sources; one primary and five secondary sources to complete the project. The researcher made a questionnaire with twenty people, who were asked their opinion about online education. The survey were made among the students from different locations and ages and the researcher believed that collected data could help her to understand people's attitude to online system of education (See Appendix)

The researcher worked with academic secondary source; an Emerald platform from where information was found: “Online education with Internet technology has been used extensively in post‐secondary education, but it is relatively new in schools. It has considerable potential for enhancing teaching/learning in both traditional schools and home‐schooling.” (William, D 2000)

Also, the researcher worked with another academic secondary source; the article from Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration where it was claimed: “Many advocates of distance education are ardent about their venue and very critical of traditional education. These online education devotees view traditional classes as being unchangeable, inflexible, teacher-centered, and static (Fitzpatrick 2001). However, proponents argue that many simply would not be able to get a degree without distance education—the full-time police officer, the mother of four, or the individual living in a rural area approximately 100-200 miles away from any educational institution.”(Tucker, S, 2001, no page).

The researcher expects to understand all pros and cons of both types of studying, to become sure that online education is better than classroom learning and to improve written and language skills.

Methodology

Participants

As a primary resource the researcher made a questionnaire related to the main idea of her hypothesis in order to understand if it is true or false. The researcher kindly asked students to express their ideas about online education system and choose the best answer. Twenty people were taken for the survey, eleven of which were women and nine men. In order to cover as many different points of view as possible the researcher conducted a survey of students from different locations and cultures. As the collected data showed the majority of respondents were from Ukraine – six people. From the total amount three were from Hong Kong; two Vietnamese also took part in the questionnaire. Another students were from Spain, Georgia, Turkey, Estonia, Indonesia, Algeria, Russia, Italia and Switzerland. Since most of the students were chosen randomly, the age of respondents also was different. The survey involved twelve students aged eighteen – nineteen years, four students were twenty – twenty one years old. Three of the respondents were in the age of twenty two and one person was twenty six. The researcher believed because of different nationalities and ages the results were the most truthful. As the reader can see, the survey was a typical example of non-probability sample because there were specific criteria by which the respondents were chosen, such as the respondents must tried both types of studying in order to compare it. All participants volunteered to take part in this research paper.

Material
As the researcher already mentioned, the survey consisted of ten questions which were the most related to the hypothesis of the research paper and which could help her to find out what students thought about online education.
The researcher believed that by creating multiple type of questions the respondents could clearly understand the main idea of the survey and devoid misunderstanding. Each question had few possible options to answer and she assumed that they were enough in order to give the best answers. The questions were about the attitude of students to online education, if they saw more pros or cons in this type of studying.

Also it asked if they already had online courses and how they reacted if all subjects were online. Moreover, the researcher was interested why most of the popular universities support online system of education. Another questions related to prices of getting education and future plans after first graduation. One of the questions contained a formulation of the hypothesis of research paper that helped the researcher to understand was it true or false.
Furthermore, as almost for everyone English was not their mother tongue, the researcher tried to create the questions in very simple and clear language. In order to facilitate the process of collecting data the researcher mixed online survey by skype with printed out on papers. The survey was related to specific types of student, who already had at least ones as online courses so traditional classroom learning.

Procedure

On the 11th of January 2015 the researcher finished the questions for the questionnaire and decided to separate the collection of data for two days and choose two different kinds of survey – online by skype and printed out papers. As the researcher had international friends she called to the potential respondents by skype and kindly asked to answer the questions related to the hypothesis. The process took approximately one hour until all data has been collected. The researcher guaranteed that all answers were recorded right from the words of the respondents.

On Monday, the 12th of January 2015 the researcher had Business Communication class and she also asked students to answer the printed out survey. During the break time the respondents filled the questionnaire papers. Thus, by the evening of that day the last ten questionnaires had been collected and the researcher started to study the results.

Analysis

The researcher made a survey with twenty people that belonged to a probability sample, who were asked about online education. The respondents were students all over the world, but majority were from Ukraine at the age of eighteen. The researcher asked ten relevant questions about her hypothesis which had few possible options to answer. The researcher spent two days of January 2015 to collect all necessary data. Because of time limitation the researcher selected only three major questions from the questionnaire and made analysis and graphs of respondent’s answers. Also she believed that these questions gave the key results which could show if the hypothesis of research paper was true of false. The reader can find results of the most vital researcher’s questions below.

Figure 1

As the reader can notice the majority – 85% from the respondents see pros in this type of studying. Seventeen people saw the main pros of online education as opportunity to manage the time in better way for them. For one person who was 5% of total respondents the main reason why online education is better is that uniform was not required. Another person preferred not to depend from other students by getting online education, so he was 5% from twenty people who were asked. And finally just one respondent, who was also 5% of total amount didn’t see any pros in online education.

According to Illinois Online Network (2010), there are some pros why online education is good and one of them that it is accessible any time and any place. 24 hours hour a day, seven days per week a student can find lectures, additional materials to the course and all necessary information at any time of day or night. Also, for some students it is not enough to get information ones, they need to reread the course lectures and to take more time to understand the material. In this case online education is the best option, the researcher believe.

Another secondary academic source also proved this pros of online learning format. The article from “Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration” (Tucker, S, 2001, no page) stated that some of the people are not be able to get a degree without distance education. It could be because of different reasons – lack of time, remoteness from nearest local education institution, some people have full-time job, and some of them are busy with children or home routine. However, nowadays education is very important in order to be expert in specific industry area and get prestigious job in future. Thence online education can be very useful in setting up the successful future.

Also the researcher had own experience by getting online German courses by skype. From this experience she got a lot of pros such as time efficiency, cheaper lessons and indifference to the location.

From the analysis of sources the researcher argued that the secondary sources proved the results of primary source and also her own experience.

Figure 2

From collected data the reader can find out that most of the respondents – 55% that meant ten of twenty students preferred to take a person with traditional education as a potential employee. Also for nine people it didn't matter which type of education the employee has. And just one person – 5% agreed to hire the employee with online education if he was an employer.

In order to make more clear sense about accreditation of online education diploma the researcher found a video as another secondary source. It has been stated (GetEducated, 2011) most of the people don’t understand that online diploma is not worse than traditional. They are accepted by employers as readily as traditional if they have regional accreditation, a concrete reputation, and a residential campus. Studies have been compared online vs traditional learning have shown that results are equal to or superior to traditional learning environments and education quality. Therefore employer acceptance has likewise increased. And there is nothing bad if the employee has online degree and even can provide some benefits, such as responsibility of the person, dedication and ability to analyze information.

The researcher believed that collected data from the questionnaire as primary source did not match the secondary source because the students did not have sufficient information about this topic and answered as they thought but not because of deep knowledge and arguments. In reality, as secondary source showed online diploma has high accreditation as well as traditional diploma from university. Anyway, the hypothesis was false as the data from secondary and primary sources did not match to each other.

Figure 3

From the graph the reader can mention that sixteen students of the twenty believed that classroom learning is better than online education. This data shows that 56% of total amount disagreed with the main hypothesis of the research paper. Just four respondents – 44% saw the online education more attractive than traditional.

As a contrast to this results the researcher found the video as another secondary source that showed six great benefits of distance learning over traditional schools. According to DistanceLearningPlan (2014) the video said that one of the most important benefit of the distance learning is expanded access – it doesn’t matter where the student is, he can study everywhere with internet. Also it is more flexible than traditional classroom learning, providing students more freedom to work at their own pace and on their own schedule. The students are not depend on time, so they can become more responsible and self-paced. Furthermore, online courses tend to be cheaper and affordable than traditional learning environments. As usual, tuition costs are less that’s why students can save money on the cost of commuting, living in campus, books and additional materials, etc. Another benefit is that students may select exactly courses which they like and need and do not get extra unnecessary information. And it seems very interactive because instead of seating at the table with pen and a lot of papers the students can easily take part in discussions, look forums and contact the professor any time of the day. And finally the technology is a key component of a distance learning program. It can improve student’s skills and provide more information.

Another secondary academic source claimed that online education is relatively new in education institutions but it has significant potential for enhancing teaching/learning in self-education. (William, D 2000)

As it can be observed, the results of primary source don’t match with the secondary sources so the hypothesis of the research paper is already failed.

Conclusion

Researcher has done the research about online education during 4 weeks. She made a questionnaire as primary source and analyzed collected data. It can be observed that people saw the main pros of getting online education in the opportunity to manage the time individually in better way for them. These results also were proved by two secondary sources, such as articles in academic journal and one of the website. As an employers the students wanted to see potential employee with traditional diploma rather than online degree. These results did not match the video which was another secondary source and proved that online degree is good as traditional. And also the respondents did not agree that online education is better than classroom learning. The researcher had two secondary sources which showed opposite but however, from this data the reader can make a conclusion that the hypothesis was false because at least one of the graphs of primary source didn’t match to the secondary sources.

The researcher’s hypothesis was “Online education is better than classroom learning” and as it was already mentioned, during the analysis it was false because the second and the third graphs of three main questions from the survey did not match the statement of the hypothesis. “Studies have been compared online vs traditional learning have shown that results are equal to or superior to traditional learning environments and education quality.” (GetEducated, 2011)

During the research paper she faced some difficulties and limitations. Firstly, because of lack of the time it was difficult to collect and analyze all data that’s why the results of the research paper are not 100% reliable. Secondly, the researcher could not choose the topic of research paper for a long time and changed it few times. Moreover, as English is not the mother tongue of the researcher there were some difficulties with grammar and punctuation during the research paper.

In the future, the researcher would like to make other research about “Gap year is the best opportunity for students to understand their mission in life” with more time and more sources.

References

Cambridge Dictionaries Online (2015) Learning. Available from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/learning (Accessed 13 January 2015)

DistanceLearningPlan (2014) Distance Learning Education Benefits. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oN6zGXxb04 (Accessed 20 January 2015)

[video]

DistanceLearningPlan (2015) Advantages of distance education. Available from http://www.distancelearningplan.com (Accessed 20 January 2015)

eHow (2015) Definition of Online Education. Available from http://www.ehow.com/about_6600628_definition-online-education.html (Accessed 13 January 2015)

E-Learning Industry (2014) Top 10 e-Learning Statistics for 2014 You Need To Know. Available fromhttp://elearningindustry.com/top-10-e-learning-statistics-for-2014-you-need-to-know(Accessed 13 January 2015)

GetEducated (2011) Is an Online Degree as Credible as a Traditional Degree? Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIXabTvaMzc (Accessed 20 January 2015)

[video]

Illnois Online Network (2010) Strengths of online learning. Available from http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/overview/strengths.asp (Accessed 20 January 2015)

The Free Dictionary (2015) Better. Available from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/better (Accessed 13 January 2015)

Tucker, S (2001) Distance Education: Better, Worse, Or As Good As Traditional Education? Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Vol. 4 (4), no page

William, D (2000) Online education in schools, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 14 (7), p.315 – 324

Appendix

Questionnaire

Dear student, my name is Varvara and I'm doing a research about online education.

Please, answer the following questions honestly and select only one answer.

Name ______________________________

Age ______________________________

Nationality ______________________________

Gender Male  Female 

1. Do you like the idea to get online education?

 Yes, I find it interesting and useful

 No, I prefer to be in class with other students

2. Did you ever have online courses?

 Yes

 No

3. Do you see more pros or cons in online education system?

 Pros

 Cons

4. What is the major pros of online education?

 You are not depend from other students

 Uniform is not required

 You can manage your time in better way for you

 I don’t see pros in this kind of studying

5. Do you believe that online education is cheaper than traditional schools?

 Yes, I can save my money

 No, it’s very expensive to take such courses

6. Is it good for you if all the subjects which we study will be online?

 Yes, I’m totally agree with this idea

 Its ok for me, I don’t care

 No, I want to be in classes and take part in activities

7. After first graduation are you going to get next education?

 Yes, and it will be online courses

 Yes, but it will be traditional university/school

 Maybe, I don’t know yet

 No

8. How do you think, why most of the best and popular universities provide opportunity of distance education?

 They find it more effective

 They take care of students from different locations

 They don’t have enough place for everyone to study

 They don’t want to pay scholarship to the students

9. If you are an employer do you prefer to take an employee with online education or traditional university diploma?

 Online

 Classroom learning

 It doesn’t matter for me

10. Do you agree that online education is better than classroom learning?

 Yes

 No

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