Abstract
Pedagogy, software, and student motivation form an interactive system that either supports the emergence and growth of a vibrant online learning community, or does not. This article briefly reviews some of the research that has been carried out at NJIT and elsewhere over the last 25 years that supports this view. It starts with collaborative learning pedagogy, since this is the foundation of a successful learning network.
Highlights
Whenever the quality of online courses is discussed, some faculty members give glowing accounts of active dialogue and better communication with students than in face to face courses
We know from over 30 empirical studies comparing the effectiveness of ALN and face to face (f2f) courses that overall, ALN courses are on the average, as effective or more effective than FfF ones, but that there is much more variability within modes than between them [1, 2]
Many variables that contribute to and help to explain the effectiveness of courses taught using the ALN paradigm [3], the most important is the pedagogy and the presence that the instructor brings to the course
Summary
Whenever the quality of online courses is discussed, some faculty members give glowing accounts of active dialogue and better communication with students than in face to face courses. Others counter that they taught or observed an online class where there was little or no interaction, just “no new items waiting” day after day. There is great variability in the liveliness of traditional classrooms and the quality of the courses, too, but it seems even more marked in the virtual classroom. Many variables that contribute to and help to explain the effectiveness of courses taught using the ALN paradigm [3], the most important is the pedagogy and the presence that the instructor brings to the course. What occurs online is affected by what the students bring to the course, especially their motivation in regard to the course
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