Distance learning perceptions

Publish date	2007-10-30
Available Articles	Full articles without membership

The most common fallacy about employees who work from home is that they spend half their time making cups of tea and all their time in their pyjamas. A similar perception surrounds the distance learner, a new study shows.

A survey by online education resource eLearners found that students in online education have found the most common misconceptions about studying remotely are that it requires less time and effort than a full-time MBA and is easier.

But more than half of the students interviewed said they spent more than 10 hours per week on their course work. Despite the workload, 90% of the online students surveyed indicated their experience was good or better with more than 83% saying they would recommend online education to others.

“We see a tremendous amount of research done on corporate and academic institutions’ perspectives and burgeoning acceptance of online education, but we have not seen a lot from the consumer,” said Andrew Gansler, CEO of eLearners.com.

“This survey indicates a satisfied customer base of hard working students, both on the job and in school.”

By the end of this school year, Florida State University’s first online MBA class will be graduating. Fifty-five students will have completed 42 credit hours over 28 months – taking two classes a semester. Taking an MBA in this way is anything but easy, according to Patrick Maroney, associate dean for graduate programmes at the University’s College of Business.

“Anyone considering these programmes needs to understand that they take a lot of effort – you have to be disciplined and know that you really want to do it,” he said.

“The faculty teaching the classes are the same ones in the classroom. The courses are the same, and the degrees are the same. It is in no way a watered-down version. The method of delivery is just different.”

Among the respondents to the survey who were engaged in online degrees, more than half said that the biggest plus was flexibility of time and location. Twenty percent said the biggest plus was the style of learning itself. Students indicated that the most challenging part of being an online student was maintaining discipline and time management.

When asked to suggest how schools could improve their online programmes, respondents said they would recommend improvements in online instructional materials, interaction, better access to financial aid and more instructional support.

“The best gauge of their [the students’] connection to each other is that a high percentage show up for graduation,” said Maroney. “From the comments we get, there is a real sense of community among the students. They have spent a lot of time together, albeit virtual. This is no out-there-by-yourself correspondence course — there is a lot of networking and teamwork. We even provide online sites for them to communicate after they graduate.”

The survey looked into the differing criteria used by distance learners and campus-based students when choosing a school.

Campus-based respondents ranked reputation first followed by most appropriate programme. In contrast, their online peers ranked most appropriate programme highest, with location second. Reputation was less of a priority, with just 8% listing it as their biggest reason for selecting their school.

Although on-campus students listed the attractiveness to employers of online MBAs as their main concern about studying via distance learning, 90% of online students were content with their programmes. Just over 77% of those attending a campus-based program indicated their experience was good or better.

Among the 48% of respondents who were looking for a programme but had not yet enrolled, 57% indicated that they still planned to join an online programme, with 62% planning to do so in the next year.

“The early adopter phase of online post secondary education is behind us now,” concluded Gansler. “Schools offering online programs are going to have to work even harder to attract new prospects, convince the fence sitters, and retain the converted.”

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