The Impact of Online Class on University Students

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The Impact of Online Class on University Students
Introduction
In the recent times, with the advent of the internet and World Wide Web, learning in the classrooms is no longer a monopoly. More and more students are enrolling in online courses in comparison to the traditional classes. For instance, in 2008 the number of students taking at least one online course increased by 12.1% compared to 1.2% of those who enrolled in the traditional system of learning (Gossenheimer, Bem, and Carneiro). With such enormous growth came concerns about the impact of this form of learning on the university students. Of course, online education is a relatively new practice with various benefits and pitfalls. For instance, some scholars have criticized it for being difficult, particularly for the students who are least prepared. On the other hand, online courses offer students flexibility because one can study a particular course from any part of the world at their convenient time. This paper will give a comprehensive comparison of two articles based on the impact of online class on university students.
Summary of the Articles
The first article “The effectiveness of Online Learning: Beyond No Significant Difference and Future Horizons” is written by Tuan Nguyen, who has listed various advantages and uses of online learning. In his study, Tuan Nguyen presents a research on the general perception that learning online is less efficient than the traditional format. He conducted a qualitative study, where he used various journals and peer-reviewed articles to gather his evidence on the above topic. First, the author collected evidence from articles and journals that contained the positive outcomes of online learning (Nguyen 310). Some of the positive findings obtained from these materials include online materials, giving the students enough time to think and reflect about the sources of their studies better than the face-to-face form of learning. As a result, students undertaking online courses have been shown to perform better than their class-based counterparts (Nguyen 311).
Tuan Nguyen also studied sources that had null findings and found that they were many in comparison to materials with positive outcomes (Nguyen 312). Most of these sources found that there were no significant differences between online and traditional means of learning. Further, the author studied material that had negative and mixed outcomes. He found that they were small in number compared to the ones with positive findings (Nguyen 313). Some of the limitations of distance learning in these materials include poor performance of the students enrolled in online courses compared to those under instructor-based format. One of the reasons for poor performance was the time students spend interacting with their books and learning environment. In one of the studies, students taking online courses were found to spend less than three hours a week studying compared to class-based ones who spend a minimum of three hours per week (Nguyen 313). In the conclusion, Tuan Nguyen indicated that contrary to what many people believe, online learning is as effective as a class-based format. The author has presented enough evidence to refute the...