In the end I came up with one word to describe the differences that I see. Time.
Time to think for teachers:
There are known best practices for online learning. Plenty of research exists about what makes for good learning experiences online and what doesn’t. It takes time to study and learn what the best practices are. Most teachers had to move online in a week or even less. There just wasn’t enough time.
Time to prepare:
High quality online courses take time to prepare. In my experience it can take 6 months to 2 years of development work. Unlike in the bricks and mortar classroom it is best if the entire learning experience has been uploaded and prepared online before any students enter the classroom. Of course, teachers adapt and change the experience while students go through it; that is the nature of learning, after all. Trying to build a high quality online learning experience while students are in the middle of the course is very difficult, although not impossible.
Time in class:
What does time in class online mean? So much of our bricks and mortar learning experience has been built around seat time. Periods and classes have set amounts of time. Students need to listen to bells and be on time. None of those things should apply in online learning. The best online learning experiences are flexible when it comes to time. Asynchronous learning provides students with the voice and choice as to when they learn. Now, that is not to say that all synchronous online learning is bad; in fact, the very best online courses use asynchronous and synchronous learning experiences.
Time to complete work:
In the best online learning experiences students can complete just as much work as a bricks and mortar class in half the time. Or in double the time. The flexibility of online learning gives those students who can finish quickly the ability to do so and also lets those students who need more time to have it.
Time for students to think:
Often, in the bricks and mortar classroom, the quickest thinking students are the ones who participate best in discussions and team tasks. But in the online space, students who need more time to think and process can often do so--if the course is designed for it. This allows more students to be more engaged in the learning experience.
Time for the future:
Teaching a course the second time is always easier. But in the online space this is amplified. Once a course has been developed and had students complete it, it is much easier to run a second time. Even more, it is possible to replicate that course and have other teachers teach it with far less time spent on preparation than in a bricks and mortar classroom.
Now, here we are looking ahead to September. We don’t have a lot of time, but we have some. How will we spend it?
