TEFL Oak Grove Kentucky

The question that comes to my mind when reading this title is which is better? My search online for scholarly answers to that question yielded no results whatsoever. However, I surveyed three web pages that offered opinions on the merits of each. One of the more balanced web pages (Roberts and Jameson) cites some of the obvious advantages of online courses: cost, convenience and the ability to study at one's own pace. The authors cite two disadvantages that I find particularly significant, a lack of contact with authentic students through student teaching and the risk of earning a certification that is not widely recognized. A pro-online web page (King) cites much the same advantages of online learning, and offers a lengthier list of things to look for when choosing a good online teaching organization. Another web page takes issue with many of King's cited advantages. ('Between Worlds'). I found one objection in this latter page that adds new information to the previous list of things to consider: an on-site class fosters relationships with other students, some of whom will later become one's colleagues and potential references. While I failed to find any tefl/TSOL- specific research regarding online vs on-site teaching, there have been studies done to compare student satisfaction between online and on-site courses. In one such study, Kellya, Ponton and Rovai studied text segments from student evaluations of teaching (SET) for 82 courses taught at a single institution; 43.1% were taught on-site (face-to-face) and 56.9% were taught online. The online courses were delivered using Blackboard. The responses are to 20 different questions, and the text segments are categorized as praise, constructive criticism or negative comment. The totals across all 20 questions for the face-to-face courses were 51.9% praise, 27.2% constructive criticism and 20% negative. The online courses ratings were 51.2 % praise, 30.4 constructive criticism and 18.4% negative. These data suggest student satisfaction is the same for both online and on-site courses. The rating on the overall course quality, again for praise, constructive criticism and negative responses were 71.3%, 22.4% and 6.2% for face-to-face courses and 70.3%, 21.2% and 8.3% for the online courses, so it seems that the students' perception of course quality is also the same for both online and on-site courses. However, there is one statistic that stands out, the one rating 'rapport'. The scores for that are 76.9%, 15.4% and 7.7% for face-to-face-classes and 39.1%, 17.3% and 43.4% for the online classes. Clearly, the students in the online class felt a lack of rapport with their teacher. Here there seems to be clear difference, with the on-site students feeling more rapport with their teachers than the online students. To be fair, the study data, both online and on-site, are drawn from a single college in the US. It would be interesting to repeat this study using data from a variety of online and a variety of on-site schools. One wonders if the institutional culture of this single school might have some bearing on how the courses, especially those taught online, were taught. In another paper, Campbell, Floyd and Sheridan reported that student attitudes were the same within the margin of error for the given measurement, with the exception of student assessment of teacher availability.(45) Students reported a significant difference in teacher availability, and rated online teachers more available that on-site ones. Student performance also was significantly better among the online students. Works Cited Roberts, Stephanie and Jonathan Jameson. 'Online or on-site tesol certificate: Which is Right for You? n.p, , 18 January 2012 web retrieved 8-10-2012. http://www.eslhitchhiker.com/forum/online-or-onsite-tesol-certificate-which-right-you King, Mitch.. 'An online or on-site tesol course, which is best?' n.p. , n.d..web retrieved 8-10-2012. http://www.eltworld.net/times/2011/03/an-online-or-onsite-tesol-course-which-is-best/ ''Between Worlds'. , Adventures in tesol, 30 March 2011, web retrieved 10/8/2012 http://tesol.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/the-pros-and-cons-of-online-tesol-training Kelly, Henry F., Michael K. Ponton and Alfred P. Rovai, 'A comparison of student evaluations of teaching between online and face-to-face courses'. The Internet and Higher Education, 10: 2 2007, pp. 89-101 Campbell, Michael C., Joe Floyd and Joan B. Sheridan, ' assessment Of Student Performance and Attitudes For Courses Taught Online Versus Onsite'. Journal of Applied business Research, 18:2 2002, pp. 45-51.