Higher education experts have been examining the effectiveness of remote versus in-person teaching for many years, but this discussion has rekindled with fervor since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. As educators who had to swiftly transition to online instruction review the learning results from the past 18 months and assess the longevity of online education in the years ahead, a multitude of researchers have been keenly inspired to reexamine the debate and establish compelling arguments regarding the efficacy of remote instruction. While many administrations are quick to align themselves with one perspective or another, most of us continue to scrutinize the biases present in studies like this one – and rightly so.
In the aforementioned research, Auburn University’s Duha T. Altindag assessed academic performance metrics such as course completion and grades between the fully in-person semesters of spring and fall 2019 and the entirely online fall 2020 semester involving approximately 18,000 students from an undisclosed public university. The researchers aimed to ascertain “the degree to which the shift to online learning necessitated by the pandemic would last in the future” and to offer “a comprehensive understanding of the effect of online education on student learning.”
The data contrasting performance metrics from just spring and fall 2019 indicated no notable differences in completion rates between remote and in-person instruction, revealing that face-to-face learners were five to seven percentage points less likely to achieve an A or B compared to online learners. In early spring 2020, students enrolled in online courses observed a slight improvement in grades; however, by late spring 2020, grades, completion rates, and other positive performance indicators predictably leveled out due to the devastating mental, physical, and socioeconomic repercussions of the pandemic on both students and educators.
While much of the study’s data supported the equivalency of online learning in relation to student achievement and highlighted similarities between face-to-face and digital instruction prior to the pandemic across various student categories, the researchers attributed the advantage to “grade inflation” arising from lenient instructors and “academic integrity breaches” in remotely monitored examinations. To counteract this, they introduced a “student and instructor fixed effects” filter to illustrate that online learning might only seem superior due to “the variations in instructors’ approaches to assessing student performance in online versus F2F [face-to-face] courses.” The overall conclusion of the study indicated that remote instruction, despite its fast-tracking and evolution during the pandemic, remains overshadowed by traditional face-to-face learning.
Educators and administrators should absolutely consider factors like pandemic-related stress, technological hurdles, and assessment methodologies when contemplating the future of online learning. While certain coursework may never be fully executed on a digital platform, it would be unwise for educators to emphasize in-person instruction or constrain the potential for online education in a post-pandemic world based on overly narrow studies like this one.
Here are 3 significant ways research continues to back digital learning and assessment:
1. Numerous historical studies have illustrated and recent research still confirms that remote learning is on par with face-to-face learning.
According to Inside Higher Ed’s Doug Lederman, despite the highly debated topic, “A majority of the scores, if not hundreds of studies examining the comparative performance of online versus face-to-face learning, have found ‘no significant difference’ in student outcomes.” Lederman further notes that many authorities in the field caution against juxtaposing pre-pandemic data with mid-pandemic information because of the extraordinary circumstances of that time. They emphasize that many faculty members teaching online during the pandemic had no prior experience, had limited preparation time, and focused on student stress. Altindag’s study lays excessive stress on student and instructor impacts that are not sufficiently elaborated to be comprehended.
2. Students and educators favor online learning.
In a spring 2021 survey, Campus Technology discovered that 73 percent of students would rather take at least some of their courses entirely online after the pandemic. Additionally, 53 percent of educators shared this sentiment regarding online teaching, and 57 percent expressed a preference for hybrid teaching post-pandemic. Robert Hansen, CEO of UPCEA, conveys that the key takeaway from the survey “is that the pandemic did not threaten but actually accelerated the long-term growth, acceptance, and appeal of online learning, and those figures will only improve as emergency remote offerings are transformed into modern online courses and programs.”
3. Remote proctoring is now more straightforward and secure than ever before.
Although remote proctoring has been available for quite some time, the rapid transition from traditional testing methods to online equivalents over the last 18 months significantly hastened the acceptance of online proctoring. As the demand for solutions surged, live remote proctoring emerged as the most adaptable, cost-effective, secure, reliable, and convenient assessment option available. Business Line on Campus asserts that “remote examinations have arisen as a lifesaver as technology has altered our outlook, created vast opportunities for change, and online exams will remain a strong contender moving forward.” They also reference recent studies from India and Australia indicating that 55 percent of students hold a favorable view toward online proctored examinations, with projections that this percentage will only rise as internet accessibility and AI technologies advance. ProctorU’s Chief Strategy Officer Jarrod Morgan comments that through the challenges of 2020, “we learned that online proctoring isn’t fraught with the technological and security issues that everyone assumed we would encounter. You’re able to implement this in a way that serves students and educators effectively. And we’ve certainly recognized that the Netflix generation anticipates testing this way, both now and in the future.”
We eagerly anticipate further research on the subjects of online education and assessment. Should you wish to learn more about our remote proctoring solutions, please contact us.
Altindag, D. T., Filiz, E. S., & Tekin, E. (2021, July). Is Online Education Effective? National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved August 20, 2021, from https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w29113/w29113.pdf
Kelly, R. (2021, May 13). 73 percent of students prefer some courses to be fully online post-pandemic. Campus Technology. Retrieved August 20, 2021, from https://campustechnology.com/articles/2021/05/13/73-percent-of-students-prefer-some-courses-be-fully-online-post-pandemic.aspx
Kumaraswamy, S. (2021, July 29). Evaluating the effects of remotely proctored assessments. Business Line on Campus. Retrieved August 20, 2021, from https://bloncampus.thehindubusinessline.com/b-learn/evaluating-the-effects-of-remotely-proctored-assessments/article35606130.ece
Lederman, D. (2021, August 6). Do college students perform worse in online courses? One study’s findings. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved August 20, 2021, from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/08/06/do-college-students-perform-worse-online-courses-one-studys-answer
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