Gilton 1

Tori Gilton

English Comp. II

Professor Riley

26 May 2019

Online Vs. Traditional Learning

While technology advances there are many advances made in how students learn and

how classes are taught. When I first became a CCP student I was given the choice of online

classes or traditional classes. For my first semester I took regular traditional classes since I was

used to this style from my entire school career. Once I was finished with my first semester I was

curious about online classes and decided to take one and try it out. I took pre-calculus online and

found it to work for me. Since taking my first online class I have still been curious about which

style works better for students and if one style has better outcomes, for example I wanted to

know if either online or traditional had high test scores and if the students felt like they learned

more from one or the other.

There are a few different styles of teaching in today’s educational system. The styles

mostly seen are traditional face to face classes, completely online classes, and there is also a

hybrid style class that is partly online and partly in person. Before doing research on this topic I

believe that the hybrid style of teaching has the most benefits for students. Online courses offer

more flexibility on where and when students can complete their work, any place with an internet

connection allows students to work. Traditional face to face styles of teaching incorporate an

interaction that students would not normally receive in online classes. There is more of an

opportunity to get more information without worrying if your questions were clearly asked

through an email to a professor. Hybrid courses are presented as a better of the two main styles
 Gilton 2

of teaching. With hybrid classes students would attend a class in person for some time to listen to

either a lecture or to learn and then they would spend the rest of their time online working on

assignments or working with other students on projects. I have had the opportunity to be

involved in each of these course styles, I have taken both completely online and completely in

person classes, along with these I have also been able to try a few hybrid courses. Overall in my

experience the different styles have had an impact on whether I enjoyed learning in the class and

on my grade in the class. With my experience hybrid classes work the best and offer the

opportunity to work outside of a classroom while still giving students the structure and

interaction that comes with a completely in person course.

With the information I already have access to there are still some things I need to

research and learn about. I am interested in why students choose the courses they choose and if

the type of course they choose affects the tests scores and the quality of learning. I would also

like to learn if there any constraint to either type of course that could contribute to students

choices of whether to take it or not.