Graduates who have not taken an online course in many years may be surprised by the ways technology has changed distance education. In a recent Strayer Connections newsletter, Dr. Elkanah Faux, Online Faculty, explained these changes. Below you can see some of her insights regarding Online Education in the Web 2.0. environment.

Instead of narrowly confining students to traditional lecture, Online Education 2.0 caters to students’ needs by providing highly interactive learning. Students not only listen to a lecture, but follow along with visual presentations that include embedded links and quizzes to allow for more in-depth study and to reinforce concepts.

A New Era
In the online experience, there’s no sitting in the back row in a darkened lecture hall. Every Online Education 2.0 student is fully engaged with the lesson at hand and clearly in charge of what they take away from the courses.

Online learning is no longer the alternative option for pursuing an education. According to “Online Nation,” a report published by the Sloan Consortium, more than 3.5 million students took at least one online course during the fall 2006 term.

Virtual Classroom
Interactive lessons simulate real-world situations and enable students to experiment with different hypotheses and learn through virtual experiences. Students can easily learn concepts in a context that remains positive instead of punitive when they are free to explore possibilities and pose answers in private.

Many adult learners who are returning to college in their 30s and 40s are early adopters of new technologies. They are accustomed to receiving information in diverse ways, and they expect technology to drive advances in the learning experience.

Done right, online learning essentially requires students to take a more active role, rather than be passive recipients of imparted information. For those who truly desire to learn, Online Education 2.0 creates new and unique opportunities for intellectual development.