Is It Real or Not?: Experiences of Synchronous Learning and Training for Counseling Graduate Students

Online Learning

According to Allen and Seaman’s (2015) definition, online education is defined by the percentage online courses compared to in-person courses. For example, if 80% or more of course content and interactive activities are offered online, the course is considered an online course. There are multiple online course platforms such as Blackboard, eCollege, D2L (formerly Desire 2 Learn), Canvas, and BBlearn. Each platform provides different methods of content delivery, discussion board, and assignment submission tools. As educational technologies including the internet have dramatically evolved, educators have developed different types of online courses (Clark & Mayer, 2011). According to Allen and Seaman’s (2015) report, more than 34% of all undergraduate and graduate students in U.S. higher education institutions have taken at least one online course since they entered college. Public four year institutions reported a seven percent increase in online enrollment, and private four year institutions experienced growth rates for online enrollment by 13 percent during the 2016-2017 academic year (Hall, 2017). Due to the increase in online courses and programs across diverse disciplines in higher education institutions, educators have developed various tools and learning methods to deliver knowledge and skills effectively.