Strategies for Effective Online Teaching and Learning: Practices and Techniques With a Proven Track of Success in Online Education

Background

Proponents and critics of online teaching and learning (Schwerdt et al., 2010) have long debated its effectiveness and appropriateness compared with traditional on-ground settings for a range of disciplines. The intense debate has created significant division among faculty members and academic administrations, with battle lines also drawn among learners (Palvia et al., 2018). Some of the more contentious points gravitate around questions like:

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  Do learners have access to real-time support and feedback from teaching staff?

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  Is there a comparable level of institutional support for all actors?

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  Can learners create connections between new and prior knowledge without formal supervision?

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  Can learners successfully engage in learning activities in an individual capacity and as part of a group?

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  Can we trust that learners will uphold academic integrity policies in an unsupervised environment?

Ultimately, the critical question is whether online learning offers comparable results in terms of achievement of learning outcomes and reaching defined performance standards in assessment. Negative opinions are often formed based on specific approaches to online instruction (e.g., massive open online courses, self-directed courseware) that generally provide an unassisted learning experience that relies exclusively on the instructional design of the course to meet learning outcomes.