Online flexibility has rising appeal by Andrew Trounson

THE effectiveness and efficiency of online learning will come under increased scrutiny during the review of teaching funding.
The scrutiny comes as people start asking whether face-to-face learning is more expensive to deliver.

Curtin University's director of e-Learning Tony Herrington argues there is no basis to downgrade the worth of modern online learning and that it demands the same funding priority as face-to-face.

He also argues academic teaching load is the same whether the students are in a real classroom or online.

Associate Professor Herrington said the emergence of face-to-face online learning through software such as Skype and virtual classrooms is making the differences between the two teaching methods irrelevant. The flexibility that online provides digitally savvy students is increasingly attractive, he said.

He also believed online learning can be superior to face-to-face environments if students are left sitting passively in lecture theatres.
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Source: The Australian