Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    College Advising
    Serving Higher Ed
    Chronicle Festival 2025
Sign In
Innovations-Small Icon

Innovations

Insights and commentary on higher education.

Another Look at the Weaknesses of Online Learning

By Frank Donoghue July 27, 2011

The responses to my last post (both online and off), in which I questioned the supposed strengths of online learning, were so well informed and provocative that I think I have no choice but to return to that topic. The supporters of online learning are simply bringing me around to their way of thinking. They also have the advantage of having either taught or taken online courses, while I have only experienced a traditional college education, on both sides of the classroom.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

The responses to my last post (both online and off), in which I questioned the supposed strengths of online learning, were so well informed and provocative that I think I have no choice but to return to that topic. The supporters of online learning are simply bringing me around to their way of thinking. They also have the advantage of having either taught or taken online courses, while I have only experienced a traditional college education, on both sides of the classroom.

Before I revisit the topic of online learning’s strengths, though, I thought it best to return to the excellent Web site Illinois Online Network, which outlines what it considers to be both the strengths and the weaknesses of online learning. That way I can present the entirety of the debate, and invite responses from the many scholars who have enlightened me so far

Here are some of the key weaknesses that the Illinois Online Network outlines, many of which, I have to say, I don’t find particularly alarming:

  1. Technology, specifically equity and accessibility to the technology required for online access, and the fact that students come to online courses with a wide range of computer literacy. I’m not sure either of these are big problems. Online learning has been expanding at a rapid rate for several years now, and the demand for online courses, especially at community colleges, now regularly outstrips the capacity for such schools to provide them. In other words, students by the hundreds of thousands aren’t worried about accessibility to the technology; they’re worried about access to the courses themselves, which in turn suggests that computer availability is not a major problem. As for degrees of computer literacy, several commenters made the point that some students are better suited for online learning than others. Certainly true, and students with low levels of computer literacy will simply opt for other modes of learning.
  2. The Students. The Network reports: “While an online method of education can be a highly effective alternative medium of education for the mature, self-disciplined student, it is an inappropriate learning environment for more dependent learners. Online asynchronous education gives students control over their learning experience, and allows for flexibility of study schedules for non traditional students; however, this places a greater responsibility on the student.” This “weakness,” it seems to me, can be turned on its head. As those of you who follow my blog know, I’m worried that, in our rush to be First in the World when it comes to college graduates, we’re admitting a great many unqualified students—for-profit universities, as Senator Tom Harkin’s hearings have shown, are the worst offenders. Why wouldn’t we want a form of college education that “places a greater responsibility” on the student? And what’s wrong with a larger cohort of mature, self-disciplined students, as opposed to new-minted high school graduates who attend college out of a dim sense of that it is expected of them? As “R117532” puts it in a deeply informed and thoughtful response to my last post—I’d urge you all to read it—in online courses, “mental attendance is higher. You can show up in a physical classroom and be somewhere else mentally. In an online classroom, you only show up via work product.” He goes on to add, “many of the criticisms of online courses go to this point inappropriately. They examine online courses with no or poor structure and conclude that the medium is to blame.”
  3. The Facilitator. The Network has this to say: “Successful on-ground instruction does not always translate to successful online instruction. If facilitators are not properly trained in online delivery and methodologies, the success of the online program will be compromised. An instructor must be able to communicate well in writing and in the language in which the course is offered. An online program will be weakened if its facilitators are not adequately prepared to function in the Virtual Classroom.” Well, let’s hope the facilitator can write! But this is a good point. It takes different kinds of skills to facilitate different kinds of courses: the large lecture course, the small writing course, the graduate seminar. The same must hold true in the “delivery and methodologies” of online teaching. The Network raises the concern that not all online instructors are adequately prepared. I’ll leave this to those readers who have taught online: Were you adequately prepared for the virtual classroom, or did you have to figure a lot out on your own? “R117532” suggests he experienced a learning curve, but one that ultimately had a positive outcome: “While my lower division courses had a slightly higher dropout rate until I learned how to manage the classroom better, students always turned in better performance scores than did comparable students in physical classrooms.”
  4. Finally, The Administration and the Faculty. “Sometimes administration cannot see beyond the bottom line and look at online programs only as ways to increase revenues and are thus not committed to seeing online programs as a means of providing quality education to people who would otherwise not be able to access it. In such a case, an institution that is not aware of the importance of proper facilitator training, essential facilitator characteristics, and limitations of class size would not understand the impact that these elements can have on the success of an online program.” The profit motive in online learning is a big worry for me. I have yet to meet anyone who teaches exclusively online who is not also an adjunct. I worry that, at many institutions—community colleges and for-profit colleges in particular—these adjuncts, as they are everywhere, are overworked and thus lack not the motivation but the time to learn how to teach effectively online. I just don’t agree with “R117532” that for-profits are “an irrelevant distraction.” They’re growing too fast, they’re gobbling up a disproportionate amount of federal loans (which makes them something we all have to worry about), and while many—University of Phoenix and Kaplan, for example, have a lot of brick and mortar campuses, some of the other big ones—Walden University, Bridgepoint Education (currently ranked #13 among Investors Business Daily’s top stocks), operate exclusively online.

A lot of issues on the table. I’m eager to hear from you.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Vector illustration of large open scissors  with several workers in seats dangling by white lines
Iced Out
Duke Administrators Accused of Bypassing Shared-Governance Process in Offering Buyouts
Illustration showing money being funnelled into the top of a microscope.
'A New Era'
Higher-Ed Associations Pitch an Alternative to Trump’s Cap on Research Funding
Illustration showing classical columns of various heights, each turning into a stack of coins
Endowment funds
The Nation’s Wealthiest Small Colleges Just Won a Big Tax Exemption
WASHINGTON, DISTICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES - 2025/04/14: A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator holding a sign with Release Mahmud Khalil written on it, stands in front of the ICE building while joining in a protest. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally in front of the ICE building, demanding freedom for Mahmoud Khalil and all those targeted for speaking out against genocide in Palestine. Protesters demand an end to U.S. complicity and solidarity with the resistance in Gaza. (Photo by Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Campus Activism
An Anonymous Group’s List of Purported Critics of Israel Helped Steer a U.S. Crackdown on Student Activists

From The Review

John T. Scopes as he stood before the judges stand and was sentenced, July 2025.
The Review | Essay
100 Years Ago, the Scopes Monkey Trial Discovered Academic Freedom
By John K. Wilson
Vector illustration of a suited man with a pair of scissors for a tie and an American flag button on his lapel.
The Review | Opinion
A Damaging Endowment Tax Crosses the Finish Line
By Phillip Levine
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan keeps his emotions in check during a news conference, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 in Charlottesville. Va. Authorities say three people have been killed and two others were wounded in a shooting at the University of Virginia and a student is in custody. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
The Review | Opinion
Jim Ryan’s Resignation Is a Warning
By Robert Zaretsky

Upcoming Events

07-31-Turbulent-Workday_assets v2_Plain.png
Keeping Your Institution Moving Forward in Turbulent Times
Ascendium_Housing_Plain.png
What It Really Takes to Serve Students’ Basic Needs: Housing
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin