The Opportunities and Challenges of Online Instruction in Transnational Education and Learning
Abstract
This study reports on the opportunities and challenges of online instruction in transnational education and learning. The purpose of the study was to reconsider the opportunities the online teaching/learning mode provides learners and instructors and identify and analyze challenges faced by both learners and instructors using the online option in higher education. The article argued that the quest to make more strategic gains from online education programs comes with challenges to both learners and instructors as teaching/learning are likely to suffer in the online instruction mode. Although the online mode provides learners the opportunities for higher education they may otherwise not have and employment for instructors, the article claims that high teaching/learning standards and effectiveness seem to be compromised in online instruction considering that relationships play a key role in optimizing an individual’s intelligence (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Marzano et al., 2005; Fonkem, 2012) and consequently the individual’s ability to perform teaching and learning tasks.
References
Allen, I. E. & Seaman, J. (2009). Learning on demand: Online education in the United States. Needham, MA: Sloan Consortium.
Angulo, A. J. (2016). Diploma mills: How for-profit colleges stiffed students, taxpayers, and the American dream. Johns Hopkins University Press
Arbaugh, J. B. (2010). Sage guide both or even more? An examination of instructor activity in on-line MBA classes. Computers & Education, 55, 1234-1244
Bekele, T. A. & Menchaca, M. P. (2008). Research on Internet supported learning: A review. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 9, 373-405
Coltrane, S. (1997). Families and gender equity, National Forum, 77: 31-35
Fonkem, P. (2012). High school experiences of students with chronic behavior problems. PhD Dissertation, Marian University, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Unpublished.
Freire, P. (2004). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Gahungu, A. (2011). Integration of foreign-born faculty in academia: Foreignness as an asset. The International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 6(1): 1-22
Hutchinson, C. B. (Ed)(2015). Experiences of immigrant professors: challenges cross-cultural differences and lessons for success. Routledge
Jean-Francois, E. (2016) What is transnational education? In E. Jean Francois, M.B.M. Avoseh & W. Griswold (Eds.). Perspectives in transnational higher education. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Jordan, J. V. (1992). Relational resilience. Work in Progress, No. 57. Wellesley, MA: Stone Center Working Paper Series.
Marzano, R. J, Gaddy, B. B., Foseid, M. C., Foseid, M. P. & Marzano, J. S. (2005). A handbook for classroom management that works. Association for supervision and Curriculum development. Alexandria, VA.
Moody, J. (2004). Faculty diversity: Problems and solutions. New York, NY: Routledge
Ngwainmbi, E. K. (2006). The struggles of foreign-born faculty. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 23(10): 28.
Noble, D. F. (2003). Digital diploma mills: The automation of higher education. Monthly Review Press
Paulson, J. (2016 spring). Would you hire you? The Link, spring, 2
Preston, J. C. (2014). Online doctoral programs: Can they produce the business scientists and leaders needed for the 21st century? International Journal of Leadership and Change, 2 (1): 39-47
Redpath, L. (2012). Confronting the bias against on-line learning in management education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 11(1): 125-140
Rehfuss, M. C., Kirk-Jenkins, A., & Milliken, T. 2015. Students experiences with different course delivery modalities: On campus, online and satellite. Journal of Human Services, 35(1), 28-38.
Saginak, K. A. & Saginak, M. A. (2005). Balancing work and family: Equity, gender and marital satisfaction. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 13(2): 162-166
Seigle, D. J. (1999). The developing mind: Toward a neurobiology of interpersonal experience. New York, Guilford Press
Zimmerman, T. S., Haddock, S. A., Current, L. A & Ziemba, S. (2003). Intimate partnership: Foundation to the successful balance of family and work. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 31, 107-124.
