I am often asked to give my opinion regarding online education versus traditional education. Because it is such a popular topic, I decided to conduct some research to determine how online instructors’ perceive online versus traditional degrees. The following is an abstract from my most recent study published in the Journal for Online Doctoral Education.
“Due to the growth of online courses and universities, the quality and benefits of distance education warrant
scholarly attention. Previous researchers have focused on students’, employers’, and traditional professors’
perspectives of online courses. Although adjunct professors teach the majority of online courses, few
researchers have explored their opinions of online education compared to traditional, face-to-face education.
Also lacking is information about online instructors’ perceptions of the online teaching position. The purpose
of this report was to present online adjunct faculty members’ perceptions of online education in relation to
traditional education. Sixty-eight adjunct faculty members who were recruited through LinkedIn voluntarily
completed an instrument that was developed for this purpose. Given that this report represents an initial
attempt to understand this phenomenon, preliminary results are reported as descriptive statistics. Overall,
the online adjunct faculty members held favorable opinions of online education and believed that others did
as well. Although they reported grading similarly in online courses as in traditional courses, the online
adjunct faculty members reported that students thought that online professors graded more easily.
Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.”
To read the entire study, please click the following link: Adjunct Faculty Members’ Perceptions of Online Education Compared to Traditional Education
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