Comparison of Face-To-Face and Hybrid Delivery of a Course that Requires Technology Skills Development

Introduction Online learning continues to be a leading growth sector in higher education (Allen & Seaman, 2006; Foster & Carnevale, 2007; Kim & Bonk, 2006). The online learning movement demonstrated significant attention during the 1990s, but some institutions began to move away from online learning initiatives during the first few years of the 21st Century because the interest level of students was not as high as anticipated. With the recent success of online universities and a variety of online programs, many public universities more recently have embraced online learning (Foster & Carnevale, 2007). Student interest in taking online classes has also increased. "Nearly 3.2 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2005 term, a substantial increase over the 2.3 million reported the previous year" (Allen & Seaman, 2006). Some research indicates that more part-time and younger students take online courses (Singh & Pan, 2004). Some researchers suggest that online learning has created a true paradigmatic shift in the way people teach and learn (Bassoppo-Moyo, 2006; DeNeui & Dodge, 2006). "The precise nature of the change is difficult to quantify, however allocation of sufficient time and resources, combined with managerial support, will help staff through the period of transition" (O'Neil, Singh, & O'Donoghue, 2004). Clearly, more students have enrolled in online classes, but student perceptions related to online courses have been mixed (Smart & Cappel, 2006). According to Chen's research, "students felt that the Web-based instruction program was useful and they liked the Web treatment of the content" (2005, p. 75). In courses that required much individualized work, learner autonomy and self-regulation were related to student success in and positive perceptions of online learning (Huang, 2002; Reisetter, LaPointe, & Korcuska, 2007). An area of interest related to online learning was research indicating that students preferred a hybrid course format that incorporated online activities with traditional, face-to-face delivery (Marcketti & Yurchisin, 2005; Tang & Byrne, 2007). A hybrid course is "not simply a matter of the combination of face-to-face and online instruction but it has to have elements of social interaction" (Heinze & Procter, 2006, p. 247). Many studies reported that there was no significant difference in course outcomes when comparing conventional to online classes (Newlin, Lavooy, & Wang, 2005; Papastrergiou, 2006; Shelley, Swartz, & Cole, 2007). Some studies indicated that the lack of social interaction in online courses was a concern of students and that students who reported higher perceived social presence in a course also perceived that they learned more (MacGregor, 2001; Richardson & Swan, 2003). Biggs, Simpson, and Walker (2006) reported that online students have lower perceptions of instructor support and student interactions in an online format. Other research indicated that group work enhanced online learning while students who worked alone were less motivated and had lower perceptions of learning (Hiltz, Coppola, Rotter, Turoff, & Benbunan-Fich, 2000; Lock, 2006). Instructor response to online learning has provided some common themes. A transformation in the expectations of students enrolled in online courses has occurred. Students expect instructor responses to email and discussion boards to occur shortly after the students post their queries (Fox, 2007; Lao & Gonzales, 2005). Student expectations, increased demands for communication, online course development requirements, and extra attention to detail in an online environment have resulted in increased workloads for faculty of online courses (Papastrergiou, 2006; Rittschof & Griffin, 2003). Instructors have noted the loss of non-verbal forms of communication in online course delivery formats (Stansfield, McLellan, & Connolly, 2004). …