Online Courses: Student Preferences Survey

Abstract

As online and hybrid courses are increasingly used to deliver college courses and curriculum, an online survey was developed and implemented at the University of Baltimore to capture perceptions and attitudes towards online and collaborative learning experiences during the spring 2011 term. The majority of the respondents were employed women of multi-ethnic backgrounds who were currently participating in a hybrid or fully online course. The findings indicate that they highly valued the flexibility of the online format and the access to online assessment tools and an electronic portfolio of their graded work. In terms of collaborative learning relationships, respondents rated their interactions with their instructor more favorably than their peer interactions. Various challenges for online learning are presented and discussed.