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The Human Factor: The Promise & Limits of Online Education
Open accessAbstract
The idea that online learning might revolutionize higher education, lowering the cost of high-quality learning opportunities for students with limited access to traditional higher education, follows similar hopes for earlier technologies, including radio and television. If such a revolution is to come, it is still far from a reality. Strong evidence indicates that students with weak academic backgrounds and other risk factors struggle most in fully online courses, creating larger socioeconomic gaps in outcomes than those in traditional classroom environments. The central problem appears to be the lack of adequate personal interaction between students and instructors, as well as among students. Hybrid learning models do not exhibit the same problems and there is potential for online learning to develop strategies for overcoming these difficulties. Meanwhile, narrowing gaps in educational opportunities and outcomes requires considerable skilled human interaction.
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“Some contend that the online medium itself causes worse outcomes (Altingdag et al., 2021;Baum & McPherson, 2019)”
From Competing hypotheses about online versus face-to-face course outcomes: Analysis leveraging the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic (2025) · cites this paper as Baum & McPherson, 2019
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Courses (2002) · Adrianna J. Kezar (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
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Pręgowska, A., Masztalerz, K., Garlińska, M., & Osial, M. E. (2021) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci11030118 · Cited by 277
The Digital Divide in Online Education in China During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Guo, C., & Wan, B. (2022) · Technology in Society · doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2022.102122 · Cited by 137
Refining active learning design principles through design-based research
Reilly, C., & Reeves, T. C. (2022) · Active Learning in Higher Education · doi:10.1177/14697874221096140 · Cited by 60
Aretio, L. G. (2021) · RIED Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia · doi:10.5944/ried.25.1.31468 · Cited by 45
Exploring success factors and relationships in virtual learning using ISM and fuzzy MICMAC analysis
Chuaphun, P., & Samanchuen, T. (2024) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28100 · Cited by 30
Metadata
- Authors
- Baum, S., & McPherson, M.
- Affiliations
- Skidmore College (US)
- ORCID
- McPherson, Michael
- Venue
- Daedalus
- Publisher
- MIT Press - Journals
- Published
- 2019-10
- Volume
- 148
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 235-254
- ISSN
- 0011-5266 (ISSN-L)
- 1548-6192
- OpenAlex
- W2973710212
- Cited by
- 82
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 18.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Daedalus (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Online and Blended Learning
- Social Sciences › Education › Education during COVID-19 pandemic
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Online Learning and Analytics
- Keywords
- online learning, higher education, student-teacher interaction, peer interaction, hybrid learning, socioeconomic inequality in education, educational technology, higher education access, educational outcomes
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