Students learn differently in offline and online session. More quiet, less able and shy students tend to participate more in online sessions.

1. ONLINE SESSION AND ITS
IMPACT ON LEARNING GAINS
Patrisius Istiarto Djiwandono
Universitas Ma Chung

2. Learning in the past
• Within a brick-and-mortar classroom
• Teacher as the sole source of knowledge

3. Today’s learning

4. Today’s learning
• Advanced ICT technology
• Beyond classroom walls
• Different roles of the learners and the
lecturer
• Blended learning: blend of conventional and
technology-supported online learning
Question: does blended learning enable
students to gain as much as when they are
engaged in conventional learning?

5. Objectives
• How they develop each other’s knowledge
• Whether they retain the knowledge for
some time after the lesson
• Differences in behavior when in online and
offline session

6. Method
• 23 students in Language Testing course formed
groups of 3 - 4, and then were engaged in learning
a topic about testing reading comprehension. The
text was delivered through a website called
coursesite.com.
• Ss read a text, and answer a question about the
content of the text. Simultaneously the lecturer
invited exchanges of ideas, corrections, and
comments among the groups. This was all done
online through coursesite.

7. The Groups and Their Academic Performance
Group Members Academic Performance
1. Ind, Kev, Nat, Okt High
2. Gh, Yu, Mar High
3. Al, Ar, Ard, Ste Low
4. She, Ire High
5. Din, Ink, Fi Low
6. Na, Mei Low
7. Am, Fe, Ev, Pri, Int Low

8. Table 2. Exchanges between
Groups
• High groups tended to answer faster and
more accurate, while the less able groups
come up later, sometimes with incorrect
responses.  Exchanges
• The online session provides a permanent
record of all the exchanges  facilitating
learning by low groups

9. Scaffolding
• Online session provides scaffolding: L
poses a question  High Groups answer 
[Low Groups read the correct answers] 
Low Groups attempt to answers  High
Groups/lecturer corrects  Low Groups
makes another attempt  Lecturer praises
them.

10. Is the Gain Sustainable?
• About 2 weeks after the online session, they
took the final exam, where they had to
answer the same question: “What main
ideas about the test of reading
comprehension can you learn from the text
you read?”

11. Gains after the Online Session
• some from Low groups (Din, Ar, Ink, Ev,
Mei, and Al) manage to score relatively
higher.
• Some high-achieving students remain on
top of the rank while some low-achieving
students are at the bottom of the list.

12. Differences between Offline and Online Discussion
F2F Session
• High inhibition:
uncomfortable for low-
achievers due to pressure to
perform well in front of
others.
Online Session
• Low inhibition: low-
achievers feel more secure,
more support from their
peers of the same level, less
pressure from high-
achievers.

13. Differences between Offline and Online Discussion
F2F Session
• Low permanence: spoken
lessons are fleeting, hard to
capture, making it difficult
for subsequent rehearsal.
Online Session
• High permanence:
permanent record of
exchanges between lecturer
and students, facilitating
rehearsal by all students;
more intense scaffolding.

14. Conclusion
• Online session with students in groups
enables students to help each other grasp the
lesson. Scaffolding is obvious.
• In general, they retain the knowledge a few
weeks after the online session.
• Online session promotes permanent records
of exchanges, and provides better mental
support for less able learners.

15. THANK YOU