This document compares and contrasts online learning with traditional face-to-face classroom learning. While the learning goals are the same, online instructors act as facilitators rather than lecturers, employing strategies like the flipped classroom where students learn basic content on their own and apply it through active learning activities. This can include discussions requiring higher-order thinking, group work to develop skills, and exploring concepts across different learning domains. The document addresses common student questions about the role of the instructor, use of lectures, expectations for pre-work, and emphasis on collaborative and applied learning over passive learning.

1. Learning Online vs. Learning in a Traditional Face­to­Face Classroom
Written by: Linda Gupta
The learning goals for students in our distance education and traditional on campus formats are
the same. We intend to produce competent social workers who:
● understand and a​pply course concepts,
● demonstrate intentional “use of self” with clients,
● engage in self­reflexive practice,
● develop a professional social work identity,
● embrace lifelong learning, and
● know how to learn.
Your instructors have had specialized training in online course development and teaching. Many
of the strategies we utilize have been recommended for decades by higher education researchers
for use in classrooms on campus as well as in online classrooms. Others are newer
developments. Depending on your previous educational experiences, some will be familiar and
new to you, perhaps even uncomfortable at the beginning, until you understand their rationale.
Below are some of the questions/comments we receive if students have not been exposed to
these strategies before.
1. Where is my teacher? I feel like I am teaching myself.”
To answer this question, let’s briefly review two educational concepts –pedagogy and
andragogy. “Pedagogy is “the art, science, or profession of teaching” (“pedagogy,” Merriam
Webster Learner’s Dictionary) while andragogy focuses specifically on adult learning. In his
seminal work on adult education, ​The Modern Practice Of Adult Education: From Pedagogy To
Andragogy, Malcolm Knowles (1980) recognizes 1) the adult learner’s desire and capacities for
self­direction, 2) the experiences that he brings to his learning and the effectiveness of
experiential learning with adults, 3) his awareness of his own learning needs that come from his
desire to solve problems or accomplish goals, and 4) his desire to obtain competencies, i.e.
knowledge, skills, and abilities that are relevant to his problems/goals (pp. 43­44).
Pedagogical approaches focus on what the instructor does in the classroom. The teacher
determines the content to be taught. Some educators argue that this leads to dependence on the
teacher for learning (Knowles as cited in Samaroo, Cooper, and Green, 2013, pp. 78). Some
educators feel that the pedagogical model is an authoritarian model concerned primarily with
“the transmitting of information” (Holmes and Cooper as cited in Samaroo et al., 2013, pp. 81).
An instructor using adult learning techniques functions as a curator and facilitator of your
learning. The instructor develops the course based on a master syllabus that addresses the
designated competencies for that course. The instructor creates a learning environment and
designs assignments and activities that will facilitate your development of the competencies. The
instructor is there every week, creating screencasts, putting up activities, responding to emails,

2. monitoring discussion boards, grading papers, and giving feedback, etc. However, in adult
learning, the instructor has moved from the “sage on the stage to the guide on the side” (King,
1993, p. 1). The emphasis in a classroom using adult learning strategies is on you as the learner.
2. “Where are the lectures? I like lectures.”
Our instructors do lecture but typically offer fewer and shorter lectures (lecturettes or
screencasts) in an effort to employ active learning strategies. What is active learning?
One definition of active learning frequently quoted in the literature is, “active learning [is]
defined as anything that ‘involves students in doing things and thinking about the things they are
doing’" (Bonwell and Eison, 1991, p. 19). Active learning includes activities such as discussion
boards, small group presentations, case­based discussions, drama, role­plays, simulations, and
games (Bonwell and Eison, 1991, pp. 38­47). The use of a variety of methodologies in the
classroom appeals to students with different learning styles. Also, some content simply cannot be
learned through hearing someone talk about it. Interviewing is a good example. You can learn
about interviewing from a lecture, but you must practice interviewing to develop skill. The goal
in active learning is to engage you in learning course concepts, but also, to engage you in
learning how to learn.
3. “Why can’t I just say what I think in the discussion board? That’s what I used to do in
the classroom.”
You will have multiple opportunities to share what you think with your instructors and peers.
However, in developing questions for the discussion board, your instructor may ask you
questions that require you to use increasingly higher levels of thinking in the cognitive domain.
Benjamin Bloom developed a taxonomy of learning that proposed six levels in the cognitive
domain: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (I, p.18). In
2001 Anderson and Krathwohl revised Bloom’s taxonomy, renaming the stages with the active
verbs of remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create (p. 310). If you are
interested, more information about Bloom’s Taxonomy can be found ​here at Vanderbilt
University Center for Teaching. In answering the questions, you not only recall what you read,
but learn to apply course concepts, to break a concept into its component parts and analyze it, to
integrate it with what you already know from other courses, your life experience, or field, to
evaluate the concept, and sometimes to create new knowledge.
4. Why am I expected to read or watch videos on my own before I participate online?
The flipped classroom is an active learning strategy that gained popularity around 2009 (Brame).
“In terms of Bloom’s revised taxonomy (2001), this means that students are doing the lower
levels of cognitive work (gaining knowledge and comprehension) outside of class, and focusing
on the higher forms of cognitive work (application, analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation) in
class, [typically in the discussion board] where they have the support of their peers and
instructor. This model contrasts from the traditional model in which ‘first exposure’ occurs via
lecture [or videos] in class, with students assimilating knowledge through homework; thus the
term ‘flipped classroom’” (Brame, 2013).
5. Why am I sometimes asked to share my feelings about class material?

3. Bloom asserts that learning occurs in two other domains – the affective and psychomotor
domains (Krathwohl, Bloom, and Masia, pp. 6­7).
Because of the emphasis in social work on your “use of self,” you will continually be managing
your emotions and behaviors in response to what you see and hear. Social work activities in the
psychomotor domain include behaviors or skills used in intervention with clients or systems.
Your instructors have designed learning opportunities in each domain and level of learning that
you will encounter as you go through the program.
6. ​Why do we have so many assignments in groups? I don’t like group work.
You will have many assignments that you will complete individually, but the flipped classroom
strategy privileges “collaborative student active learning” (Holmes, Tracy, Painter, Oestreich,
and Park, 2015, p. 216), thus contributing to the development of learning communities. Activities
in the flipped classroom are interactive with small group activities utilizing discussion boards,
blogs, wikis, case scenarios and collaborative writing assignments in Google docs . . . .(Holmes
et al., pp. 216­218).
There are many benefits to group work. Research has shown that students demonstrate
“increase[d] academic achievement (Day and Foley; Flumerfelt and Green qtd. in Holmes et al.,
p. 216). The technologies used in the flipped classroom have been shown to “promote social
work students’ learning, increasing their comfort about technology and using computers,
clarifying communication, enabling higher course satisfaction, and facilitating student
collaboration in completing writing assignments” (Abell and Galinsky; Allwardt; Frey et al.,
Wolfson et al., cited in Holmes et al., p. 216). Finally, as a social work practitioner, you will be
working with groups throughout your social work career. Some of these experiences will be
enlightening, some will be challenging, some will be affirming. Working in groups while you are
in school will help you develop many skills you will need to function as an effective group
member upon graduation.
We have reviewed several learning theories now including andragogy, active learning, Bloom’s
taxonomy with its domains and levels of learning, the flipped classroom, and learning
communities. You will encounter other learning theories and strategies as you go through the
program such as connected learning and case­based learning. If you have further questions, ask
your instructors. Remember that it is important now only to learn, but to develop metacognition
and a self­reflexive practice. Happy learning!

4. References
Anderson, L. and D.A. Krathwohl. (2001). Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing: A
Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Longman. Print.
Bloom, Benjamin.S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of
Educational Goals. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Company,
Inc. Print.
Bonwell, Charles C. and James A. Eison. (1991). Active learning: creating excitement in the
classroom. Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED). 1­121. ERIC. Web.
ED336049. 4 July, 2016.
Brame, Cynthia. (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.
Web. Retrieved from <​http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides­sub­pages/flipping­ the­ classroom/​>
Holmes, Megan, Elizabeth M. Tracy; Lori Longs Painter; Tina Oestreich; Hyunyong Park.
(2015). "Moving from Flipcharts to the Flipped Classroom: Using Technology Driven
Teaching Methods to Promote Active Learning in Foundation and Advanced Masters
Social Work Courses." Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(2), 215­24. Print.
King, Alison. (1993). "From Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side." College Teaching, 41(1),
30­35. Web.
Krathwohl, David R., Benjamin Bloom, and Bertram Masia. (1964). Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives : The Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook II: Affective Domain. New
York: David McKay Company, Inc. Print.
Pedagogy [Def.]. (n.d.). Merriam­Webster Online. In Merriam­Webster. Retrieved August 16,
2016, from http://www.merriam­webster.com/dictionary/pedagogy
Samaroo, Selwyn, Eleanor Cooper, and Tim Green. (2013). "Pedandragogy: A Way Forward to
Self­Engaged Learning." New Horizons in Adult Education & Human Resource
Development, 25(3), 76­90. Print.