Time demands in online instruction1

This article reports findings from a Mellon Foundation research project at Syracuse University with regard to the time demands placed on teachers and learners in online courses. This exploratory research was primarily a study of cases involving three online courses and one face‐to‐face course. The focus of the study was the effects of different forms of communication and collaboration on time invested by teachers and learners. The online courses made use of e‐mail, threaded discussion forums, and online chat sessions; the face‐to‐face course used e‐mail in addition to a course Web site and lectures. Learning outcomes and retention in the three online courses were similar to outcomes and retention in comparable face‐to‐face courses at this institution. Students invested slightly more time in online courses whereas faculty, all of whom were experienced online teachers, invested considerably more time in their online courses. An analysis of interviews with online teachers at other institutions confirms the finding that experienced online teachers invest significantly more time in online teaching than their counterparts in face‐to‐face settings.