At the start of 2008, about 4 million students were taking online courses in universities and other higher education institutions, many of those courses hosted by learning management systems. But I wonder, how do students really feel about online courses, and the experience of collaborative learning that’s also involved?

In winter 2006, students at the University of Denver also using Blackboard as their LMS expressed general satisfaction with it. They were pleased because of the LMS’s ease of use, the flexible access to learning materials, enhanced communication with educators and fellow learners, and facilitated collaboration on group projects. As well, students appreciated the constant access to grades and assignments.

What students were overall dissatisfied with were that not all educators used the LMS, that of those teachers who did, some only barely used it, that many who used the LMS didn’t effectively know how to reap its benefits, that its use was inconsistent, and that some teachers relied wholeheartedly on the system, instead of incorporating varied teaching modes into the courses.

According to the Sloan report, which is based on a poll of academic leaders, students generally appear at least equally satisfied with their online classes as they were with traditional ones. I wonder–does this reveal more about the quality of online courses or of the traditional courses students experienced?

Regardless of the answer to that, with more educators able to instruct using technology in their courses, greater quality and accessibility in course content offered online, and increasingly computer-savvy generations of students, the feedback is bound to become only more positive.