Iworkedonmythesisformanymonths.Itwasalongprocess.Ilearnedmanythings.Iwanttosharemyexperience.

Thetopicofmythesisisonlinelearning.Manystudentsuseonlinelearningnow.Itisverycommon.Iwantedtounderstanditbetter.Mymainquestionwassimple.Doesonlinelearninghelpstudents?Iwantedtoknowtheanswer.

Istartedbyreading.Ireadmanybooksandarticles.Ispenttimeinthelibrary.Ialsosearchedontheinternet.Ifoundalotofinformation.Somepeoplesayonlinelearningisgood.Itisflexible.Studentscanlearnanytime.Theycanlearnanywhere.Thisisconvenient.Otherpeopleseeproblems.Studentscanfeellonely.Theymisstalkingtoteachers.Theymisstalkingtofriends.Technologycanalsofail.Theinternetcanstopworking.Thisisfrustrating.

Idecidedtodomyownresearch.Imadeasurvey.Iaskedstudentsquestions.Iaskedabouttheironlineclasses.Iaskedabouttheirfeelings.Dotheylikeonlinelearning?Isiteasyorhard?Igavethesurveytofiftystudents.Theywerefromdifferentclasses.Theyweredifferentages.Icollectedalltheanswers.Ilookedatthedatacarefully.

Theresultswereinteresting.Manystudentslikedtheflexibility.Theycouldstudyatnight.Theycouldstudyathome.Thissavedtime.Theydidnotneedtotraveltoschool.Thiswasgoodforthem.Butsomestudentsfounditdifficult.Theymissedtheclassroom.Theysaiditwashardtofocusathome.Thereweremanydistractions.Thephonewouldring.Familymemberswouldtalk.Itwasnotagoodplacetostudy.Theyfeltlessmotivated.Theyfelttiredmoreoften.

Ialsotalkedtosometeachers.Iaskedthemthesamequestions.Theteachershaddifferentopinions.Someenjoyedteachingonline.Theycouldusenewtools.Theycouldmakeinterestingvideos.Theycouldsharelinkseasily.Otherteachersdidnotlikeit.Theysaiditwashardtoseestudents.Theycouldnottellifstudentsunderstood.Theconnectionwassometimesbad.Studentsdidnotturnontheircameras.Itfeltliketalkingtoablankscreen.

ThiswastheinformationIgathered.Ihadthestudentsurveys.Ihadtheteacherinterviews.Iputeverythingtogether.Ilookedforpatterns.Ilookedforcommonideas.Iwrotedownmyfindings.Iwroteonechapteraboutthegoodpointsofonlinelearning.Iwroteanotherchapterabouttheproblems.Itriedtobefair.Ishowedbothsides.

Writingthethesiswasnoteasy.Ifacedsomechallenges.Thefirstchallengewastime.Ihadotherclasses.Ihadotherhomework.Itwashardtofindenoughtime.Imadeaschedule.Iworkedonmythesiseveryday.Evenonehourwasgood.Smallstepshelpedalot.

Thesecondchallengewasorganization.Ihadmanynotes.Ihadmanysources.Itwasmessy.Ididnotknowwheretostart.Ilearnedtouseindexcards.Iwroteoneideaoneachcard.Isortedthecardsintopiles.Eachpilebecameachapter.Thismethodworkedforme.

Thethirdchallengewaswritingitself.Iwantedmywritingtobeclear.Iwantedeveryonetounderstandit.Ireadeachsentenceoutloud.Ifitsoundedstrange,Ichangedit.Iaskedafriendtoreadit.Hepointedoutconfusingparts.Irewrotethoseparts.Mywritingbecamebetter.

Ilearnedmuchfromthisprocess.Ilearnedhowtodoresearch.Ilearnedhowtoaskgoodquestions.Ilearnedhowtoanalyzeanswers.Ilearnedhowtostructurealongpaper.Ilearnedtheimportanceofpatience.Bigtasksseemscary.Butyoucanfinishthemstepbystep.

Mythesisisfinishednow.Ifeelproudofmywork.Itisnotperfect.ButIdidmybest.Iunderstandonlinelearningmuchbetter.Iseeitsvalue.Ialsoseeitslimits.Itisagoodtool.Butitcannotreplaceeverything.Humanconnectionisstillimportant.Aclassroomhasitsownenergy.Ascreenisdifferent.

Thisexperiencechangedme.Ifeelmoreconfident.IknowIcancompleteadifficultproject.Iamreadyformynextchallenge.Iwanttokeeplearning.Iwanttokeepimproving.Thankyouforreadingaboutmywork.