Online and traditional student differences

When developing a course, most instructors begin with describing the specific learning goals that are to be attained by students. In constructing learning goals, it is important to consider the motivation, self-efficacy, and attitudes of the students in the class, which can be a difficult task. Course development is becoming even more challenging as the popularity of distance education increases. Instructors developing online courses are faced with the question of whether the students in these classes are fundamentally different from students in traditional courses. If there are differences between the types of students who enroll in online versus traditional classes, instructors would need to be mindful of the differences when designing various aspects of the course...