Increasing Access to Teacher Preparation: The Effectiveness of Traditional Instructional Methods in an Online Learning Environment

Distance education via the World Wide Web is currently being examined as a method to provide special and general education instruction in teacher preparation programs. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of traditional instructional methods in an online learning environment. Results of this study revealed that overall there were no significant differences between learning under the two conditions. That is, student academic outcomes were the same when instruction was delivered in a traditional classroom or through an online learning environment. Some advantage was found to online discussions in contrast to face-to-face discussions. Traditional instructional methods, such as those used in this study, produce similar academic outcomes when delivered through online learning environments. The implications of these results for teacher preparation practice are discussed.