Combining traditional face-to-face classroom strategies with online teaching methods

Abstract

This study is a small scale study in which 41 students in two classes were subjected to two different teaching methods. During the research process, students were enrolled in an advanced junior level English class at a small high school. The researcher utilized a traditional face-to-face teaching method in the first phase of the study and combined the traditional face-to-face method with a lesser known online teaching method in the second phase of the study. The purpose of the study was to find out if one of the environments provided during the study was better for student learning than the other. The research questions addressed were: (1) How can online discussion forums be used to help students increase their skills in analyzing difficult texts? (2) How can online learning be used to effectively help students? (3) How can online discussion forums be used in conjunction with face-to-face education to meet the individual needs of students and increase their understanding in the content of their English classes? The results showed that there was some evidence to support that online learning techniques can be used in the classroom to enhance the learning environment and that individual students may benefit from such an addition.