The typing advantage

When it comes to classtime, the solely online class has an interesting format: the professor speaks and a flood of student responses come in chat form. As opposed to a classroom where limited time enables only a few to speak while all listen, this format may have some advantages. Sara Cordell of the University of Illinois-Springfield says about this format: "They're right there. They're listening. And they like talking to each other, typing to each other. That, I think, is a big attraction, because they get to engage real time with the other students as much as with me" (Online Courses Catch On in U.S. Colleges) This enables all the students to participate quickly with the professor and with each other, also all can speak at the same time with no one being drowned out. The students are all engaged in the discussion as well, no one can slouch in the back of the classroom and avoid getting called on. This type of full classroom engagement is exciting for professors; I remember in one college course during a discussion on The Origin of Species, something Darwin had written got the entire class going and everyone began excitedly speaking and arguing at once. I noticed the teacher looked so happy and pleased that we were all so engaged with Darwin's work in such an excited manner, but of course, no one could hear what anyone else was saying until she calmed us down and we took turns speaking. The online class can allow everyone to be engaged at every minute.

In addition, putting anything into a written form forces greater thought into word choice and topic point in way that speaking may not allow time for. One of the students commented "...an advantage with online stuff is that because people have to type, you have to think more about what you say before you say it. So you usually end up with a lot more intelligent conversation." And a classroom format that can produce "more intelligent conversation" I'm sure makes many teachers enthusiastic.