Online Learning Efficiency in the Humanities

Online learning or web-assisted learning has become common over the past decade. Various studies have established that it is appropriate for learning in the areas of technology, natural sciences and skills. The arts and humanities are more reluctant to use the new technology, since it seems less naturally suited to their disciplines. Is it possible that the arts and humanities can not find such an approach effective, or does it require a mental change on the part of the of lecturers? We tested three different approaches to acquiring student feedback: (1) the traditional classroom lecture, (2) studying with documents from Moodle, and (3) studying with interactive multimedia learning materials. In our research (in the course The Basics of Philosophical Thought) we have discovered that students who are digital natives still perceive traditional classroom lectures as more useful in the sense of understanding the reading materials than the other two approaches. This was evident in the students' homework, grades and survey analysis but not in time management. Given assembled data, we suggest that the optimal approach would be to provide e-learning materials prior to the lectures because this would allow students to participate actively in the lectures. If we use online interactive multimedia learning materials, most students still require live communication, which is not always feasible when online learning is the whole method. The online multimedia study approach could therefore be effective in the analytical philosophy course, but it would require a huge mental change on the part of all stakeholders.