Part 1: Read the following passage and decide which answer A, B, C, or D best fits each gap. Write your answers in the numbered boxes. It is important to recognize that online learning has (61) _________ advantages and disadvantages. Although students’ grades appear to be unaffected by the mode of instruction, certain courses are more challenging to students who (62) _________ their studies in the virtual environment than in the classroom. However, in online classes, participation in ...

Part 1: Read the following passage and decide which answer A, B, C, or D best fits each gap. Write your answers in the numbered boxes.

It is important to recognize that online learning has (61) _________ advantages and disadvantages. Although students’ grades appear to be unaffected by the mode of instruction, certain courses are more challenging to students who (62) _________ their studies in the virtual environment than in the classroom.

However, in online classes, participation in learning activities may be less (63)__________, especially for shy students, and the quality and quantity of student-student and teacher-student interaction may be higher. Increasingly, it is a/an (64) ________ issue for designers of online curriculums to decide how to match the advantages of different modes of instruction to specific courses, by offering not only fully classroom-based or online courses, but also that take the best element of both types to (65) ________ the needs of students and teachers and to (66) _________ the most efficient use of resources.

Students who study online tend to lack a sense of community, trust, and positive interaction with other course members and teachers - all elements that were in the past believed to increase the effectiveness of classroom learning, amongst least confident learners. However, online students generally also feel that they learn at a similar rate to their (67) _______ in the classroom, and in fact at my college their grades are just as good as those who are taught in (68) _________. But just imagine how much more effective our online courses could be if they fostered a culture of class cohesion, spirit, trust, and interaction, both among students and between students and faculty. Perhaps the most effective way to achieve this improvement is for online educators to give more (69) ________ contact and to encourage students to collaborate.

Online learning provides a far more student-centered teaching approach than the traditional classroom method, and all schools (70) _______should aim to adopt it as their main means to deliver education.