Online Learning in Australian Secondary Schools: A Sociology Report

This report delves into the advantages and disadvantages of online learning within Australian secondary schools. It begins by highlighting the increasing prevalence of technology in education and its impact on teaching methodologies. The research investigates the benefits, such as improved interaction and access to resources, and the challenges, including difficulties with technology access and the potential for educational malpractices. The methodology involves the analysis of 12 sources, including articles and journals, using keywords to identify relevant studies published between 2010 and 2019. The analysis reveals both positive and negative impacts, such as the benefits of learning at one's own pace and the challenges of digital divides and pedagogical skills of online teachers. The report concludes by summarizing the findings and discussing the implications of online learning for the future of secondary education in Australia.

Sociology
"What are the challenges and benefits of online learning on secondary school student?"
Name
Professor
Course
Date

Sociology
Abstract
The study analyses the advantages and disadvantages of online learning in secondary schools in
Australia. Basically, the issue of online learning has gained prominence in most of the secondary
schools in Australia (Adachi, Tai & Dawson, 2018). The secondary schools use online learning
whereby materials are either sent to students by the use of computers. With advancements in the
field of technology, most of the secondary schools are moving to online learning and teaching.
The paper, therefore, will present the benefits and advantages associated with online learning to
students in secondary schools Australia. In order to account for challenges and benefits
associated with online learning, 12 sources were analyzed during the study. The main issue was
to identify how different sources such as article argue on the issue of online learning. The
research project involved assessing the information contained in the 12 sources used during the
study. Some of the online learning areas focused during the research project included the Open
and Distance Learning (Balakrishnan,Teoh,Pourshafie & Liew, 2017).
Keywords
Challenges, Benefits, Secondary Schools, Technology use, Open, and Distance learning.
Introduction
Basically, online learning and teaching are gaining wider popularity in most of the secondary
schools in Australia. This shows that increased technology in the education sector is shaping the
learning strategies to most of the secondary schools in the country. Based on the context of this
research project the issue of online earning is described as the method whereby instructions and
acquisition of knowledge are facilitated by the open distance learning strategies. The entire
process of online learning by students is facilitated by the use of computers and the issue of

Sociology
technology which is shared via the use of the internet (Brener, Cama, Hull & Treloar, 2017).
Researchers argue that the use of technology in the modern world offers a variety of
opportunities in the education sector. Some of the wide benefits of technology in the modern
world include promoting the quality of interaction between the students in secondary level,
promoting interaction between learners and teachers in the education system and enhancing
communication between different groups in school. In addition, online learning helps to access
the plethora of resources in the education system. Many of the secondary schools in Australia are
on the verge of adopting the use of technology thus increasing the effectiveness of their Open
and Distance learning in school (Caesar et al., 2016).
Research question
What are the benefits of online learning to secondary students in Australia?
What are the challenges faced when using online learning in school?
Methodology
The aim of the project was to identify the positive and negative impacts of online learning in
secondary students in Australia. In order to understand the effects of online learning, the research
analyzed 12 sources which had different information about online learning to the students in
school. The research used keywords such as (negative effects of online teaching to students and
positive impacts of online learning to students when learning) (Gardner et al., 2016). The 12
sources used were the literature articles and journals which explained the recent impacts of
online learning. While searching the articels we first entered the key words in the research
databases (in our study we used Education Resource Information Center in Australia and also
google scholar) which were used to obtain the sources explaining the topic of the study.After

Sociology
opening the google scholar than ten pages appeared each page having different sources.To be
specific we specified the time whereby we indicated sources from 2010 to 2019.After selecting
the source based on time then the key words were entered in the database. The first keyword was
(negative effects of online learning to Australian students. After the page opened we selected six
sources and tabled as indicated in the paper. After selecting the six sources we refreshed the data
base and then entered the keyword (importance of online learning to Australian students).The
page opened and selected another six sources which had information on benefits of online
learning. The sources were tabled as shown in the paper. The information obtained was analyzed
whereby we grouped the results.
The 12 sources used;
Author (s) Year Title
Adachi, C., Tai, J. H. M., &
Dawson, P.
2018 Academics’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges
of self and peer assessment in higher
education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher
Education, 43(2), 294-306.
Balakrishnan, V., Teoh, K.
K., Pourshafie, T., & Liew, T.
K. (2017).
2017 Social media and their use in learning: A comparative
analysis between Australia and Malaysia from the
learners' perspectives. Australasian Journal of
Educational Technology, 33(1),80.
Brener, L., Cama, E., Hull,
P., & Treloar, C.
2017 Evaluation of an online injecting drug use stigma
intervention targeted at health providers in New South

Sociology
Wales, Australia. Health Psychology Open, 4(1),
2055102917707180.
Caesar, M. I. M., Jawawi, R.,
Matzin, R., Shahrill, M.,
Jaidin, J. H., & Mundia, L.
2016 The Benefits of Adopting a Problem-Based Learning
Approach on Students' Learning Developments in
Secondary Geography Lessons. International
Education Studies, 9(2), 51-65.
Gardner, P., Slater, H.,
Jordan, J. E., Fary, R. E.,
Chua, J., & Briggs, A. M.
2016 Physiotherapy students’ perspectives of online e-
learning for interdisciplinary management of chronic
health conditions: a qualitative study. BMC medical
education,
16(1), 62.
Garner, R., & Rouse, E. 2016 Social presence–connecting pre-service teachers as
learners using a blended learning model. Student
Success, 7(1), 25-36.
Jackson, D. 2017 Exploring the challenges experienced by international
students during work-integrated learning in
Australia. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 37(3),
344-359.
Johnson, G. M. 2016 Technology use among Indigenous adolescents in
remote regions of Australia. International Journal of

Sociology
Adolescence and Youth, 21(2), 218-231.
Macleod, J., & Kefallonitis,
E.
2017 Trends affecting e-learning experience management.
In Strategic Innovative Marketing,4(12), (pp. 753-
758). Springer, Cham.
Ouyang, F., & Scharber, C. 2017 The influences of an experienced instructor's
discussion design and facilitation on an online
learning community development: A social network
analysis study. The Internet and Higher
Education, 35, 34-47.
Plowman, E., Anderson, J., &
Douglas, J.
2017 Adapting online learning to overcome disadvantage in
rural Australia. Australian Nursing and Midwifery
Journal, 25(2),89.
Queiros, D. R., & de Villiers,
M. R.
2016 Online learning in a South African higher education
institution: Determining the right connections for the
student. The International Review of Research in
Open and Distributed Learning, 17(5).123.
Analysis

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Using the keywords to obtain the sources, 12 entries were retrieved. Six sources were describing
the importance of online learning and the other six explained the negative effects of online
learning to students. The six sources describing the negative impacts of online learning were
narrowed down by comparing their main arguments. On another hand sources which explained
positive impacts were narrowed down by comparing their topic. The common results obtained
from both sources were displayed as shown in the finding section of the research.
Criteria used to analyze the source used in study
Sources
Sources describing
negative effects of
online learning
Sources describing
negative effects of online
learning
Negative results
Sources describing the negative effects of online learning.
Common positive results

Sociology
Author(s) Year Title
Plowman, E.,
Anderson, J., &
Douglas, J.
2017 Adapting online learning to overcome disadvantage in rural
Australia. Australian Nursing and Midwifery
Journal, 25(2),89.
Macleod, J., &
Kefallonitis, E.
2017 Trends affecting e-learning experience management.
In Strategic Innovative Marketing,4(12), (pp. 753-758).
Springer, Cham.
Jackson, D. 2017 Exploring the challenges experienced by international
students during work-integrated learning in Australia. Asia
Pacific Journal of Education, 37(3), 344-359.
Balakrishnan, V., Teoh,
K. K., Pourshafie, T.,
& Liew, T. K. (2017).
2017 Social media and their use in learning: A comparative
analysis between Australia and Malaysia from the learners'
perspectives. Australasian Journal of Educational
Technology, 33(1),80.
Brener, L., Cama, E.,
Hull, P., & Treloar, C.
2017 Evaluation of an online injecting drug use stigma
intervention targeted at health providers in New South
Wales, Australia. Health Psychology Open, 4(1),
2055102917707180.
Gardner, P., Slater, H.,
Jordan, J. E., Fary, R.
E., Chua, J., & Briggs,
2016 Physiotherapy students’ perspectives of online e-learning
for interdisciplinary management of chronic health

Sociology
A. M. conditions: a qualitative study. BMC medical education,
16(1), 62.
Disadvantages of online learning
Difficulty accessing the advanced technology
Digital divide: this involves blocking the distance students realization of the information
requirements.there also exist cultural barriers which marginalize the digital era (Staiano, &
Calvert, 2011).
Pedagogical skills of online teachers is also a disadvantage of online learning. Online educators
need high training and skills in order to get the needed skills to be able to teach students (Shaw
2012).there is also a challenge of developing the curricula of an existing explanatory nature
which actively engages students with various hands-on and also inquiry-based learning (Tarus,
Gichoya, & Muumbo, 2015).
Use of computers is addictive and students can be tempted to waste their time in entertainment
rather than for learning.it also leads to education malpractices where students can copy
assignments and answers from Google lowering the quality of education. Online learning is also
disadvantaged in having to interact physically with other students.in this way their
communication and interactive skills are greatly undermined (Smeda, Dakich, & Sharda, 2014).

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Sources describing the positive effects of online learning
Author(s) year Title
Adachi, C., Tai, J. H.
M., & Dawson, P.
2018 Academics’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges of self
and peer assessment in higher education. Assessment &
Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(2), 294-306.
Caesar, M. I. M.,
Jawawi, R., Matzin, R.,
Shahrill, M., Jaidin, J.
H., & Mundia, L.
2016 The Benefits of Adopting a Problem-Based Learning
Approach on Students' Learning Developments in Secondary
Geography Lessons. International Education Studies, 9(2),
51-65.
Garner, R., & Rouse,
E.
2016 Social presence–connecting pre-service teachers as learners
using a blended learning model. Student Success, 7(1), 25-
36.
Johnson, G. M. 2016 Technology use among Indigenous adolescents in remote
regions of Australia. International Journal of Adolescence
and Youth, 21(2), 218-231.
Ouyang, F., &
Scharber, C.
2017 The influences of an experienced instructor's discussion
design and facilitation on an online learning community
development: A social network analysis study. The Internet
and Higher Education, 35, 34-47.

Sociology
Queiros, D. R., & de
Villiers, M. R.
2016 Online learning in a South African higher education
institution: Determining the right connections for the
student. The International Review of Research in Open and
Distributed Learning, 17(5).123.
Advantages of online teaching and learning in secondary schools.
The classroom halls of today never again incorporate one instructor, a gathering of learners,
work areas, books, paper, and pencils. The modern classrooms, especially in secondary schools
in Australia, reach outside of the study hall to speak with the network, the nation, and the world.
Secondary schools in Australia have set up students and educators to impart and work profitably
in an assortment of a learning environment. Online based learning can be a significant method of
conveyance for secondary students and educators whenever made to upgrade learning and
coordinated effort with others outside of the homeroom (Capel, & Whitehead, 2015). It is urgent
to set up our educators to have the capacity to make and take an interest in online expert learning
and advancement for their own learning just as to profit their students learning.
Online learning is quite important in ensuring students' academic advancement.it also improves
the skills and knowledge of teachers
Some of the other benefits of online teaching and learning of secondary schools in Australia
(Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011).
Students are able to learn at their own pace

Sociology
Online teaching and learning provide the students with the key opportunity to carry out studies at
their own personal space, learning anytime and from any place that they desire. The learners
have the capability of learning independently and having fun since learning material can be
easily accessed from the websites hence creating more opportunities for the learners
It promotes positive interaction
Online teaching provides students with the opportunity to ensure close interaction between
students and teachers hence creating a strong relationship. Positive interaction has the capability
of increasing psychological wellbeing and improves their attitude towards learning experiences.
It also ensures that students achieve positive learning results and become successful in their
future education endeavors.
It is evident that interaction leads to diversification of the learning process and ensures that
students are highly motivated. Learners are able to actively engage in the existing curriculum
development as they are satisfied with the content available and the conducive learning
environment that technology offers
Online learning also promotes high order thinking capacity and skills. According to various
researchers, technology advancement can be used to promote critical and decision-making
skills.it also provide learners with problem-solving skills when they use technologies like Google
docs, several discussion forums existing in blackboard.in this way, they can be able to create
several learning activities which assist in the growth of critical skills for the students.
It also issues opportunities for real-time student assessment
Technology advancement in teaching makes educators have the capacity of monitoring the
students continue the progress and overall performance of students is well evaluated in terms of

Sociology
reading active engagement and the amount of time frame the student spends in the virtual
learning platform.
These benefits are critical evidence that makes both learners and teachers to have embraced the
culture and practice of learning online in order to enhance the great potential for teaching and
learning.
In the articles investigated, the accompanying parts were observed to be powerful for online
guidance and learning. Initial, a well-structured online course ought to incorporate substance
explicit to what should be realized. This equivalent literature discovered learning exercises in
online courses ought to be significant to the substance material. There ought to be numerous
open doors inside the course for understudies to cooperate with the teacher and different
understudies to augment learning. Teachers should structure assignments where understudies
connect with one another and the substance of the course. Fraser (2012)examines additionally
discovered that a solid teacher nearness was significant for coaching and encouraging dialogs to
help to learn among the gathering alongside input for assignments online courses need
agreeable/community oriented dynamic learning. These would incorporate application exercises,
reading groups, bunch undertakings, and recent development assignments. In a few articles read
for this review, it was accentuated that collaborations with different students and the teacher
were essential to accomplish an ideal learning result.
An online course for expert advancement can provide a wide network to educators and teachers
from various parts of the global domain. Connections are well created. An online course offers a
dimension of accommodation for the member since it can take out movement and youngster care
costs and furthermore permits opportunity of time for fulfillment of the course prerequisites.

Sociology
At the core of value for secondary students is high flexibility, while the best spoiler from quality
is questionable innovation. Substance and appraisal are huge supporters of a quality learning
background, while the job of the teachers is basic for VET students. VET students depend on the
collaboration with the instructor and need strong, responsive educators who give clear guidelines
and answer questions speedily and helpfully (Lee, Tsai, Chai, & Koh, 2014). According to
Livingstone (2012), these reports are taken from the 'concur/dissent' type questions. They are
bolstered by comments in the open-finished inquiries in which student set forward their own,
unprompted, remarks. Flexibility was the most significant factor benefit reported by learners.
While the learners were certain about the adaptability, opportunity, and accommodation of the
online environment, they were very evident that they didn't lean toward it to up close and
personal classes. They perceived that online learning required a more prominent level of
association and control than eye to eye classes and that they required solid individual
characteristics, particularly inspiration and aptitudes in time the executives. The online mode was
not embraced simply in light of the fact that the students couldn't go to classes, yet rather as a
fascinating and practical choice which gave the adaptability they needed. The chance to improve
registering and web abilities was another positive component (Mills & McGregor, 2013).
Great educators
According to Selwyn (2015) out that the accessibility of email, specifically, produces the desire
for test answers. They depend on the educator to enable them to learn. At the point when
understudies got singular, fast input they were enchanted with the experience. At the point when
the educator did not give criticism or took too long to even think about responding, at that point
quality apparently was deficient (Pachler, Evans, Redondo, & Fisher, 2013). The harmony
between up close and personal and online conveyance are part of the advantages of online

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learning. Numerous understudies remarked on the significance of communication with educators.
Consolidating this with the adaptability wanted may best be done through a half breed model of
conveyance.
Findings
We obtained three common negative impacts of online learning. On another hand, there were
four common positive impacts of online learning described by the sources obtained from the
research database used in the study.
The results obtained from the sources were as shown below;
Common negative impacts of online leaning Common positive impacts of online learning
 Online learning may lead to academic
dishonesty.
 Not all disciplines can be learned
through the online platforms (Jackson,
2017).
 Online learning is difficult when no
available clarifications or an offer of
explanation to students.
 Online learning is always flexible
when the issue of time and place are
taken into consideration (Garner &
Rouse, 2016).
 Online learning enhances the ease of
learning and qualifications since large
amount of information can be easily
obtained from the internet.
 Online learning provides opportunity
for discussion through the discussion
forums in most of online channels
used in the secondary schools
(Johnson, 2016).

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 Online learning also allows for self-
pacing when studying the class
concepts in school.
Discussions
Generally, online learning has several benefits and disadvantages as indicated in the research
findings. Several authors and researchers have clearly indicated the impacts of online learning to
students at secondary level. Most of the sources used have been clearly identified emphasizing
on positive impacts as compared to the negative effects of online learning (Macleod &
Kefallonitis, 2017). After analyzing the sources and comparing the common arguments raised by
the sources the results based on the positive effects of online learning were described in depth.
The sources indicated that online learning most of the times saves time since there is reduced
movement. This shows that student in secondary level can learn while at their comfort zone so
long as one is connected to internet services and has online gadgets such as computers and
phones. In simple words, the source indicated that students have the luxury to choose their own
tie and place that entirely suits them when teaching (Macleod & Kefallonitis, 2017). The sources
concluded by showing that most of the secondary schools in Australia provide much flexibility
on the issue of time and place when handling online learning in the school.
In addition, the research indicates that online learning provides room for discussion through the
discussion forum. This helps the elimination of interaction barriers whereby students fear
communicating with other learners when discussing. Therefore, online learning eases
communication between the students and teachers in school. The other issue described was that

Sociology
through online learning students can access a large amount of information when learning. There
is a lot of information on different websites (Ouyang & Scharber, 2017). This shows that a lot of
details a particular subject in class can be easily accessed through online learning. Lastly, the
sources indicated that online learning provides a room for self-pacing when learning. Students
are to study at their own pace and speed regardless of whether they are quick or slow. This,
therefore, increase satisfaction and decreases stress when learning.
On another negative impact of online were evaluated. The sources used revealed that despite
online learning having all the above mentioned positive impacts, it was also associated with
negative impacts. The findings indicated that online learning may lead to academic dishonesty
(Plowman, Anderson & Douglas, 2017). This means that most of the times online learning is
misled to piracy and also the issue of plagiarism. This is enhanced through lack of skills for
writing and also the concept of copy and paste. This is an academic dishonest and it affects a
large number of secondary level students when using online learning. Also, the other issue which
challenges online learning is that it lacks some useful platforms that can help in handling
complex subjects. The sources indicated that not all subjects can be learned through online
learning. The sources indicated that online learning was suitable for social sciences and
humanities but not applicable to a complex concept. In addition, online learning is difficult when
no available clarifications or an offer of explanation to students (Queiros & de Villiers, 2016).
The arguments raised about the issue of clarification indicated that online learning can be
effective if there is face to face interaction between the students and teachers.
Limitations of research.
The research was only limited to academic articles as the only source of information and data.
We relied on information from other researchers to work during the study.

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Conclusion.
The study has clearly investigated the challenges and benefits incurred from using technology
when learning. The research sources were used and findings indicated that online learning
provides a lot of opportunities for both students and teachers at the secondary level. The benefits
attributed to online learning include increased interaction, ability to access a large amount of data
and flexibility in terms of space and time (Garner & Rouse, 2016). The negative results indicated
issues of academic dishonesty and lack of clarification. Therefore, one can conclude that the use
of online learning is more beneficial and therefore implementation can be done to eliminate the
negative phase of online learning experienced by the students.

Sociology
References
Adachi, C., Tai, J. H. M., & Dawson, P. (2018). Academics’ perceptions of the benefits and
challenges of self and peer assessment in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in
Higher Education, 43(2), 294-306.
Balakrishnan, V., Teoh, K. K., Pourshafie, T., & Liew, T. K. (2017). Social media and their use
in learning: A comparative analysis between Australia and Malaysia from the learners'
perspectives. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 33(1),80.
Brener, L., Cama, E., Hull, P., & Treloar, C. (2017). Evaluation of an online injecting drug use
stigma intervention targeted at health providers in New South Wales, Australia. Health
Psychology Open, 4(1), 2055102917707180.
Caesar, M. I. M., Jawawi, R., Matzin, R., Shahrill, M., Jaidin, J. H., & Mundia, L. (2016). The
Benefits of Adopting a Problem-Based Learning Approach on Students' Learning
Developments in Secondary Geography Lessons. International Education Studies, 9(2),
51-65.
Capel, S., & Whitehead, M. (2015). Learning to Teach Physical Education in the Secondary
School: A companion to school experience,7(56),67.
Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The
impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta‐analysis of school‐
based universal interventions. Child development, 82(1), 405-432.

Sociology
Fraser, B. J. (2012). Classroom learning environments: Retrospect, context and prospect.
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Gardner, P., Slater, H., Jordan, J. E., Fary, R. E., Chua, J., & Briggs, A. M. (2016).
Physiotherapy students’ perspectives of online e-learning for interdisciplinary
management of chronic health conditions: a qualitative study. BMC medical
education, 16(1), 62.
Garner, R., & Rouse, E. (2016). Social presence–connecting pre-service teachers as learners
using a blended learning model. Student Success, 7(1), 25-36.
Gasevic, D., Kovanovic, V., Joksimovic, S., & Siemens, G. (2014). Where is research on
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Jackson, D. (2017). Exploring the challenges experienced by international students during work-
integrated learning in Australia. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 37(3), 344-359.
Johnson, G. M. (2016). Technology use among Indigenous adolescents in remote regions of
Australia. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 21(2), 218-231.
Lee, K., Tsai, P. S., Chai, C. S., & Koh, J. H. L. (2014). Students' perceptions of self‐directed
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In Strategic Innovative Marketing,4(12), (pp. 753-758). Springer, Cham.
Mills, M., & McGregor, G. (2013). Re-engaging young people in education: Learning from
alternative schools,6(56),90.
Ouyang, F., & Scharber, C. (2017). The influences of an experienced instructor's discussion
design and facilitation on an online learning community development: A social network
analysis study. The Internet and Higher Education, 35, 34-47.
Pachler, N., Evans, M., Redondo, A., & Fisher, L. (2013). Learning to teach foreign languages
in the secondary school: A companion to school experience. Routledge.
Plowman, E., Anderson, J., & Douglas, J. (2017). Adapting online learning to overcome
disadvantage in rural Australia. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Journal, 25(2),89.
Queiros, D. R., & de Villiers, M. R. (2016). Online learning in a South African higher education
institution: Determining the right connections for the student. The International Review
of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 17(5).123.

Sociology
Selwyn, N. (2015). Data entry: towards the critical study of digital data and education. Learning,
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social, and cognitive benefits. Child development perspectives, 5(2), 93-98.
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