Online and In-Class Computer Science Teacher Training - Oracle Academy Program Experiences

Computer science teachers constantly need to improve their competencies as information technology evolves rapidly. Today, most such trainings are holding online because of the obvious advantages over in-classroom training such as lower costs and a comfortable environment. Therefore, it is important to investigate the results achieved by computer science teachers in online training with in-class educations when the training has the same learning outcomes and maintained by the same instructor. As part of this research, computer science teacher's training conducted within the Oracle Academy program in the Central and Eastern Europe region were analyzed as they are held online and in-class, with the same teaching materials, with equal knowledge tests and maintained by the same instructors. The analysis found that teachers enrolled in traditional education received similar grades as those who participated in online training. However, the dropout rate for midterm and final exams was higher with online training. Teachers' feedback on the advantages and disadvantages of both types of training has recorded, with the major conclusion that they prefer online learning for their training.