A Comparison of Online and Face-to-Face Cohorts in a School Library Media Specialist Graduate Program: A Preliminary Study

School Library Media Specialist training via distance education is of interest to the library community which is seeking to stem the shortage of school library personnel. However, the effectiveness of distance education compared to face-to-face delivery has not been thoroughly evaluated. This study compares one graduate-level School Library Media Specialist program delivered both through online and face-to-face instructional delivery methods. We found that, for the most part, the two student cohorts (distance and face-to-face) performed equally in the areas demonstrating content knowledge. However, the online cohort earned fewer points than the face-to-face cohort on some project activities demonstrating the difficulty in relating the intricacies of project work via an online course. This study suggests that the delivery of School Library Media Specialist training can be conducted through an online format if attention is paid to communicating the details of project based work.