As online education gains popularity and has become the fastest growing segment of higher education, there appears to be a gulf between the literature of what is possible and the reality of what is actually happening in the online classroom. The goal of this research was to determine if it was practical to combine experiential learning in an online classroom. This research includes a literature review of best practices in online education and experiential learning. It also includes a study of experiential learning in a traditional classroom to identify the positive impact of directly participating in some level of government. The participants include students enrolled in an Introduction to Government class at a community college in upstate New York. There were 44 students in the experimental group (participated in experiential learning project) and 14 students in the control group (did not participate in the experiential learning project). The students were given a pre-test/post-test survey measuring political knowledge, confidence in that knowledge and internal and external efficacy. The results show that the students in both groups experienced a significant increase in all areas tested, while participation in the experiential learning project significantly improved confidence in political knowledge more than the students who did not participate in that project. The second phase of the study includes a national survey of 37 online government instructors. The survey was designed to identify which pedagogical techniques instructors find most helpful and to understand their perceptions of how online education compares to traditional education. The results show that instructors receive very little training in online pedagogy and they consistently rate online students lower than traditional students in all the categories measured: Student motivation, critical thinking, independent thinking, student to student communication, communication between faculty and students, student connectedness, student efficacy, promotion of community involvement, ability to spark enthusiasm, ability to relate information to real-life, student enjoyment and overall quality of education. In fact, only 9% of respondents thought that online education was superior to a traditional education. The goal of this study was to incorporate the research in best practices of online education, the information gained from professionals in online education and to synthesize all this information to create an online Introduction to Government course which includes an experiential learning project. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]