The report examined the comparative research on online versus
traditional classroom teaching from 1996 to 2008. Some of it was in K-12
settings, but most of the comparative studies were done in colleges and
adult continuing-education programs of various kinds, from medical
training to the military.
Over the 12-year span, the report found
99 studies in which there were quantitative comparisons of online and
classroom performance for the same courses. The analysis for the
Department of Education found that, on average, students doing some or
all of the course online would rank in the 59th percentile in tested
performance, compared with the average classroom student scoring in the
50th percentile. That is a modest but statistically meaningful
difference. “The study’s major significance lies in demonstrating
that online learning today is not just better than nothing — it actually
tends to be better than conventional instruction,” said Barbara Means,
the study’s lead author and an educational psychologist at SRI
International.
This hardly means that we’ll be saying good-bye to
classrooms. But the report does suggest that online education could be
set to expand sharply over the next few years, as evidence mounts of its
value. Until fairly recently,
online education amounted to little more than electronic versions of the
old-line correspondence courses. That has really changed with arrival
of Web-based video, instant messaging and collaboration tools. The
real promise of online education, experts say, is providing learning
experiences that are more tailored to individual students than is
possible in classrooms. That enables more “learning by doing,” which
many students find more engaging and useful. “We are at an
inflection point in online education,” said Philip R. Regier, the dean
of Arizona State University’s Online and Extended Campus program.
The
biggest near-term growth, Mr. Regier predicts, will be in continuing
education programs. Today, Arizona State has 5,000 students in its
continuing education programs, both through in-person classes and
online. In three to five years, he estimates, that number could triple,
with nearly all the growth coming online. But Mr. Regier also
thinks online education will continue to make further inroads in
transforming college campuses as well. Universities — and many K-12
schools — now widely use online learning management systems, like Blackboard or the open-source Moodle. But that is mostly for posting assignments, reading lists, and class schedules and hosting some Web discussion boards. Mr.
Regier sees things evolving fairly rapidly, accelerated by the
increasing use of social networking technology. More and more, students
will help and teach each other, he said. For example, it will be assumed
that college students know the basics of calculus, and the classroom
time will focus on applying the math to real-world problems — perhaps in
exploring the physics of climate change or modeling trends in stock
prices, he said. “The technology will be used to create learning
communities among students in new ways,” Mr. Regier said. “People are
correct when they say online education will take things out the
classroom. But they are wrong, I think, when they assume it will make
learning an independent, personal activity. Learning has to occur in a community.”
Email Id:-deepa.singh@soarlogic.com
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