I'm happy that people are finally seeing it!!

This just tells us what we already know!! As reported by the New York Times:

"A recent 93-page report on online education, conducted by SRI International for the Department of Education, has a starchy academic title, but a most intriguing conclusion: “On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”

Over the 12-year span that the research was conducted, 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 is actually from a study published in 2009 and updated in 2010. http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf

 

Very interesting!

 

We're ahead of the curve!

 

Yes, maybe the open-minded are seeing it, but the detractors are still as closed minded as ever.

 

My kids both do their schooling at home online. Plus my husband and I are full time online college students. SO I have to say, based on experiences with online AND campus schooling, we all agree that we get A LOT more out of online learning. Glad the rest of the world is finally seeing it, as well.

 

Those who have insisted that online learning is inferior to traditional classroom-based learning have had a couple of decades to produce research studies that would generate data to support their views. Simply put, they have been unable to do so.

 

Nor could they legitimately do so!!!

Thank you, Dr. Piña, for your contributing role in facilitating online learning.

 

I believe we won the battle, but we haven't won the war. All in all, it's a step in the right direction . . .

 

I seem to recall that there have been other studies proving the value of distance learning, so the one mentioned here isn't the first. But it's nice to see the idea gaining some traction.

 

Yes, Thomas Russell has done a very nice job of compiling many decades of media comparison studies. Another important recent study is the Meta Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies done for the U.S. Dept. of Education at http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf.

 

You are very kind.

Oh, the critics could certainly try to amass contrary research and they have had years of opportunity to do so, but have failed. Actually, your statement about the legitimacy of comparison research is quite correct, since a "quality" comparison of face-to-face versus online learning would rest on the assumption that all face-to-face courses have relatively little variation in quality, an assumption that any college student knows to be false.

 

Let's see...during the past decade, overall higher education enrollments have increased by an annual average of 2.1%, while online enrollments have increased annually at an average rate of over 18%. Over 30% of all college and university students took one or more online courses last year. The view from the front lines of the battle looks mighty encouraging

 

We'll he can find solace in the Chronicle articles about the Sloan-C report on how skeptical college faculty are about distance education and that many of them think it is inferior...

...then you look at the research, and what do you find? Only opinion polls of faculty. Upon what do they base their opinions? Learner achievement data? Heaven forbid, no!! Why spoil the argument with trivialities like data when we can rely on our ideological opinions?

Bottom line: Thousands of studies--no consistent body of data showing the inferiority of online learning.

Back to the bunker, e-Learning naysayers!