In my last post on this topice I cited some stats that indicate that online learning will become dramatically more widespread in the next few years...

An important question remains, however. Is this shift for the better? As more and more students go online to learn, will students learn in smarter ways? Will people be able to more efficiently gather together and learn from one another? Will our educational system improve? These must be our goals, after all. The US Department of Education seems to think the answer to these questions is yes. Early this week I had the chance to review a study entitled “Evalutaion of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning.”  Subtitled “A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning,” the study seeks to aggregate the findings of empirical studies on the effects of online instruction. The study samples over 1000 studies conducted from 1996 through July 2008 and concludes that “Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.”  Although any statement of this breadth should be taken with some skepticism, this is good news as more and more students go online to learn. The study goes on to say that “Effect sizes were larger for studies in which the online and face-to-face conditions varied in terms of curriculum materials and aspects of instructional approach in addition to the medium of instruction.”  In short, online learning proved more effective when the instructional style and material presented through the online environment differed from that presented in traditional face-to-face environments. This speaks highly of the web-based social learning movement of which mindfish is proud to be a part. By presenting learners with information in a variety of innovative formats, we might be able to help students learner in smarter, more effective ways. 

To be fair, I’m don’t agree with all of the conclusions advanced by the Department of Education’s study. And, to be honest, I’m not a professional educational researcher and some readers may deem me under-qualified to critique such a scientific study. Nonetheless, I’ve spent of lot of time and energy thinking about these issues and have come to some strong conclusions.  Shortly after the above conclusions, the Department of Ed’s study states that “Elements such as video or online quizzes do not appear to influence the amount that students learn in online classes.” Though tentatively worded, I think this statement should be taken with a grain of salt. The sample period covered by the study began in 1996, a time in which web-based video and truly engaging web applications were in a pre-natal state. I would wager that if a similar study is conducted 8 to 10 years from now and samples a period of time starting a few years ago it will find much stronger evidence of the positive effects of video and engagment-based learning tools.  Moreover, this claim seems to be at odds with the above conclusion that “varied…materials and…approaches” improved to efficacy of online learning. Lastly, as mindfish itself might suggest, I am of a proponent of the ideas advanced by such thinkers as James Paul Gee, Mark Prensky, and Clayton Christensen that, when intelligently implemented, learning technologies that make use of a variety of new media and innovative forms of engagement have the ability to dramatically improve the learning experiences of many users.  In the next installment, I’ll have a deeper look at what some of these thinkers have to say.