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Jun15Written by:Ananda Jones
6/15/2010 11:30 AM  According
to the Sloan Consortium's recent annual report, online learning is
continuing to grow at a significant rate. In fact more than 1 in 4 college students are enrolled in
online courses. That is estimated at about 4.6 million college
students taking at least one online course, 80% of them at the
undergraduate level. Adult's represent 51% of learners in
higher education as of 2010. Sloan Report indicates the fastest growing
sector
in higher education is the combination of adult and online
education...six
times faster.
It seems the question is no longer whether or not
students will be interested in taking an online course; rather it will
be which institution they will take it with.
The US Department
of
Education released a meta-analysis study of online learning this past
summer
with some very interesting findings.
The DoE identified
over a thousand empirical studies of online learning as
it sought to find the validity of outcomes of this form of learning. The
key statement of interest made in summary is this
"The meta-analysis
found that, on
average, students in online learning conditions performed better than
those receiving face-to-face instruction."
Additionally it
was noted that online learning
appeared to be an effective option for both undergraduate and
graduate
students in a wide range of academic studies. The DoE experimental
studies also found "contrasting blends of online and
face-to-face instruction with conventional face-to-face classes, blended
instruction has been more effective, providing a rationale for the
effort
required to design and implement blended approaches."
We believe
the questions surrounding the validity of online learning are being
answered. This opens the door to continued growth in online learning
and immediate market growth opportunity for your institution.
The quality of the online learning experience and its corresponding
increase in popularity can be attributed to two areas.
- First,
the nature of
the technology and the andragogy/pedagogy applied has matured to allow
the appropriate techniques and measurements of learning to be applied.
- Secondly,
that the nature of the learner is
changing. With the advent of online social networking, the utility of
email and the overall online connectivity usage by children and adults
alike, we now have an educated and primed learner population that is
used to forming online communities and building relationships within
them.
This is an exciting time for educators. We have
the
ability to extend the mission of our institutions beyond geographical
boundaries as well as to engage local learners who now live in a very
complex and busy environment.
Consider this; the adult learner is
looking for a quality and convenient program that will offer academic
integrity. By participating in the online learning surge with a strong
academic program, and marketing it effectively to your community your institution can be that adult student's degree completion
solution.Copyright ©2010 Ananda Jones Tags: |