© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.Northeastern Illinois University
http://www.neiu.edu/~aapina
A Journey Through the Evolution, Growth, Quality and Development
of Online Learning
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Did you know…
…that Illinois is the birthplace of the first distance education programs in
U.S. higher education?
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Distance Learning’s Illinois Roots
• 1874 Illinois Wesleyan
• 1890 University of Chicago
• 1901 Moody Bible Institute
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Apostle Paul: Distance Educator?
• Teacher & learners separated by distance
• Modern media– Quill/papyrus vs.
learning at teacher’s feet
• Modern delivery systems– Messenger
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Evolution
http://anekdota.dyndns.org/jotd27/att-0104/01-evolution.jpg
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Evolution via Delivery System
1920s Radio
1930s Motion pictures
1950sTelevision
1870sPostal
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Evolution via Delivery System
1980sTelecourses
1990s Video-
conference
Late 90sInternet
1970s Satellite/Cable
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Distance Learning’s “Killer App”
• World Wide Web– HTML creation (relatively) easy– Faster/cheaper than telecourses– Less complex than videoconference
• Course Management Systems– Course creation, delivery,
communication & management– WebCT, Blackboard, Desire2Learn,
eCollege, Moodle, Angel, Sakai
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
How Big Is Online Learning?
• Over 90% of public 2 year colleges and four-year universities offer online courses
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Online Student Enrollments
1,602,970
1,971,397
2,329,783
0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
2002 2003 2004
Source: National Center for Education Statistics & Sloan-C
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Online vs. Total Enrollments
Total Enrollment Online Enrollment %
2002 17.0 million 1.60 million 9
2003 17.3 million 1.97 million 11
2004 17.4 million 2.33 million 13
Avg. Total Growth Avg. Online Growth
2.1% 21.1%
Source: National Center for Education Statistics & Sloan-C
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Illinois Fall Online Enrollments
Source: Illinois Virtual Campus
44%
59%
63%
39%
37%
74%
81%
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Online Degree Programs in Illinois
• 40 online Associates
• 20 online Bachelors
• 56 online Masters
Source: Illinois Virtual Campus
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
How Good Is It…Really?
• Evaluation studies– Can people can learn effectively from
technology-delivered instruction?
• Comparison studies– How does “mediated” instruction
compare to “traditional” instruction?
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Problems with Comparison Studies
• Variance between groups must be higher than variance within groups – Assumes that all traditional instruction is same
• Real life is not like the lab– No random selection of subjects (self-selected)– Too many uncontrolled variables (environments
are too different)
• Instructional design & instructional methods influence learning, not the delivery system
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
The Bottom Line
• Over 80 years of comparison research suggests no significant difference
• No body of research suggests that online learning is inferior
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Then…why do online learning?
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Doing It Well
• Great classroom presentation skills…
… do not necessarily equal great online teaching skills
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Online Teaching
• Readings, resources and hyperlinks are not instruction!
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Course Design Job One: Be Explicit!
• Class policies– Student interaction– Online conduct/demeanor– Faculty interaction
• Assignments– Make your expectations clear– Make your assignments & evaluation clear
• Navigation– Make it easy to find anything with 2 clicks
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Lesson Design
• Start out with an attention getter
• Tell them what they will learn (objective)
• Link to prior knowledge
• Present guided instruction
• Provide opportunities to practice
• Provide feedback
• Provide assessment
• Transfer knowledge to new situation
© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.
Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.Northeastern Illinois University
http://www.neiu.edu/~aapina
A Journey Through the Evolution, Growth, Quality and Development
of Online Learning