SXSWedu 2014 Panel: Can You Get a Good Education Online

SXSWedu: 2014 Panel ProposalCan You Get a Good Education Online?

Can You Get a Good Education Online?2

Online Educatio

n is Growing

In 2008, over 1 million students in K- 12 were estimated to be enrolled in at least one online course (Picciano & Seaman, 2008)

By 2011, one-third of all higher education students took at least one course online (Allen & Seaman, 2011)

Community college distance education grew by almost 7 percent from 2011 to 2012 (Instructional Technology Council, 2013)

Can You Get a Good Education Online?

But is Online Learning GOOD?

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U.S. Department of Education

“Students in online learning conditions performed modestly better, on average, than those learning the same material through traditional face-to-face instruction.”

Columbia University’s Community College Research Center

Male students, younger students, black students, and students with lower grade point averages tend to struggle more in online classes than their peers.


The Future is Now

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Technology can make postsecondary education, smarter, more affordable with higher-quality outcomes

• 20% of students take at least one online course

• Social networking helps students and educators collaborate

• OpenCourseWare Consortium: course content from more than 200 institutions

• Colleges can determine within 8 days if a student is likely to drop out


Students Have Changed

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75 percent of students are ‘nontraditional’ — they meet one of these criteria:

• They’re OLDER

• They WORK• They live

OFF-CAMPUS• They’re

CARE-GIVERS• They’re

financially on THEIR OWN

• HALF are older than 22

• 1 in 3 work full-time

• 38% delayed enrollment after high school

• HALF are financially on their own


Competency-based Learning

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Western Governor

s Universit

y

• WGU is an online university that offers degree programs that are individualized and self-paced

• WGU has grown into a national university serving over 39,000 students from 50 states

• The average student is 36 and working, yet earns a degree in 30 months – 55 months faster than the national average

• WGU’s completion rate is 14% to 28% higher than peer public institutions


Quality Online Education

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• edX is a nonprofit consortium of higher education institutions that provide quality online education through an online platform

• Participating institutions include: University of California at Berkeley, University of Texas, MIT, Harvard

• “Student in the edX experiment are actually doing better than normal San Jose students.” - Inside Higher Ed, July 18, 2013


Teachers Are Not Yet Impressed

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Not all teachers have the support they need for online instruction

• “From the teacher’s point of view, the online (teaching) is much more time consuming than in-person. It’s exhausting, but I like it, especially because it fits my schedule.”

• “My biggest challenge is the almost complete lack of support at my school. I use tools like Blogger and PBWorks and Ning because my school provides only the most primitive and inefficient tools imaginable.” Source: Hart Research, 2012