Distance, or eLearning, is all the rage today. “Virtual” schools are sprouting in every state. Public school systems are turning to virtual school programs in ever growing numbers. In 2001, well over half of all public schools in the US offered distance education courses (
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=80)
If you visit the website for the National Education Technology Plan at
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/plan/2004/site/stories/edlite-elearning.html, you can read about various types of virtual schools, and what makes them successful. The lead story on this site is about Florida Virtual School, considered one of the most successful distance learning programs in the country, with over 50,000 registered students expected this year.
Distance learning is increasingly popular in the homeschool community. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, over 40% of homeschoolers surveyed in 2003 used some sort of distance learning program (
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/homeschool/distancelearning.asp).
While most anecdotal results are promising (witness “13 (Educational) Things I'd Rather Do Over the Internet “By Grandon Gill, University of South Florida
http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=32-1 ), actual studies about the effectiveness of distance learning remain inconclusive.
In an interesting report called, “Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions: 1997-98” published at the National Center for Education Statistics (
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/publications/2000013/), researchers made some interesting observations.
“An oft-cited report entitled The No Significant Difference Phenomenon (Russell 1999) compiles hundreds of sources that indicate that the learning outcomes of distance education students are similar to the learning outcomes of traditional oncampus students. This body of work also suggests that the attitudes and satisfaction of distance education students are generally positive. Other reviews of this body of evidence are more critical (Phipps, Wellman, and Merisotis 1998), arguing that there is not conclusive evidence to indicate that student learning outcomes are higher in the vast majority of distance education settings than in traditional on-campus ones. “
Current studies, say researchers, often fail to take into account or address the following observations ,raised in a Phipps and Merisotis (1999) research study on distance education, that distance learning:
• tends to emphasize student outcomes for individual courses rather than for a total academic program;
• does not take into account differences among students;
• does not adequately explain why the dropout rates of distance learners are higher;
• does not take into consideration how the different learning styles of students relate to the use of particular technologies;
• focuses mostly on the impact of individual technologies rather than on the interaction of multiple technologies;
• does not include a theoretical or conceptual framework; and
• does not adequately address the impact of access to resource materials and support services.
I have to say that I’m a distance learning fan, myself, with three teenaged children currently enrolled in the popular Florida Virtual School program, and I have my own opinions about some of the issues raised above. However, LIFE Inc. is interested in encouraging YOUR opinions and experiences. What do you think?
• Have you or your children participated in virtual or distance learning programs? What has your experience been?
• What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of online learning?
• How do you think online learning might be adapted to address some of the concerns?
• What demographic do you think is best served by online learning? Which one least served? Why?
• Does online learning serve to broaden the “digital divide” or can it bridge it?
• What other issues or concerns does online learning raise in your mind?
If you decide to share your group discussion experience with us, please reply within this thread with “Online Learning” in the subject line. Tell us where you live, about the group you discussed the topic with, and how you felt about the experience, along with your responses to the talking points above, or whatever thoughts occurred as a result of your discussion with others.
The point of these Education Conversation starters is to engage in some thoughtful and reasoned discussion about education, teaching and learning, something more far-reaching than knee jerk opinions or "gut" responses that may not fully give the due consideration that the many issues and topics facing us truly deserve.
We'll look forward to hearing back from you with your thoughts on this or any of our other SGD topics.
Thanks!
Theresa Willingham
Learning is for Everyone, Inc.
www.learningis4everyone.org 
