Examiner.com 
Lauri Harrison
Global Campus Education Examiner
June 29, 2009
The U.S. Department of Education releases a report on online learning studies
The U.S. Department of Education, Center for Technology in Learning, recently released their latest report “Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies”.
The findings revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction. In addition, they identified that learners in the online environment spent more time performing a task than student’s offline. The research focused on the K-12 environment, but the findings are interesting for online education as a whole.
This report is a milestone in the continuing search to validate the online learning environment. CSU Global Campus students have said that they prefer the online classroom not just because they save time by not driving to a campus, but because they can spend more time on the actual course work since it can be completed at any time of the day that is convenient for them. They are particularly impressed at how quickly their communication skills have improved, which is a skill set that can be readily applied to their day-to-day job.
Governor Ritter is determined to reduce the high school dropout rate and increase college enrollment since he believes that “education is the foundation of any strong economy and any competitive workforce and is a top priority of his administration” as stated in his report, The Colorado Promise.
Did you know that in 2005, only 36% of Colorado high school freshmen were proficient in reading and only 17% were proficient in math?
This is a huge problem for our state so the Governor created and appointed members of the P-20 Education Coordinating Council, to ensure “that a seamless education system from pre-school to grad-school is preparing our young people for the demands of the 21st Century.”
Why is it imperative to utilize online classrooms even more in the future? To expand reach to all citizens of Colorado. To bring the classroom to their living room if that’s what it takes to get people engaged and interested in furthering their education to not only get a better job or career, but to improve the quality of life for our community. A highly educated workforce raises the standard of living for all Coloradans. Once online learning is embraced as a credible and viable technology for all levels of education, our state will be able to double the number of college degrees earned within a decade and will also be able to compete and entice corporations to relocate or set up additional office locations in our fine state.
This report from the U. S. Dept. of Education finally sets the tone for how effective online learning truly is, not just what it can be. It’s time that society as a whole embraces the technology for their children and for themselves, and also erases the stigma of ‘diploma mill’ from their minds. The migration from a little school house on the prairie or town center, to elite private schools and vast school districts with elementary/middle/high schools, 4,000+ colleges and universities nationwide to the infinite classrooms within the online learning environment, seems mind boggling. But we’re there. Imagine what the classroom will be like for those born in 2009 when they enter pre-school in 2013. We’ve come a long way and it’s only going to get better.
