Inside Look
Great Lakes Center's exclusive subscriber email featuring key points, information and social media content about reviews and research
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Hello, Great Lakes Center subscriber:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most American students will not finish the school year in their traditional setting. To assure learning continues, American educators have scrambled to create as many meaningful remote learning opportunities as possible.
In this issue, we address the current reality and future of part-time remote learning, most commonly called blended learning.
Dr. Gretchen Dziadosz
Executive Director
Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice
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Will informed decision-making be lost in the rush to provide remote learning solutions during the pandemic?
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Blended schools combine virtual instruction with traditional face-to-face instruction in classrooms. They are known by many names -- e-learning, remote, online, virtual, cyber, blended, computer-assisted learning, and more. A newer form, usually called personalized learning, will be covered in a future Inside Look. The lack of clear and generally accepted terminology is the first of many problems making research-supported analysis difficult.
There are hundreds of blended e-learning programs. Some are developed and run by nonprofits. Many are private profit-making enterprises. In K-12, they are more prevalent at the secondary level; however, elementary and even preschool programs exist and are growing.
High-quality research on the effectiveness of these programs is hard to come by. A major summary of the state of research of virtual learning concluded, " ... the actual practice of virtual and blended education continues to outpace the availability of useful research, much of which is methodologically flawed, contextually limited, or suffering from overreaching conclusions. However, even in areas where the literature has provided guidance, legislators and policymakers have consistently failed to pass bills or create regulatory regimes that would provide additional oversight and accountability to online and blended schools."
What do we know from research?
- Blended learning programs run by nonprofit or independent programs have much higher student success rates than those run by profit-making corporations.
- Results of research paid for by a for-profit company is always more suspect than research conducted by an impartial independent third party.
- Success stories can be compelling marketing, but high-quality research is far more important to guiding decision-making.
- Students vary significantly in their learning styles and needs. Teachers vary significantly in their training and experience with technological solutions. Be wary of one-size-fits-all solutions.
- Secondary math is one area studies do seem to support some level of improved student achievement through computer-assisted learning.
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Profiteering and overly aggressive marketing abound in e-learning. Rapid change and development of new programs means solid research into effectiveness is rare. Even programs developed by nonprofit organizations are not always assessed using appropriate research techniques.
Many programs rely on compelling success stories to promote their products to parents, teachers and administrators. Even if the story is true, it is important to ask, "Can it be replicated?" "Will it work with students with different attributes and needs?" "What is the effectiveness data for all students in the program, rather than just a few success stories?"
Overall, blended learning programs run by nonprofit or independent programs have higher student success rates than those run by profit-making corporations.
Regardless of the technology a district chooses to assist remote learning, it is critical appropriate training and resources are provided to educators, parents and students. A recent survey of K12 IT leaders indicated: "The staffing needed to support teachers on how to maximize technology tools for learning received the worst assessment with 63% citing inadequate staffing. Without sufficient support for teachers, instructional technology is needlessly harder to implement and almost certainly negatively impacts student outcomes."
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HOW TO IDENTIFY A QUALITY PROGRAM
- Is there independent research demonstrating the effectiveness of the program?
- Is the research peer-reviewed?
- Has the program been shown to be effective with the appropriate student demographic? (For example, Special Education, English Language Learners, Advanced Placement, Elementary, Secondary, Higher Education, etc).
- Does the marketing rely on compelling individual stories or is there actual independent research data supporting success?
- Is the program run by a for-profit or nonprofit? Programs run without a profit motive are statistically more likely to achieve student success.
- Do your school's educators receive training and support in the use of technology?
- Do parents receive support and guidance in the use of technology?
- Are parent and student data privacy concerns adequately addressed?
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- The National Standards for Quality (NSQ) provides the K-12 online and blended learning community with standards to help evaluate and improve online courses, online teaching and online programs.
- Online teaching can be quite different from traditional classrooms. Michigan Virtual has developed parent, student, teacher and administrator guides for online educators.
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Want to share this Think Twice Review with your social networks? We drafted some sample social media posts for your use.
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