Online Instruction: The Benefits and Pitfalls

Transcription

1 Online Instruction: The Benefits and Pitfalls Chris Niewenhuis, Riverside School District Fred O Neal, South Whidbey School District Carol Van Noy, Riverview School District

2 Education Faces New Challenges Did You Know? Engage Me Some Provocative Questions

3 Some Provocative Questions Do all your students have equal ability? Do they all learn at the same rate? Do they all have the same level of preparation? Do they all have the same goals? Do they all have the same level of parental support?

4 Questions (continued).but today s lesson is page 200 for everybody! What s wrong with this picture?

5 Provocative Questions (continued) Is it more important to keep to the schedule, or for all learners to master the material? What would happen if we could let every student progress at their own rate, independent of the pace set by any other student.would the average time for students to master the material go up, or down (obviously a VERY important question)?

6 Some Limitations of the Current Paradigm Teacher centered, not learner centered Age-based, not needs/abilities-based Throughput of system is fixed (and inefficient)

7 A Way To Get Out Of The Box More and more learners are mastering courses when they are ready to, not when the schedule says it is time to do so. They progress through the material at their own pace and master material independent of any other student or teacher. How? Online Learning!

8 What Is Online Instruction? Online instruction comes in a range of models Online instructional support/activities in conventional instruction Teacher led e-instruction Mediated Lecture e-instruction Interactive multimedia instruction Intelligent Tutoring

9 Online support activities and Online lesson plans Online lessons materials Online interactive materials Online reference materials and search engines Wikis and online textbooks

10 Teacher Led E-Instruction Instructor may be anywhere Students may be anywhere Otherwise a normal classroom experience Limits of current paradigm in terms of pacing, scheduling, and interactivity still apply. Allows students to access master teachers and subjects unavailable in their local school

11 Mediated Lecture E-Instruction Instructor has prepared mediated lecture materials to be delivered to students on demand Students may be anywhere and may sign on at any time Not a normal classroom experience since instructor may or may not be available on demand Avoids limits on pacing, access and subjects, and schedule Interactivity is limited

12 Interactive Mediated Instruction State of the art in terms of practical online instruction effectiveness and efficiency Frees learners from constraints of pace, schedule, and location When done correctly is highly interactive with frequent trials with feedback and self tests More expensive to develop, but over time becomes easily the most economical per unit of performance improvement

13 Intelligent Tutoring Currently the most expensive of the alternative online instructional models Needs more breakthroughs in software, artificial intelligence models and tools and instructional theory A few are working in very limited domains, but when they work they are spectacularly successful Not currently cost effective, but probably the future

14 Does It Work: What does The Research Say? Research says that, properly done, online instruction Reduces time to mastery Improves performance Improves student attitudes Reduces costs

15 Time To Mastery Online learning can greatly reduce the time to mastery for most learners, and improve the likelihood of achieving mastery for the rest.

16 Improves Performance Fletcher (2003) study reported that online instruction can improve performance from the 50 th percentile to the 64 th percentile on the left to over the 85 th percentile on the right.

17 Improves performance (Cont) Watson (2007) compared the effectiveness of 3 online instruction programs vs traditional instruction as measured by pass rates on Advanced Placement exams.

18 Improves Student Attitudes The research generally supports this, but always as an adjunct finding in research designed to look at performance and/or time to completion. In some studies it was found online instruction improved student attitudes towards the content being studied. In others it was found that it improved attitudes towards school. In some it was found that it improved the attitude of girls favorably towards technology to equal that of boys

19 Costs of Online Instruction Today in the state of Washington you can get a one/half credit online course for $ This means that a credit, say Algebra One, English Two or French One costs you $ If a full load is 6 credits a year or 24 credits in high school, then online instruction would cost $12,000-14,400. The corresponding costs for one student for 4 years of high school was $35,334 in 2008 (A Citizen s Guide to Washington State K-12 Finance, 2008, OSPI)

20 Who Is Using Online Instruction? Fast Facts About Online Learning (

21 Online Learning in Washington State Under RCW 28A and WAC , Washington is developing a unique network of alternative sources for online instruction. Under these regulations, parents or school districts can pay for online courses that meet all Washington State standards either directly, or by transferring FTE to the school district associated with the supplier.

22 Models for Providing Online Instruction in WA Current major sources of online instruction include: District-developed and managed i.e., Federal Way, Everett, Spokane. Membership model Digital Learning Commons. Regional Consortia ESDs/WA Learning Source. Contract for courseware and other noninstructional resources with commercial vendors Steilacoom Historical School District. Outsourcing of entire program to commercial vendor i.e., Quillayute Valley, Evergreen (Clark), Stevenson-Carson, Kittitas.

23 Online Learning Data: Annual ALE Report to OSPI Districts ALE Programs Digital/ Online Contract Oct Count FTE

24 Washington Virtual Academies Steilacoom Historical School District #1 (K-8); Monroe Public Schools (9-12) Washington State Certificated Teachers Highly Qualified School District employees 61 (K-8) 33 (high school) Learning Coaches - home-based support Field trips, social opportunities; newsletters; competitions (art, spelling, writing)

25 Spokane Virtual Learning All Curriculum Created In-House Aligned to Spokane Public Schools curriculum requirements 45 Courses grades AP College Board approved Courses 3 WASL Prep Courses Culminating Project Credit Retrieval SVL served about 1000 course enrollments 77 % of our students completed their online courses 81% of all our students who completed their online courses had a passing grade

26 Internet Academy 90 Staffing 11.5 FTE Teachers 1.0 FTE Admin 2.0 Support Staff Students 302 AAFTE 972 Students 4453 Courses K Head Count FTE K

27 Internet Academy Curriculum Grades K-6 Grades 7-8 High School Credit Retrieval Summer School.5 credit courses 1.0 credit courses In House Apex Learning Odyssey Aventa Learning

28 Digital Learning Commons What is our model? K-12 state-wide Multi-resource/multi-vendor with stringent quality review and vetting Public/private partnership funding Non-profit organization Whom do we serve? 241 schools 51% high school, 16% middle school, 8% elementary, 11% K- 12, other 33% are alternative schools or homeschool resource centers 81,000 students 5,800 educators 90% return rate

29 Some Online Contacts in Washington Mickey Revenaugh Connections Academy Martin Mueller Superintendent Public Instruction Gigi Talcott Washington Virtual Academy Elisabeth Silver Spokane Virtual Academy Ron Mayberry Internet Academy ron Judy Margrath Huge Digital Learning Commons

30 How Do You Make Sure Online Instruction Works For You? Sorting Through Online Learning Options: A Guide for Parents Kent School District Course Evaluation Rubic a sophisticated tool used by the pros.

31 Questions and Discussion