In the past decade, the number of K–12 and postsecondary students taking blended and fully online courses has grown rap-idly. Close to 30 percent of college and university students have taken at least one online course.1 Ambient Insight Research estimates that by 2014 the number of K–12 students with some experience with online learning could increase to 13 percent.2 A lack of standard definitions for what constitutes an online course, different accounting methods among institutions and states for online students, and the absence of counting and reporting of online students in some states, make it difficult to accurately estimate the total number of students currently enrolled in online K–12 courses or to estimate future market growth. While estimates vary, there is widespread agreement that online learning will continue to grow.
Online learning occurs along a continuum — ranging from a traditional course or program where technology is not used, to a fully online course or program where most of the teaching, learning, and coursework take place online. Web-facilitated courses often use online tools, such as online syllabi and assignments, to help facilitate a traditional face-to-face course. Blended courses deliver a significant portion of the course online and “integrate online with traditional face-to-face class activities in a planned, pedagogically valuable manner.”3
Whether a school decides to embrace online learning, adopt a “wait and see” approach, or not use online learning, decisions about online learning should reflect the school’s strategic goals and mission, and include careful consideration of possible risks, benefits, and challenges.
In varying degrees, independent schools have adapted online learning into their teaching and learning practices. Close to 70 percent of independent schools currently offer web-facilitated classes where most of the course takes place in a traditional classroom and up to 29 percent of the course takes place online. The NAIS 2011 Hybrid/Blended Learning in Independent Schools report indicates that there has been some growth over the past year in the number of schools that currently offer fully or blended online courses (20 percent) and that are actively planning to offer online courses (13 percent). Four in 10 schools are considering and researching online courses, and one-quarter do not offer, or plan to offer, any online courses.
The top reasons independent schools offer fully and blended online courses include:
• For enrichment, or to supplement existing curricula;
• To maximize the respective strengths of online and face-to-face learning;
• To prepare students for online college and university courses;
• To keep students engaged in learning;
• As part of a 21st-century learning initiative;
• To provide access to courses the school would not otherwise offer; and
• As part of the school’s strategic plan.
Secondary reasons include for acceleration or advanced study, to meet a student’s special interest, to address students’ scheduling conflicts, and to help continue school during closings due to unusual circumstances. Schools have found specific benefits from blended courses. These include: allowing all students to participate and have a voice, providing expanded opportunities for collaboration, enabling teachers to provide more expansive materials and resources, enabling students to prepare in advance for class time, freeing class time for more coaching and collaboration, enabling teachers to respond to, and encourage, different learning styles, and allowing students to learn more deeply from a community of learners.
Asking the Right Questions
Successful online learning initiatives require strong support and leadership from trustees, heads of school, and school administrators; a strategic vision that supports the school’s mission; and teacher preparation and professional development. Independent school leadership teams use the new Online Learning guide and NAIS research resources to build a comprehensive framework for dialog and decision-making about online learning.
Developed by the NAIS 21st Century Curriculum/Technology Task Force, the guide provides a tool for visualizing what online learning might look like at entry, emerging, and innovative stages. Each section of the guide features questions from Online Learning: A Continuum of Opportunity and examples illustrating how a school might address a critical question at different developmental stages. NAIS’s online learning research reports, developed specifically for independent schools, provide basic information about the K–12 online learning landscape and information about independent schools’ online learning offerings.
Notes
1. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman, Class Differences: Online Education in the United States, 2010 (Newburyport, MA: Sloan Consortium, 2010), p. 8; online at http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/pdf/class_differences.pdf.
2. NAIS, K–12 Online Learning: A Literature Review, p. 5; online at http://www.nais.org/research/article.cfm?ItemNumber=153512.
3. Anthony G. Picciano and Charles D. Dziuban, editors, Blended Learning: Research Perspectives (Needham, MA: Sloan Consortium, 2007), p. 9.