Study Finds That Online Education Beats the Classroom

A pretty catchy title for an online article published by the New York Times...I received an email from Aaron linking to this article, which referenced a 93-page report on online education, conducted by SRI International for the Department of Education.

Although the report is somewhat long, what I found interesting was their approach to this research. They did a systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008, which identified over 1,000 empirical studies of online learning. After screening for the following, a meta-analysis was done:

1. contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition
2. measured student learning outcomes
3. used a rigorous research design
4. provided adequate information to calcuate and effect size

The result of the meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.

Kudos to those involved in this research. Although I'm not a researcher myself, it was eye-opening for me to read through how they conducted the meta-analysis and some of the key findings like "Instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction."

Another thought that came through my mind was that if the researchers only compiled and analyzed literature searches of other studies, there might be a bias towards online learning because only mainly those in the DL field would be more prone to work on publishing online research studies. Nonetheless, I still think this study is definitely a big step forward for those of us who have seen first hand how powerful online education can be when done right and are advocates of online education.

Indigenous Health, Walls Of Silence, Kamehameha Schools…

Did you know that we're being blogged about in Australia? :)

KSDL was highlighted in an article in "The Australian" by Ernest Hunter titled Walls of Silence Fail Them, which was followed up by the Pigs Will Fly: The Can Do community blog by Gail Plowman titled Indigenous Health, Walls of Silence, Kamehameha Schools...

It sure feels good to know that what we do is being cited and referred to as a model for other indigenous populations. What a nice way to start the work week, especially after reconnecting to Princess Pauahi's mission last week through our divisional huaka'i to Mauna 'Ala and the Hertiage Center. I'm interested in your thoughts as you read through Gail's blog. Please comment when you have a chance.

I was inspired as I read her blog because I know there is so much more we can and should do to service our Hawaiian learners. We've all worked hard to build a strong foundation. Now it's a matter of strategically planning how we expand our services to increase our impact and reach into our communities....imua.