“Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” — Will Rogers
The U.S. Department of Education has released a new analysis of existing research that shows that distance learning is more effective for adults than learning that only uses a classroom setting. This analysis didn't conduct new research, it looked at a number of studies that had used sound methodology, and looked for common threads that could be found throughout all of them. Two points from the report stood out:
- Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.
- Instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction.
I took away a few things from all this. The first is that as these sorts of studies and analyses continue to pile up, those professors, like this one, who claim their colleagues oppose online learning even though they work for institutions that offer it, just look more and more out of touch. I've worked at a number of universities, and have yet to hear this point of view from a faculty member who was actually well informed about online learning — it always came from older faculty members who were afraid of change in general and technology in particular.
But the other thing I took away from this was the point that blended learning beats learning that's only online. The naysayers may be wrong about online learning, but that doesn't mean they can't also be right about the benefits of the classroom experience. And I have to admit, there are times when I think that one week per year at A.T. Still University might have been helpful, at least at the start.
To that end, it's amazing how little blended learning is available. Distance learning providers seem to want to be available to as many students as possible, and I can understand that requiring residencies in a certain city can dampen a nationwide or worldwide marketing plan. Still, perhaps if this analysis keeps getting confirmed by research schools should consider offering a short classroom session, even if it's just an optional one. That's what my wife's British law school does: one can do the program entirely from afar, but they also offer four "study weekends" per year for those who want to take advantage of them. American schools take note!
Next up, my plans to travel around the neighborhood in eighty days.