One of the most powerful and influential investigations of the effectiveness of online learning was conducted by the U.S. Department of Education and published in 2010.  This systematic review of research literature that investigated comparisons in student learning outcomes between online and face-to-face learning from 1996-2008 yielded the following key findings:

A similar study by Shachar and Neumann (2010) that looked at comparisons between distance and face-to-face learning from 1991-2009 arrived at a similar overall conclusion, namely that "distance education not only is comparable to traditional instruction, but also, subject to our criteria, can outperform traditional instruction."

The 2012 National Online Learners Priorities Report investigated students’ perceptions, their satisfaction and priorities for online learning. Student satisfaction is correlated to student success and with higher graduation rates. Therefore, it is important for institutions to monitor student perceptions of online courses. They surveyed more than 123,000 students from 109 institutions over a three-year span. Most of the students (112,000) were enrolled primarily online while 10,000 students were enrolled primarily on campus and the report provided results for both groups, along with undergraduate and graduate level students. Here’s one excerpt from the report:

 “…24 percent of online learners feel the experience has met their expectations, and 65 percent feel that it has exceeded their expectations. Seventy-three percent of online learners are satisfied or very satisfied with their experience, and 75 percent indicate that they would probably or definitely re-enroll in the program if they had to do it over again. Overall, this indicates that students are very pleased with their online experiences and feel that institutions are doing a good job in delivering online learning. As indicated in the list of challenges which appeared earlier in this report, there is still room for improvement in some key areas, but overall, colleges are performing well in online learning.“

The report also highlights some challenge areas in online courses where there’s a gap between students’ expectations and current practices in online teaching.

Students most value:

These findings offer solid support for those who have been teaching successfully online, and also provide guidance for those seeking to teach in the online environment.  More research should be done to deepen our understanding about the nature of online teaching and its impact on learning outcomes. It also points to the importance of continuing to do valid, reliable research on all forms of learning. 

Listen to some perspectives from UW-Madison faculty and staff.

 

Transcript (PDF)

Transcript (PDF)

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