Online Learning: Are We There Yet? (170398867)

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Online Learning:

Are We There Yet?

September 10, 2013

Dr. Jeff Seaman – Babson Survey Research Group



Crossroads

§ Ten years of mostly positive news from

tracking the growth of online learning in US

higher education.§ Pervasive, strategic, meeting the needs of

students

§ Significant challenges remain – call to

action for the online learning community



That Warm Fuzzy FeelingWhereAreWe?



The Enrollment Picture

0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

16,000,000

18,000,000

20,000,00022,000,000

Fall

2002

Fall

2003

Fall

2004

Fall

2005

Fall

2006

Fall

2007

Fall

2008

Fall

2009

Fall

2010

Online Enrollment

Overall Enrollment





Online Accounts for One-Half of All

Enrollment Growth

§ Assume new students taking a combination of onlineand face-to-face courses have no impact.

§ Count ONLY new students taking ALL courses online.

§ Time period: Fall 2003 to Fall 2010§ 1,513,103 Increase in number of students taking all

courses online

§ Compared to an increase of 3,029,430 in overall

enrollments§ Online-only students represent 49.9% of all new

enrollments



Online is Everywhere

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%70%

80%

90%

100%

Under 1500 1500 - 2999 3000 - 7499 7500 - 14999 15000+

Online Offerings by Overall Enrollment

Courses and full programs Courses only



Poll:

§ What is the state of online at your institution?

§ A) No online

§ B) Online courses, but no fully onlineprograms

§ C) At least one fully online program



Online Critical to Long-term Strategy

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Fall

2002

Fall

2003

Fall

2004

Fall

2005

Fall

2006

Fall

2007

Fall

2009

Fall

2010

Fall

2011

Disagree

Neutral

Agree



Student Satisfaction

Perceptions of Student Satisfaction in Online and

Face-to-face Courses

Online Superior

Online Somewhat Superior

About the same

Face-to-Face SomewhatSuperior

Face-to-Face Superior



Flexibility of Online is Key

Scheduling Flexibility for Students

Online Superior

Online Somewhat

Superior

About the same

Face-to-Face SomewhatSuperior

Face-to-Face Superior



Why Faculty Teach Online

0% 20% 40% 60%

Because I am required to

For pedagogical advantages

To earn additional income

It is the wave of the future

For personal and professional growth

It is the best way to reach particular students

Online courses meet student needs for flexible access

Important Very Important

NASULGC-Sloan National Commission on Online Learning



Concern About Interactions

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Ability of students to work

at their own pace

Student-to-student

interactions

Face-to-Face Superior Face-to-Face Somewhat Superior

About the same Online Somewhat Superior

Online Superior



Access Issues Drive Online

Online education is strategically important for my institution to:

Not Important

SomewhatImportant Important Very Important

Increase student access 1.4% 8.2% 28.8% 61.6%

Attract students from

outside the traditional

service area

5.5% 6.9% 30.9% 56.7%

Grow continuing and/or

professional education4.1% 8.2% 32.9% 54.8%

Increase rate of degree

completion5.0% 22.4% 38.8% 33.8%

Thetoptworeasonsforintroducing

onlineeduca4onarerelatedto

studentaccessandexpanding

servicearea



Online Taught by All Types of Faculty

§ Faculty involvement spans the entire range: full-

time and part-time faculty, those at every stage of

their career, and those with and without tenure.

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

PartTime

FullTime

Tenured

Tenuretrack,nottenured

Nottenuretrack

Humani@esandArts

Mathema@cs+ComputerScience

NaturalSciences

Professions,AppliedSciences

SocialSciences

S t a t u s

T e n u r e

D i s c i p l i n e



The Good News…

§ Consistent growth in enrollments§ Online is major factor in overall enrollment increases

§ Online offerings at all types and sizes of institutions

§ Faculty of all types and disciplines teach online

§ Institutions see online as strategic

§ Access issues are drivers

§ Students are satisfied

§ Flexibility for students is key



Questions?



The NOT so warm and fuzzy… Where Are We?



The Implementation “Gap”

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011

Public Private nonprofit Private for-profit

Online Education is Critical to the Long-term Strategy of my

Institution

Not in plan

In plan



Gap: Presidents and Chancellors


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

LandGrant Tribal HistoricallyBlack

NotinPlan

InPlan



Poll:

§ What is the state of online planning at your institution?

§ A) Online is NOT a critical part of institution’s strategy

§ B) Online is part of long term strategy – andwell-represented in plans.

§ C) Online is part of long term strategy – but

not well-represented in plans.§ D) Other – Don’t Know



Questions?



Faculty and Chief Academic Officers Differ

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Incen@vesfordeliveringonlinecourses

Incen@vesfordevelopingonline

courses

Recogni@ononlineinfacultytenureandpromo@on

Ins@tu@onalpolicyonintellectual

property

Supportforonlinestudents

Facultysupportforonlinedevelopment

Facultysupportforonlinedelivery

Technologicalinfrastructure

Percentra4ngtheirins4tu4onAboveAverage

CAO

Faculty

2



Pushing Too Hard?

24

2

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Administrators

Faculty

My Institution is Pushing Too Much Instruction Online

Strongly Agree Agree



It’s the Administrators’ Fault

25

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Faculty

Administrator

ThoughtsontheGrowthofOnlineEduca4on

MoreFearthanExcitement MoreExcitementthanFear



A Difference of Opinion



Faculty Concern on For-Profits

27

StronglyDisagree Disagree

Neutral

Agree StronglyAgree

ConcernsAbouttheQualityofOnlineInstruc4onOfferedby

For-ProfitIns4tu4ons-Faculty



Harder to evaluate?

§ 82% of institutions say it is no harder toevaluate online courses

0

10

20

30

4050

60

70

80

90

100

Doctoral/Research Masters Baccalaureate Associates Specialized

NotHardertoEvaluateOnline

29



But Assessment Remains an Issue

29

29

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Online Instruction

In-Person Instruction

My Institution Has Good Tools in Place to Assess the Quality of…




Poll:

§ What is the state of assessment at your institution?§ A) Assessment is good for both online and face-to-

face.

§ B) Assessment is good for face-to-face, lacking for

online.§ C) Assessment is good for online, lacking for face-to-

face.

§ C) Assessment is lacking for both online and face-to-

face.§ D) Other – Don’t Know

31



Assessment, Differing Views

31

31

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Administrators

Faculty

My Institution Has Good Tools in Place to Assess the Quality of Online

Instruction




Faculty don’t accept online

§ Majority of institutions say their faculty do not acceptonline

§ No improvement over time:

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Fall2002 Fall2004 Fall2005 Fall2006 Fall2007 Fall2009 Fall2011



Faculty Accept Online?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Privatefor-profit Privatenonprofit Public

FacultyatMySchoolAccepttheValueandLegi4macyof

OnlineEduca4on

Agree Neutral Disagree



Takes more faculty effort

§ Nearly 64% of faculty said it takes “somewhatmore” or “a lot more” effort to teach onlinecompared to a face-to-face.

§ Over 85% of the faculty with online coursedevelopment experience said it takes“somewhat more” or “a lot more” effort.

§ 32% of institutions think that more time and

effort is a significant barrier to wide adoption of online



Barriers for Faculty to Teach Online

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Lackofacceptancebypoten@al

employers

Lowerreten@onrates

Doesnotcounttowardtenureand

promo@on

Studentsneedmorediscipline

Addi@onalefforttodeliveronline

courses

Inadequatecompensa@on

Addi@onalefforttodeveloponlinecourses

Important VeryImportant




Students need more discipline

Students Need More Discipline toSucceed in an Online Course

No Online Have Online

Percent Agreeing: 54.4% 70.0%

• 64% of institutions believe that this represents asignificant barrier to wide adoption of online

• The more experience you have with online, the stronger

you believe this:





Online Learning Outcomes Compared to

Face-to-face

The same

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2003 2004 2006 2009 2010 2011

Learning Outcomes in Online Education Compared to Face-to-

face: 2003 - 2011

Superior

Somewhat superior

Same

Somewhat inferior

Inferior



0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Superiortoface-

to-face

Somewhat

superiortoface-

to-face

Sameasface-to-

face

Somewhat

inferiortoface-

to-face

Inferiortoface-

to-face

LearningOutcomesinOnlineEduca4onComparedtoFace-to-

facebyOnlineOfferings

Noofferings Coursesonly Coursesandfullprograms

Those with Online Believe



Differing Views

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Academic Technology Administrator

Chief Academic Officer

Faculty

Learning Outcomes for Online Education as Compared to Face-to-face

Instruction

Inferior Somewhat inferior Same Somewhat superior Superior

1



Familiarity Helps

41

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Do Not Teach Online

Teach Online

Learning Outcomes for Online Education as Compared to Face-to-face

Instruction by Online Teaching

Inferior Somewhat inferior Same Somewhat superior Superior



Familiarity Breeds Comfort

42

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Neither

TeachBlended

TeachOnline

TeachOnline+Blended

MoreExcitementthanFearaboutGrowthofOnline

Educa4on-Faculty

3



The Silver Lining: Quality Concerns – but…

430% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Online Inferior

The Same

Online Superior

Recommended an Online Course to a Student or Advisee - Faculty at

Institutions with Online Offerings



Why Online Teaching Matters

44

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

No

TeachOnline

OnlineEduca4oncanbeasEffec4veinHelpingStudentsLearn

asIn-PersonInstruc4onbyOnlineTeaching-Faculty

StronglyAgree Agree



Poll:

§ What is the biggest issue facing online?§ A) Faculty acceptance

§ B) Quality concerns

§ C) Retention issues§ D) Time and effort to develop and teach

§ E) Other – Don’t Know



What Next?

§ Senior Administrators: Close theImplementation Gap.

§ Many faculty see online as a “necessaryevil”.

§ You will not address the issue of facultyacceptance until there are changes in theperceptions of quality.

§ You can’t address quality perceptions untilfaculty believe that there are goodassessment tools.



Questions?

[email protected]

Documents

Online Learning: Are We There Yet? (170398867)