a review of washington’s survey on… presented by xyz educational technology director xyz online...

A Review of Washington’s Survey on…

Presented by xyz • Educational Technology Director • xyz

Online Learning Leadership Summit<Date> at <Your ESD><Your city and state>

This presentation is provided by:Debbie Tschirgi, ESD 112Educational Technology Director

Share some fast facts about current data and trends in online learning, our students and our schools

Do some of my own “on the spot” data collection

Share info on a research study conducted with WA K-12 districts

What do we mean?

A common definition of

In online courses, students:

Use the Internet

View lecture notes

Receive/Submit assignments

Dialog with the instructor and other students through online chat, e-mail, web-conferencing and message posts.

Distance education:

videoconferencing

correspondence courses

audio-based courses

video-based courses

online courses

FULLY ONLINE!

A common definition of

The course is delivered entirely over the Internet.

The course does not utilize a face-to-face component.

The importance of considering the research

Looking into the….

Online learning is currently used by 4% of K-12 students in the United States;

…and that this number is expected to grow to 15% by the year 2011;

…and that it is predicted that 10% of all courses will be online by 2014;

And that by the year 2019, it is predicted that 50% of all courses will be delivered online…

A multimillion dollar market that is growing 30% annually

44 states w/supplemental or full-time OL programs

34 statewide or state-led virtual schools

173 virtual charter schools in 18 states

57% of schools provide access to OLL

72% of districts with OL programs will expand their online offerings

K-12 Online Learning and Virtual Schools

Quick Picks on

The Growth of K-12 Online Learning in U.S.

More Quick Picks on

In 2006, 3.2 million post-secondary students took one or more online course.

In 2006, Michigan became the first state to require OLL for high school graduation. In 2008, Alabama followed.

#1 Reason: “The course was otherwise unavailable!”

43% of online courses include subjects other than Math, L.A. and S.S.

The Kinds of Courses Offered Online

More Quick Picks on

S.S.

L.A.

23%

19%15%

43%

Our students, computers and the Internet

More Quick Picks on

67% of children in nursery school use computers.

80% of kindergarten students use computers.

School-age students use computers and the Internet more than adults do.

Nearly all (97%) high school aged students

use computers, and 80% of them use

the Internet.

50% of students

are creators of content on

the Internet.

Research on…

Factors contributing to the expansion of online learning

Additional opportunities for all students

Alternative routes for education

Increased range of courses

Funding shortages

Overcrowded schools

Technological development

Use of Internet and media

http://www.k12.wa.us/AlternativeEd/ProgramImplementationGuidelines/default.aspx

Research on…

Reasons K-12 districts offer online courses

Perceived importance of online learning is primarily related to student needs:

Provide courses that are otherwise unavailable

Meet the needs of specific student groups

Allow for credit recovery

Resolve scheduling conflicts


More Quick Picks on

99.6% of classrooms in the state of Washington are connected to the Internet.

Our schools, computers and the Internet

The Growth of K-12 Online Learning in WA

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Over 3,800 of these students took all of their high school courses online.

Over 3,800 of these students took all of their high school courses online.

More Quick Picks on

State-led online learning initiative (DLD)

List of online school programs, http://digitallearning.k12.wa.us/school_programs/

Various online course providers

More Washington Data

More Quick Picks on

Highest enrollment in WA online schools

Our district currently offers online courses to students.

A. True

B. False

We are currently losing our students to other virtual schools.

A. True

B. False

We are exploring online courses as a means to address dropouts.

A. True

B. False

We are exploring OLL as a means to expand our instructional program.

A. True

B. False

We see online learning as a way to keep students enrolled in our district.

A. True

B. False

Our district’s greatest need for exploring online courses is to:

A. Lower our drop-out rate

B. Expand our curriculum/course offerings

C. Improve our students’ test scores

D. Prevent (and/or re-claim) students from enrolling in virtual schools in other districts

E. Other

We have a specific need to:

A. Expand our course offerings

B. Offer Advanced Placement or college-level courses

C. Provide opportunities for credit recovery

D. Resolve scheduling conflicts

E. More than 1 above

F. All of the above

G. None of the above

Who will win the Apple Cup this year?

A. Washington Huskies

B. WSU Cougars

OSPI’s look at a statewide

Conducted in 2009 byTorrey MorganUniversity of WA

Key survey question:

What are Washington

State school district

polices and practices

related to online

courses?


The Study’s

This study focused on the following topics.

Quality assurance

Student access

to online courses

1

Tracking 3

4

Funding2


An overview of the

Three phases of the study

Review literature Conduct survey Analyze results


Characteristics of the

MOSTLY QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS AND SOME QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

Included 20 questions:

three open-ended questions

seventeen close-ended questions with the opportunity for a write-in response

Issues covered in the survey:

District policies regarding accessPerception of barriersHow students receive informationTypes of course providers availableWhich courses are likely to be approved for creditFunding & tracking of online coursesPractices to ensure course quality


Responses to the

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SURVEY RESPONSES

Responses included:

133 school districts

2 state schools

45% response rate

Represents 48.4% of WA students


A review of the questions regarding


Restrictions on the number of online courses a student can take for credit

Number of online courses allowed simultaneously

93 districts have no restrictions

42 districts have restrictions


Number of online courses allowed during a student’s high school years

17 districts have restrictions (ranging from 1-15 total)

Most common limits were two courses and four courses, each cited by four districts.


Students that are permitted to enroll in online courses for credit

Restrictions on the number of online courses a student can take

The staff/group that selects courses that can be taken for credit

Factors that are considered when assigning credit to a course


The five key policy issues addressed in the survey

The courses that are likely to be approved for credit


Provider accreditation and course quality

Additional

Themes that emerged

Alternative Learning Expereince (ALE) code

Full Time Equivalent (FTE)

The “Who” and “How” of course approval

Student eligibility


Districts providing online courses internally


37 districts provide their own online courses for credit.

8 of these districts chose their district as the only provider

The other 29 districts make one or more other providers available


Funding for online courses



Tracking


Ways that districts distinguish online courses from regular courses on the students’ transcripts:

Marked as independent study (IS)

Marked as transfer credits (TR)

Name of the online course provider is listed

Identified as a correspondence course

Coded “RS” for Running Start or “Nova” for Nova Net

A note is added to the transcript


Tracking


Ways that districts define “course completion:”

Earning credit or passing the course (earning a grade)

Completing enrollment

A course credit checklist

When a student has taken district assessments and the teacher has recorded a grade

Two district cite that the online provider of the course determines course completion.


Quality Assurance: Alignment with State Standards and CBA’s


Actions districts take to ensure course alignment with standards:

Review of course curriculum, course description and syllabus

Rely on DLC and OSPI

Researching programs and providers

Making sure the instructor is a highly qualified teacher

Quality Assurance: Alignment with State Standards and CBA’s


Who should ensure that the online courses are aligned?

Course providerTeacherCurriculum departmentCounselor and principalH.S. Curriculum TeamH.S. DepartmentCurriculum Advisory Committee

Quality Assurance: District Efforts to Ensure Quality Online Courses


Four categories of district efforts:

Provider quality and accreditation

Evaluation and feedback

Online staff and teachers

Student preparation and follow-up

Quality Assurance: Professional Development for Online Teachers


Most common PD for online teachers:

From district’s online course providerFrom the Digital Learning CommonsOnline learning conferencesIn-house supervisorOrientation from a teacher mentorFrom the online program coordinator or program administratorProfessional learning communities

Issues of access to

Fast facts about data & trends in online learning, students & schools

A snapshot of our group with the use of the clickers

Quick look at some current findings regarding OLL in WA

We’ve covered…

A Quick Review

Bibliography

(2003). M D Roblyer, Jon C Marshall. Predicting success of virtual high school students: Preliminary results from an educational success prediction instrument . Journal of Research on Technology in Eucation, 35(2), 241-255. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from Discovery database. (Document ID: 284036721)

(2005). Smith, R., Clark, T., and Blomeyer, R. Synthesis of New Research on K-12 Online Learning. Retrieved August 1, 2008, from the NACOL - North American Council for Online Learning web site: http://www.nacol.org/

(2009). Fast Facts about Online Learning. Retrieved April 15, 2009, from the NACOL – North American Council for the Online Learning web site: http://www.nacol.org/

(2009). International Association for K-12 Online Learning. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from the INACOL - North American Council for Online Learning web site: http://www.nacol.org

Morgan, T. (2009, June). Online Learning in Washington State School Districts. Retrieved from http://www.k12.wa.us/EdTech/pubdocs/Morgan09_OnlineLearningWA-SDs.pdf

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