Education, Technology, and Funding

Evaluation of Evidence Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies, Dept of Education 2009

Abstract: A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes—measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation—was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K–12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K–12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education).

Broadband Plan Recommendations

• Support and promote online learning
  • The U.S. Department of Education, with support from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), should establish standards to be adopted by the federal government for locating, sharing and licensing digital educational content by March 2011.
  • The federal government should increase the supply of digital educational content available online that is compatible with standards established by the U.S. Department of Education.
  • The U.S. Department of Education should periodically reexamine the digital data and interoperability standards it adopts to ensure that they are consistent with the needs and practices of the educational community, including local, state and non-profit educational agencies and the private sector.
  • Congress should consider taking legislative action to encourage copyright holders to grant educational digital rights of use, without prejudicing their other rights.
  • State accreditation organizations should change kindergarten through twelfth grade (K–12) and post-secondary course accreditation and teacher certification requirements to allow students to take more courses for credit online and to permit more online instruction across state lines.
  • The U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies should provide support and funding for research and development of online learning systems.
  • The U.S. Department of Education should consider investment in open licensed and public domain software alongside traditionally licensed solutions for online learning solutions, while taking into account the long-term effects on the marketplace.
  • The U.S. Department of Education should establish a program to fund the development of innovative broadbandenabled online learning solutions.
  • State education systems should include digital literacy standards, curricula and assessments in their English Language Arts and other programs, as well as adopt online digital literacy and programs targeting STEM.
  • The U.S. Department of Education should provide additional grant funding to help schools train teachers in digital literacy and programs targeting STEM. States should expand digital literacy requirements and training programs for teachers.
• Unlock the value of data and improve transparency
  • The U.S. Department of Education should encourage the adoption of standards for electronic educational records.
  • The U.S. Department of Education should develop digital financial data transparency standards for education. It should collaborate with state and local education agencies to encourage adoption and develop incentives for the use of these standards.
  • The U.S. Department of Education should provide a simple Request for Proposal (RFP) online “broadcast” service where vendors can register to receive RFP notifications from local or state educational agencies within various product categories.
• Modernize educational broadband infrastructure
  • The FCC should adopt its pending Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to remove barriers to off-hours community use of E-rate funded resources.
  • The FCC should initiate a rulemaking to set goals for minimum broadband connectivity for schools and libraries and prioritize funds accordingly.
  • The FCC should provide E-rate support for internal connections to more schools and libraries.
  • The FCC should give schools and libraries more flexibility to purchase the lowest-cost broadband solutions.
  • The FCC should initiate a rulemaking to raise the cap on funding for E-rate each year to account for inflation.
  • The FCC should initiate a rulemaking to streamline the Erate application process.
  • The FCC should collect and publish more specific, quantifiable and standardized data about applicants’ use of E-rate funds.
  • The FCC should work to make overall broadband-related expenses more cost-efficient within the E-rate program.
  • Congress should consider amending the Communications Act to help Tribal libraries overcome barriers to E-rate eligibility arising from state laws.
  • The FCC should initiate a rulemaking to fund wireless connectivity to portable learning devices. Students and educators should be allowed to take these devices off campus so they can continue learning outside school hours.
  • The FCC should award some E-rate funds competitively to programs that best incorporate broadband connectivity into the educational experience.
  • Congress should consider providing additional public funds to connect all public community colleges with high-speed broadband and maintain that connectivity.

The Distance Education Demonstration Program. Dept of Ed

"Over the past several years, there has been rapid growth in the number of institutions providing courses and degree programs in various modes of distance education. Hundreds of thousands of students are currently taking distance education courses that utilize a variety of methods of delivering instructions from the most basic (print) to the most technologically sophisticated (Internet).

"Currently, the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, and the implementing regulations contain provisions that restrict or limit the provision of Title IV Student Financial Assistance in distance education programs. These include limitations on the amount of distance education (telecommunications and correspondence courses) an institution may offer and retain its eligibility to participate in Title IV Programs. Also, requirements relating to program length are very difficult to apply in programs that are self-paced or offered in time frames that deviate from standard semesters or quarters.

"The Distance Education Demonstration Program is not a grant program. It was authorized in the 1998 Higher Education Amendments to determine the statutory and regulatory requirements that should be altered to provide greater access to distance education programs. In authorizing the Program, the Congress recognized the importance of the growing trend toward distance education as an option to on-campus study and its potential for increasing access for some groups of students. At the same time, the Congress wished to proceed cautiously in amending the statute. Most of the restrictions on the growth of distance education were placed in the HEA in response to perceived abuses of Title IV Student Financial Assistance, particularly abuses relating to program quality. As a result, the legislation establishes that a primary purpose of the program is to test the quality and viability of expanded distance education.

"The program legislation authorized the Secretary to waive specified statutory and regulatory requirements for up to 15 participants selected in the first year of the program, which began on July 1, 1999. Additional participants were selected to join the program in its third year beginning July 1, 2001. Currently there are 24 participants, involving over 100 institutions from 20 states and the District of Columbia."

Report on Copyright and Digital Distance Education   (version: pdf )

"Upon passage of the DMCA in 1998, Congress directed the U.S. Copyright Office to study and recommend the promotion of distance education through digital technologies while balancing the rights of copyright owners and the interests of those using copyrighted material.11 The Copyright Office issued its report in 1999.12 To
facilitate distance education using digital media, the Office suggested, among other things, the following:
• elimination of a physical classroom requirement,
• clarification of the term “transmission” to cover digital transmissions,
• expansion of rights covered by the exemption to include those needed to accomplish network transmissions,
• expansion of categories of works exempted from the performance rights beyond current coverage of nondramatic literary and music works, and
• creation of new safeguards to counteract the risks imposed by digital transmissions." [CRS Report 2006 p. 3]

"On October 28, 1998, H.R. 2281, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, was enacted into law. Section 403 requires that the Copyright Office consult with representatives of copyright owners, nonprofit educational institutions, and nonprofit libraries and archives, and thereafter submit to Congress recommendations on how to promote distance education through digital technologies, including interactive digital networks, while maintaining an appropriate balance between the rights of copyright owners and the interests of users. Such recommendations may include legislative changes. Section 403 requires the Copyright Office to submit its recommendations to Congress no later than April 28, 1999." LOC Copyright and Distance Education

Federal Activity

DNS .edu | ERate | Legislation | Funding | First Amendment US Dept Ed, National Education Technology Plan Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2001 was released September 17 by the National Center for Education Statistics. US Dept Ed Digital Divide Web-based Education Commission Report:  The Power of the Internet for Learning: Moving from Promise to Practice (Dec 2000)

Papers

• Broadband America - An Unrealized Vision, Educause 2004

Links

• American Library Association
  • ALA Great Web Sites for Kids
• Broadband for Higher Education
• CMU Open Learning Initiative
• The Chronicle of Higher Education: Information Technology
• Educause
• Edutopia: What Works in Public Education
• Higher Education Information Technology Alliance established in about 1997 "to help define and promote the high education and library community's collective interests in Federal information technology policy."
• Internet2
• National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges
• Telecommunications Policy Research Conference

Cable in the Classrooms Online Website

Department of Education ED Technology Digital Divide

Edlink (Education and Library Networks Coalition)

National Center for Education Statistics Codes (service control number)

• Community Connects  "The America Connects Consortium is a collaboration of eight partners and allied organizations, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, who are working together to bring information, training, technical assistance, public attention, and new resources to community technology centers across the country. "
• Making the Grade
• NetDay
• PerScholas
• Smartschools PC Day
• Telecommunity Resource Center

News & Blogs

• The Future of Education: Technology and How People Learn, Palfrey 7/7/2009
• Broadband Aids Educators in Tough Economic Times, Nextgenweb 7/2/2009
• Study: Internet Has No Impact On Student Performance, Internet 11/22/2005
• The Internet at School, Pew 8/2/2005
• Technology in schools: for fun, education, hacking & explusion, Register 8/12/2005
• More Teachers Use Tech For Administration Than Actually Teach With It, Information Week 8/30/2005
• No passing grade for tech ed reform, CNET 1/18/2005
• Measuring Literacy in a World Gone Digital, DDN 1/18/2005
• Summary: U.S. Schools Lag in Technology, Wash Post 1/7/2005
• CoSN Publishes Report on Emerging Technology and Schools, DDN 12/10/2004