Trend 4: A growing trend towards technology-supported strategies for students educated away from the campus

Trend 4: A growing trend towards technology-supported strategies for students educated away from the campus

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  An institution or part of an institution which offers wholly-online, whole-course distance learning (for example, an entire postgraduate qualification over the internet) – this is typically almost unique to the HE phase (with some exceptions such as Ufi, NKI Distance Education or US community colleges). Re Vica describes how this understanding of virtual campus ‘…is often applied to a single university which has a virtual university “fringe” round a physical campus, but there are some totally virtual campuses...’ (Re ViCa, 2009).
  
  
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  An institution or part of an institution which offers a ‘parallel economy’ whereby a student studies some subjects on-campus and other subjects wholly online or predominantly online with occasional face-to-face support.
  
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  An institution or part of an institution which offers a’ mixed economy’ whereby most or all subjects are studied via a mix of online and face-to-face support – what was often called ‘blended learning’. The balance between the two components may vary according to the subject, the phase or year, or even the individual student.
  
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  A central virtual campus which brings together a group of dispersed institutions typically to harness the distributed research potential under a single umbrella and stimulate and facilitate increased discourse – again this is almost unique to the HE phase (again US community colleges would be exceptions).
  
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The US in particular is experiencing considerable expansion of the virtual campus model not only in higher education but, significantly, also in high schools. It appears to be a nationwide phenomenon. According to the Sloan Consortium (a non-profit group committed to ‘quality online education’) about 2 per cent of US school students (over 1 million) were enrolled in online K-12 classes in 2007–08. In 2000 the figure was just 50,000 enrolments and even in 2006 the figure was still only 700,000. Some 44 states have ‘significant supplemental online learning programs, or significant full-time programs ...or both’, while 34 states have state-led online programs that offer supplemental classes to all districts (Picciano and Seaman, 2008). According to the projections of Christensen and Horn, by 2019 some 50 per cent of all US high schools’ courses will be delivered online (Christensen and Horn, 2009).

In Colorado, approximately 1.5 per cent of all K-12 students (about 12,000 in total) were enrolled in state-certified online programs during the last school year (Colorado Online Learning, 2009). This excludes those enrolled in private online academies or other programs. One of the most significant developments is in Alabama, where online courses are said to have contributed to black students’ increased access to Advance Placement courses and the most profound improvement in attainment in the entire country (The Economist, 2009).

The recent publication of a US Department of Education meta-analysis of online provision which ascribes a distinct advantage over face-to-face teaching and learning (Means et al., 2009) looks set to further drive the influence of online learning and virtual schools in the US. Whilst the report acknowledged that the study was too narrow to draw strong conclusions regarding elementary and secondary schools, there were statistically significant, positive results for high school, graduate and postgraduate students. The report does, however, question the effectiveness of some techniques such as the use of video and online quizzes. It also credited much of the success of online learning to the increased amount of time students could engage:

In many of the studies showing an advantage for online learning, the online and classroom conditions differed in terms of time spent, curriculum and pedagogy. It was the combination of elements in the treatment conditions (which was likely to have included additional learning time and materials as well as additional opportunities for collaboration) that produced the observed learning advantages. At the same time, one should note that online learning is much more conducive to the expansion of learning time than is face-to-face instruction. (Means et al., 2009)

Means et al. conclude:

Despite what appears to be strong support for online learning applications, the studies in this meta-analysis do not demonstrate that online learning is superior as a medium… (Means et al., 2009)

The Re ViCa (Reviewing – traces of – European Virtual Campuses) wiki provides a dynamic inventory of virtual campus provision not only in Europe but also the rest of the world. The institutions listed are predominantly HEIs but some vocational schools and colleges are also recorded. Currently, the Re ViCa wiki identifies over 170 European virtual campuses and over 350 worldwide. As with some of the US commentaries, Re ViCa notes the potential value of the virtual campus in the face of any possible Swine Flu pandemic.

In common with many technologically advanced nations, the arrival of the internet and affordable personal computing was viewed by many in the UK as the beginning of an inevitable journey towards large-scale online learning. Whilst there have been notable examples such as Notschool.net and the significant growth in the HE sector it has not approached the pervasiveness predicted, or indeed aspired to, by many. However, it may be that economic and environmental imperatives and the example of the US (even allowing for environmental and contextual differences) make this timely for a renewal of interest in what is today, potentially, a much richer and better understood option.

Significance for Becta’s Harnessing Technology Strategy