© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.Northeastern Illinois University

http://www.neiu.edu/~aapina

A Journey Through the Evolution, Growth, Quality and Development

of Online Learning

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Did you know…

…that Illinois is the birthplace of the first distance education programs in

U.S. higher education?

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Distance Learning’s Illinois Roots

• 1874 Illinois Wesleyan

• 1890 University of Chicago

• 1901 Moody Bible Institute

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Apostle Paul: Distance Educator?

• Teacher & learners separated by distance

• Modern media– Quill/papyrus vs.

learning at teacher’s feet

• Modern delivery systems– Messenger

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Evolution

http://anekdota.dyndns.org/jotd27/att-0104/01-evolution.jpg

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Evolution via Delivery System

1920s Radio

1930s Motion pictures

1950sTelevision

1870sPostal

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Evolution via Delivery System

1980sTelecourses

1990s Video-

conference

Late 90sInternet

1970s Satellite/Cable

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Distance Learning’s “Killer App”

• World Wide Web– HTML creation (relatively) easy– Faster/cheaper than telecourses– Less complex than videoconference

• Course Management Systems– Course creation, delivery,

communication & management– WebCT, Blackboard, Desire2Learn,

eCollege, Moodle, Angel, Sakai

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

How Big Is Online Learning?

• Over 90% of public 2 year colleges and four-year universities offer online courses

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Online Student Enrollments

1,602,970

1,971,397

2,329,783

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

2002 2003 2004

Source: National Center for Education Statistics & Sloan-C

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Online vs. Total Enrollments

Total Enrollment Online Enrollment %

2002 17.0 million 1.60 million 9

2003 17.3 million 1.97 million 11

2004 17.4 million 2.33 million 13

Avg. Total Growth Avg. Online Growth

2.1% 21.1%

Source: National Center for Education Statistics & Sloan-C

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Illinois Fall Online Enrollments

Source: Illinois Virtual Campus

44%

59%

63%

39%

37%

74%

81%

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Online Degree Programs in Illinois

• 40 online Associates

• 20 online Bachelors

• 56 online Masters

Source: Illinois Virtual Campus

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

How Good Is It…Really?

• Evaluation studies– Can people can learn effectively from

technology-delivered instruction?

• Comparison studies– How does “mediated” instruction

compare to “traditional” instruction?

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Problems with Comparison Studies

• Variance between groups must be higher than variance within groups – Assumes that all traditional instruction is same

• Real life is not like the lab– No random selection of subjects (self-selected)– Too many uncontrolled variables (environments

are too different)

• Instructional design & instructional methods influence learning, not the delivery system

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

The Bottom Line

• Over 80 years of comparison research suggests no significant difference

• No body of research suggests that online learning is inferior

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Then…why do online learning?

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Doing It Well

• Great classroom presentation skills…

… do not necessarily equal great online teaching skills

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Online Teaching

• Readings, resources and hyperlinks are not instruction!

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Course Design Job One: Be Explicit!

• Class policies– Student interaction– Online conduct/demeanor– Faculty interaction

• Assignments– Make your expectations clear– Make your assignments & evaluation clear

• Navigation– Make it easy to find anything with 2 clicks

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Lesson Design

• Start out with an attention getter

• Tell them what they will learn (objective)

• Link to prior knowledge

• Present guided instruction

• Provide opportunities to practice

• Provide feedback

• Provide assessment

• Transfer knowledge to new situation

© 2006 by Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.

Anthony A. Piña, Ed.D.Northeastern Illinois University

http://www.neiu.edu/~aapina

A Journey Through the Evolution, Growth, Quality and Development

of Online Learning