Sunday, November 23, 2008

Online Learning Report - Keeping Pace

Last month John Watson, Butch Gemin and Jennifer Ryan from Evergreen Consulting Associates released an interesting report titled Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning 2008. The report takes a look at K-12 online programs in the United States. Here's some highlights:
  • State-led programs and initiatives continue to be an important online learning option for students in many states.
  • As of fall 2008, 34 states offer state-led programs or initiatives that are designed, in most cases, to work with existing school districts to supplement course offerings for students.
  • Full-time online schools are a second common online learning option:
    • As of fall 2008 there are 21 states that have these types of schools.
    • They are often charter schools, although there are also some non-charter, district-run programs that are available to students across the state.
Most state-led programs are:
  • High school level, with some middle school,
  • Supplemental—providing one or more courses to students enrolled elsewhere, and
  • Funded primarily by separate state appropriations rather than the per-pupil funding formula.
Examples of state-led programs (which provide full courses, teachers, and student support) include:
  • The Florida Virtual School
  • The Illinois Virtual High School
  • The Michigan Virtual School
  • The Idaho Digital Learning Academy
  • The Georgia Virtual School
  • The Kentucky Virtual Schools, and
  • The Missouri Virtual Instruction Program.
Examples of state-led initiatives, which provide online resources, or serve as a central clearinghouse for online courses, include:
  • The Washington Digital Learning Commons
  • The Wyoming Switchboard Network
  • The Texas Virtual School Network, and
  • The Oregon Virtual School District.
The report is long (165 pages!) but a very interesting read. You can download a PDF of the full report here.
at

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 24, 2008 at 12:46 AM

    It is indeed an interesting report. But a comparative study of different countries of the world would provide a better picture of the present state of digital learning in the United States. As schools provide the most important fuel to the development vehicle of any nation, e-learning initiatives of different countries in improving quality and access of education would definitely help us to learn more. The Digital Learning magazine has recently covered the e- learning initiatives of Malaysian schools

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gordon F Snyder JrNovember 24, 2008 at 10:10 AM

    Thanks for the comment and link Gokul - Malaysia is doing some very interesting things.

    ReplyDelete