A recent conversation with Dirk Burruss, JSRCC Program Head for Network Engineering, led me to a comprehensive report issued in September 2010. Produced by the US Department of Education, the Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies examined more than a 1000 empirical studies of online learning conducted over a 12-year period from 1996 – 2008.
Significant findings that emerged from this meta-analysis point to evidence that online learning is not only comparable to the traditional model of face-to-face learner engagement, but that online learning has a small but still measureable rate of student achievement higher than that of the classroom.
