Online learning is spreading quickly in U.S. schools, with 27 percent of high school students saying they were enrolled in at least one online course in 2009, nearly double the 14 percent enrolled in 2008, according a newly released update to a 2007 study.

Further, online learning appears to run in the family, according to the report released by Blackboard K-12 and Project Tomorrow at the ISTE 2010 ed-tech conference Tuesday morning. Students with a parent who had taken an online course were twice as likely to take or explore taking their own virtual course. And more parents than ever—33 percent—reported having enrolled in an online course for work or pleasure.

“I think that that’s just a little piece of something bigger that’s going on,” said Jessie Woolley-Wilson, Blackboard K-12 president, who suggested that parents’ interest could be sparked by students’ online courses. “The archetypes … are changing. Teachers are students. Students are teachers. And so our notion of a linear learning curve that is completely dictated by your age and by your grade and all this stuff, it all blows up.”

But while students, parents, teachers and administrators all appear to be more open to online learning, the infrastructure to accommodate that demand is still evolving—and at this point still falling short, the survey finds.

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A group of enterprising Internet educators have been waiting a year to give Georgia public school students and teachers the state’s first virtual K-12 experience – the chance to work and learn from home in their slippers full-time. Friday, they get an answer.

The Georgia Charter Schools Commission months ago delayed a vote on petitions for five new cyber campuses so that board members could investigate the idea and its impact on public school funding. The questions: Can virtual charters serve students well? How do you make the schools accountable for students they may never see in person? Are costs to provide kids with home computers and Internet connections comparable to providing them with traditional classrooms?

“We don’t really have a benchmark,” said Mark Peevy, the commission’s executive director. “We were working hard to establish what we hope is the right funding level to make it worthwhile for these schools to operate while balancing taxpayer dollars. We need to make sure we are not building in a profit-base unnecessarily.”

After researching the rise of virtual charter schools nationally and talking money with the staff of Gov. Sonny Perdue, the commissioner on Friday will announce which schools the state will approve.

The State Department of Education has already recommended the approval of two of five proposed statewide virtual charter schools — Kaplan Academy of Georgia and Provost Academy Georgia — but more charters could be granted.

For the rest of the article, go to Pajamas uniform of choice: Virtual schools first to offer K-12 education

The two committees will meet in Richmond this afternoon, starting with national education sources addressing the panel on charters, a topic of particularly high interest for education advocates in the state.

Meanwhile, work is proceeding on the governor’s third education initiative, creating criteria for approving virtual school providers, including on how the state should pay local school systems for students who attend the online academies.

For the rest of the article, go to Financing for virtual schools under study

Released by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and supported by Microsoft Corp., the survey found fewer than one-fourth of U.S. teachers have spent more than six hours on any kind of professional development related to cyber ethics, safety, or security within the last 12 months.

More than half of teachers reported their school districts do not require these subjects as part of the K-12 curriculum, and only 35 percent said they’ve taught proper online conduct to their students.

Despite the lack of training and consistent teaching of internet safety, the survey shows that America’s teachers, school administrators, and technology coordinators strongly agree that cyber ethics, safety, and security should be taught in schools.

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For the rest: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/02/26/study-too-few-schools-are-teaching-cyber-safety/

The study found that students who took all or part of their instruction online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through face-to-face instruction. Further, those who took “blended” courses — those that combine elements of online learning and face-to-face instruction — appeared to do best of all. That finding could be significant as many colleges report that blended instruction is among the fastest-growing types of enrollment.

The Education Department examined all kinds of instruction, and found that the number of valid analyses of elementary and secondary education was too small to have much confidence in the results. But the positive results appeared consistent (and statistically significant) for all types of higher education, undergraduate and graduate, across a range of disciplines, the study said.

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The Evidence on Online Education

From InsideHigherEd.com

A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified over 1,000 empirical studies of online learning. Of these, 46 met the high bar for quality that was required for the studies to be included in the analysis. The meta analysis showed that “blended” instruction – combining elements of online and face-to-face instruction – had a larger advantage relative to purely face to face instruction or instruction conducted wholly online. The analysis also showed that the instruction conducted wholly on line was more effective in improving student achievement than the purely face to face instruction. In addition, the report noted that the blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions.

“This new report reinforces that effective teachers need to incorporate digital content into everyday classes and consider open-source learning management systems, which have proven cost effective in school districts and colleges nationwide,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “We must take advantage of this historic opportunity to use American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to bring broadband access and online learning to more communities.

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U.S. Department of Education Study Finds that Good Teaching can be Enhanced with New Technology

From Ed.gov

What’s more, a majority of school principals, 58 percent, say the online classes currently offered in their districts are primarily for teachers; just 31 percent say the classes are primarily for students. Additionally, while a third of teachers have taken an online course for professional development–a 57-percent increase from 2007–only 3 percent of teachers say they’ve taught a class online, a number that has not changed in three years. Just 13 percent of teachers say they’re interested in teaching online, a considerable mismatch with the growing student desire to learn online.

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Study: Students want more online learning ; Funding shortages, lack of teacher preparation mean schools offer less online learning than students desire, this research suggests
From eSchoolNews.com

Online courses are already commonplace in higher education and are growing in popularity at the K-12 level as well. Orlando-based Florida Virtual School (FLVS) has quickly become the nation’s largest virtual school, serving nearly 65,000 students in the 2007-08 school year.

“Policy makers and educators have proposed expanding learning time in elementary through high school grades as a way to improve students’ academic performance, but online coursework hasn’t been on their radar,” said Catherine Cavanaugh, associate professor at the University of Florida’s College of Education and author of the report, “Getting Students More Learning Time Online: Distance Education in Support of Expanded Learning Time in K-12 Schools.”

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Study: Virtual schools can help cut costs by Laura Devaney

From eSchoolNews.com