1. Why Online Learning Matters: A
National and International Perspective
on the Future of Online and Blended
Learning
Dr. Allison Powell
Vice President, State and District Services
www.inacol.org

2. International Association for K-
12 Online Learning (iNACOL)
• iNACOL is the premier K-12 nonprofit in online learning
• 4300+ members in K-12 virtual schools and online
learning representing over 50 countries
• Provides leadership, advocacy, research, training, and
networking with experts in K-12 online learning.
• “Ensure every student has access to the best education
available regardless of geography, income or
background.”
• Conference – Virtual School Symposium (VSS): New
Orleans, LA on October 21-24, 2012

3. Disrupting Class
Christensen suggests that by 2019 about half of
all high school courses will be online.

4. www.inacol.org
Source: Susan Patrick, iNACOL

6. Providing Opportunities to All Students
Traditional
Public/Private
Accelerated Credit Recovery
Students
Medically Fragile
Need to work and/or
support family
Rural Students
Special Education and Aspiring athletes and
Home Schoolers
ELL performers

7. www.inacol.org

8. Online Learning in the United States
• States with online learning policies: 50
• State virtual schools or statewide initiatives for online learning: 40
• States with full-time online learning programs: 30 + D.C. (250,000
students)
• 50% of employers use e-learning for training
• 1 in 4 undergraduate and graduate student enrolls in an online course in
higher education; 5.9 million college students take online courses.
• 82% of school districts had one or more students in a fully-online or
blended course
• More universities are offering K-12 courses online
– MIT open courseware for K-12 students
– Stanford, Northwestern programs for gifted
• K-12 online learning enrollments growing 30% annually (50,000 in 2000; 2
million enrollments in 2008-2009; 2.5 million in 2011).
Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning, Evergreen Education Group, www.kpk12.com

9. Big Trends to watch:
• District programs – new learning models using online
and blended learning within single districts
• Blended learning & Continuity of Learning
• Policy revision - 16 states pass online learning laws
– 7 States require online learning as HS graduation
– Competency-based (Utah, New Hampshire, FLVS)
• Instructional materials and open access - with common
core (44 states), districts and states developing materials
for PD, content and learning materials are moving
toward open policies for content created with taxpayer
dollars so it can be shared across schools

10. State Online Learning Trends & Examples
• Michigan, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho,
Virginia, and West Virginia :
– Online learning HS graduation requirement
• Florida
– Funded through performance-budgeting system
• Utah
– Funding follows student down to course level
• Montana: new state virtual school
– Managed by the University of Montana’s College of Education

11. State Online Learning Trends & Examples
• California, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Kentucky
– Course quality – review all online courses against
iNACOL online course standards
• Virtual Charter Schools
– Florida (blended too), Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, New
Jersey
• More Districts
– A shift to districts starting their own online programs

12. Key District Trends
• Small % of districts offering
comprehensive online options—likely no
more than 10%—but number is
increasing fast
• Decision-makers are sometimes school-
based but moving towards district-wide
decisions
• Key factors are cost, competition, and
addressing gaps in opportunities

13. www.inacol.org

14. International Perspective
www.inacol.org

15. World Future Society
Top 10 breakthroughs transforming life over the next 20-30 years
Best forecast data ever assembled
1. Alternative energy
2. Desalination of water
3. Precision farming
4. Biometrics
5. Quantum computers
6. Entertainment on demand
7. Global access
8. Virtual education or distance
learning
9. Nanotechnology
10. Smart Robots

16. Survey Findings
• Almost 60 percent of the surveyed countries reported
government funding for blended or online programs at the
primary and secondary levels.
• China’s first online school was created in 1996; today it has
expanded to more than 200 online schools with enrollments
exceeding 600,000 students.
• Seventy-two percent of the surveyed countries reported that
their online and blended classroom teachers participated in
professional development for online teaching.
• Universities and colleges were reported as the primary source
of training for educators, followed by regional centers and
local schools.

17. Survey Findings
• In British Columbia, online schools provide complete
programs or individual courses to 71,000 students, which is
about 12% of the student population.
• In 2010, Hong Kong enacted a policy recommendation for
digital learning that “de-bundled” textbooks and teaching
materials to make them more affordable and accessible to
schools, and accelerated the development of an online
depository of curriculum-based learning and teaching
resources. A pilot scheme later resulted in a program made
available to all 410,000 primary and secondary students in
300,000 low-income families—especially the 8 percent
without Internet access at home—to gain access to the
Internet for the purpose of learning.

18. Mexico
• K-12 Digital Content, Laptop for Every Teacher, Pre-
service methods using engaging digital content, new
strategies

19. iNACOL Canada Study
All 13 Provinces and Territories offer K-12 online learning

20. eLearning Ontario
• Ontario Ministry of Education - eLearning Ontario
– Provides LMS for all 72 districts
– Funds and oversees the development of eLearning courses
– Online content uploaded into the Ontario Educational Resource
Bank (OERB) which all Ontario teachers, students and parents can
access
• Solutions for credit recovery, differentiated instruction and as a
study tool for students
– Online courses at day schools funded at the same level as face-2-
face day school courses
• The eLearning Ontario website is http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/elearning

21. Australia
• Pioneer in distance education, mainly servicing isolated
rural schools and families
• Curriculum breadth and opportunities for students in
rural and small schools still limited
• Online provision available in each state served via
Blackboard, Moodle etc.
• Nationally, much is first generation online content – flat
text, limited interactivity and use of Web 2.0 capacity
• Federal funded national rollout of 1:1 computing across
years 9-12 by end of 2011

22. New Zealand
• Professional Development – ICT PD
• Teacher Laptop Program
• National Broadband Initiative
• Virtual Learning Network

23. European Union
• EU:
– EU E-Learning Action Plan
– IB Diploma Programme
Online (125 countries)
– New Line Learning Schools
• UK: E-Learning Exports - 29 billion pounds
annually; deal with China
– Education as an export

24. Turkey, the Middle East
& Arab Spring
• Turkey: online courses
• Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States

25. • Size
India
– 1 billion+, 70% rural population
– Need 200,000 more schools
• Internet Accessibility
– 2007-08 - 42 million users (3.7%)
• Online Learning
– Universal access for K-12 in 10 yrs
– Shortage of good teachers
– “Leverage teachers using technology to
bring to scale”
– Educomp digitizing learning resources
for K-12 Education

26. Hong Kong
– Blended learning for Continuity of Learning

27. South Korea
• South Korea
– National Virtual School
– Switch to digital content from textbooks

28. China
• China: 1.3 billion people
• Digitized K-12 curriculum
• Training Master Teachers to teach online
• With online learning: increase
educational opportunities to 100 million
new students

29. The Futurist: Education 2011
China may be the first country to
succeed in educating most of its
population through the Internet.
– From 2003-2007, China spent about $1
billion to implement online learning
projects in the rural country-side.

30. Singapore
• Singapore: 100% of Secondary schools use
online learning
• All teachers trained to teach online
• Blended Learning Environments
• E-Learning Weeks

31. Trends in Education: Next
Generation Models of
Online and Blended
Learning
www.inacol.org

33. Blended learning
A formal education program in which a
student learns at least in part through online
delivery of instruction and content, with some
element of student control over time, place,
path and/or pace
and
at least in part in a supervised brick-and-
mortar location away from home.

34. Tech-rich = blended

35. Emerging models of blended learning
Rotation Flex Self-Blend Enriched Virtual
• Station rotation Online platform with Students attend Students learn
• Lab rotation F2F support and physical school & sometimes at a
• Flipped Classroom fluid schedules take 1 or more physical school, other
• Individual rotation courses online times remotely

36. Competency-based learning
(definition)
1. Students advance upon mastery.
2. Competencies include explicit, measurable,
transferable learning objectives that empower students.
3. Assessment is meaningful and a positive learning
experience for students.
4. Students receive timely, differentiated support based on
their individual learning needs.
5. Learning outcomes emphasize competencies that
include application and creation of knowledge, along
with the development of important skills and
dispositions.

37. National Standards for Quality Online Programs,
Online Teaching & Online Courses

38. Online Learning Research
• #1 Online Learning Expands Options
• “The first impetus to the growth of K-12 distance
education was an interest in expanding
educational options and providing equal
opportunities for all learners.” (NCREL 2005)
• #2 Online Learning Is Rapidly Growing
• “Recent Surveys show that K-12 online learning is
a rapidly growing phenomenon.”
– Growing 30% annually
– 50,000 enrollments in 2000
– Over 2,000,000 enrollments in 2010

39. Online Learning Research
• #3 Is Effective: “Better”
• U.S. Department of Education Report of Online Learning
Better than Face-to-Face (USED 2009)
• #4 Improves Teaching
• Teachers who teach online reported positive
improvements in face-to-face, too.
• “Of those who reported teaching face-to-face while
teaching online or subsequently, three in four reported a
positive impact on their face-to-face teaching.”

40. Project Tomorrow Survey (2009)
• Benefits of taking a class online?
– According to students:
• 51% said it allows them to work at their own pace
• 49% to earn college credit
• 44% said it allows them to take a class not offered
on campus
• 35% said it was to get extra help
• 19% said they took online courses to get more
attention from teachers

41. How well is our current K-12 system functioning?
Depends on who you ask

42. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LyuLJSByvI

43. How Students Learn

44. Questions
Dr. Allison Powell
apowell@inacol.org
http://www.inacol.org
http://onlineprogramhowto.org