A Review of Washington’s Survey on…

1. ONLINE LEARNING A Review of Washington’s Survey on… Online Learning Leadership Summit <Date> at <Your ESD> <Your city and state> This presentation is provided by: Debbie Tschirgi, ESD 112 Educational Technology Director Presented by xyz•Educational Technology Director•xyz

2. MY TIME WITH YOU Share some fast facts about current data and trends in online learning, our students and our schools Do some of my own “on the spot” data collection Share info on a research study conducted with WA K-12 districts

3. ONLINE LEARNING A common definition of • Distance education: • videoconferencing • correspondence courses • audio-based courses • video-based courses • online courses • In online courses, students: • Use the Internet • View lecture notes • Receive/Submit assignments • Dialog with the instructor and other students through online chat, e-mail, web-conferencing and message posts. What do we mean?

4. ONLINE LEARNING A common definition of The course is delivered entirely over the Internet. The course does not utilize a face-to-face component. FULLY ONLINE!

5. CRYSTAL BALL Looking into the…. Online learning is currently used by 4% of K-12 students in the United States; …and that this number is expected to grow to 15% by the year 2011; The importance of considering the research …and that it is predicted that 10% of all courses will be online by 2014; And that by the year 2019, it is predicted that 50% of all courses will be delivered online…

6. FAST FACTS Quick Picks on A multimillion dollar market that is growing 30% annually 44 states w/supplemental or full-time OL programs 34 statewide or state-led virtual schools K-12 Online Learning and Virtual Schools 173 virtual charter schools in 18 states 57% of schools provide access to OLL 72% of districts with OL programs will expand their online offerings

7. FAST FACTS More Quick Picks on In 2006, 3.2 million post-secondary students took one or more online course.In 2006, Michigan became the first state to require OLL for high school graduation. In 2008, Alabama followed.#1 Reason: “The course was otherwise unavailable!” The Growth of K-12 Online Learning in U.S.

8. S.S. L.A. More Quick Picks on 43% of online courses include subjects other than Math, L.A. and S.S. FAST FACTS The Kinds of Courses Offered Online 23% 43% 19% 15%

9. FAST FACTS More Quick Picks on 67% of children in nursery school use computers. Nearly all (97%) high school aged students use computers, and 80% of them use the Internet. 80% of kindergarten students use computers. Our students, computers and the Internet 50% of students are creators of content on the Internet. School-age students use computers and the Internet more than adults do.

10. Research on… ONLINE LEARNING Factors contributing to the expansion of online learning Additional opportunities for all students Alternative routes for education Increased range of courses Funding shortages Overcrowded schools Technological development Use of Internet and media

11. Research on… ONLINE LEARNING Reasons K-12 districts offer online courses • Perceived importance of online learning is primarily related to student needs: • Provide courses that are otherwise unavailable • Meet the needs of specific student groups • Allow for credit recovery • Resolve scheduling conflicts

12. FAST FACTS More Quick Picks on 99.6% of classrooms in the state of Washington are connected to the Internet. Our schools, computers and the Internet

13. FAST FACTS More Quick Picks on Over 3,800 of these students took all of their high school courses online. The Growth of K-12 Online Learning in WA

14. FAST FACTS More Quick Picks on State-led online learning initiative (DLD) List of online school programs, http://digitallearning.k12.wa.us/school_programs/ Various online course providers More Washington Data

15. FAST FACTS More Quick Picks on Highest enrollment in WA online schools

16. True False Our district currently offers online courses to students.

17. True False We are currently losing our students to other virtual schools.

18. True False We are exploring online courses as a means to address dropouts.

19. True False We are exploring OLL as a means to expand our instructional program.

20. True False We see online learning as a way to keep students enrolled in our district.

21. Lower our drop-out rate Expand our curriculum/course offerings Improve our students’ test scores Prevent (and/or re-claim) students from enrolling in virtual schools in other districts Other Our district’s greatest need for exploring online courses is to:

22. Expand our course offerings Offer Advanced Placement or college-level courses Provide opportunities for credit recovery Resolve scheduling conflicts More than 1 above All of the above None of the above We have a specific need to:

23. Washington Huskies WSU Cougars Who will win the Apple Cup this year? THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION

24. OSPI’s look at a statewide STUDY Conducted in 2009 byTorrey MorganUniversity of WA Key survey question: What are Washington State school district polices and practices related to online courses?

25. The Study’s FOUR FOCAL POINTS This study focused on the following topics. 1 2 Funding Student access to online courses 3 Quality assurance Tracking 4

26. An overview of the RESESARCH METHODS Three phases of the study Review literature Conduct survey Analyze results

27. Characteristics of the ONLINE LEARNING SURVEY MOSTLY QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS AND SOME QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS • Issues covered in the survey: • District policies regarding access • Perception of barriers • How students receive information • Types of course providers available • Which courses are likely to be approved for credit • Funding & tracking of online courses • Practices to ensure course quality • Included 20 questions: • three open-ended questions • seventeen close-ended questions with the opportunity for a write-in response

28. Responses to the ONLINE LEARNING SURVEY GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SURVEY RESPONSES • Responses included: • 133 school districts • 2 state schools • 45% response rate • Represents 48.4% of WA students

29. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT POLICY

30. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT POLICY Restrictions on the number of online courses a student can take for credit • Number of online courses allowed simultaneously • 93 districts have no restrictions • 42 districts have restrictions • Number of online courses allowed during a student’s high school years • 17 districts have restrictions (ranging from 1-15 total) • Most common limits were two courses and four courses, each cited by four districts.

31. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT POLICY

32. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT POLICY

33. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT POLICY

34. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT POLICY The five key policy issues addressed in the survey Students that are permitted to enroll in online courses for credit Restrictions on the number of online courses a student can take The staff/group that selects courses that can be taken for credit Factors that are considered when assigning credit to a course The courses that are likely to be approved for credit

35. Additional DISTRICT POLICIES Themes that emerged Provider accreditation and course quality Alternative Learning Expereince (ALE) code Full Time Equivalent (FTE) The “Who” and “How” of course approval Student eligibility

36. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT PRACTICE

37. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT PRACTICE Districts providing online courses internally • 37 districts provide their own online courses for credit. • 8 of these districts chose their district as the only provider • The other 29 districts make one or more other providers available

38. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT PRACTICE Funding for online courses

39. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT PRACTICE Tracking • Ways that districts distinguish online courses from regular courses on the students’ transcripts: • Marked as independent study (IS) • Marked as transfer credits (TR) • Name of the online course provider is listed • Identified as a correspondence course • Coded “RS” for Running Start or “Nova” for Nova Net • A note is added to the transcript

40. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT PRACTICE Tracking • Ways that districts define “course completion:” • Earning credit or passing the course (earning a grade) • Completing enrollment • A course credit checklist • When a student has taken district assessments and the teacher has recorded a grade • Two district cite that the online provider of the course determines course completion.

41. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT PRACTICE Quality Assurance: Alignment with State Standards and CBA’s • Actions districts take to ensure course alignment with standards: • Review of course curriculum, course description and syllabus • Rely on DLC and OSPI • Researching programs and providers • Making sure the instructor is a highly qualified teacher

42. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT PRACTICE Quality Assurance: Alignment with State Standards and CBA’s • Who should ensure that the online courses are aligned? • Course provider • Teacher • Curriculum department • Counselor and principal • H.S. Curriculum Team • H.S. Department • Curriculum Advisory Committee

43. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT PRACTICE Quality Assurance: District Efforts to Ensure Quality Online Courses • Four categories of district efforts: • Provider quality and accreditation • Evaluation and feedback • Online staff and teachers • Student preparation and follow-up

44. A review of the questions regarding DISTRICT PRACTICE Quality Assurance: Professional Development for Online Teachers • Most common PD for online teachers: • From district’s online course provider • From the Digital Learning Commons • Online learning conferences • In-house supervisor • Orientation from a teacher mentor • From the online program coordinator or program administrator • Professional learning communities

45. Issues of access to ONLINE COURSES

46. Issues of access to ONLINE COURSES

47. We’ve covered… A LOT OF GROUND! A Quick Review Fast facts about data & trends in online learning, students & schools A snapshot of our group with the use of the clickers Quick look at some current findings regarding OLL in WA

48. Bibliography (2003). M D Roblyer,  Jon C Marshall.  Predicting success of virtual high school students: Preliminary results from an educational success prediction instrument . Journal of Research on Technology in Eucation, 35(2), 241-255. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from Discovery database. (Document ID: 284036721) (2005). Smith, R., Clark, T., and Blomeyer, R. Synthesis of New Research on K-12 Online Learning. Retrieved August 1, 2008, from the NACOL - North American Council for Online Learning web site: http://www.nacol.org/ (2009). Fast Facts about Online Learning. Retrieved April 15, 2009, from the NACOL – North American Council for the Online Learning web site: http://www.nacol.org/ (2009). International Association for K-12 Online Learning. Retrieved August 14, 2008, from the INACOL - North American Council for Online Learning web site: http://www.nacol.org Morgan, T. (2009, June). Online Learning in Washington State School Districts. Retrieved from http://www.k12.wa.us/EdTech/pubdocs/Morgan09_OnlineLearningWA-SDs.pdf