National Research

Introduction to research...

Ubiquitous Learning Explore the new book, edited by Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis and featuring experts in e-learning.

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies

Barbara Means, Yukie Toyama, Robert Murphy, Marianne Bakia, Karla Jones

 

http://ifap.ru/library/book440.pdf

Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction. Learning outcomes for students who engaged in online learning exceeded those of students receiving face-to-face instruction, with an average effect size of +0.24 favoring online conditions. The mean difference between online and face-to-face conditions across the 51 contrasts is statistically significant at the p < .01 level.4 Interpretations of this result, however, should take into consideration the fact that online and face-to-face conditions generally differed on multiple dimensions, including the amount of time that learners spent on task. The advantages observed for online learning conditions therefore may be the product of aspects of those treatment conditions other than the instructional delivery medium per se.

 

2010 Horizon Report: A collaboration between The New Media Consortium and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative

http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2010-Horizon-Report.pdf

The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators in sense-making, coaching, and credentialing. Institutions must consider the unique value that each adds to a world in which information is everywhere. In such a world, sensemaking and the ability to assess the credibility of information are paramount. Mentoring and preparing students for the world in which they will live, the central role of the university when it achieved its modern form in the 14th century, is again at the forefront. Universities have always been seen as the gold standard for educational credentialing, but emerging certification programs from other sources are eroding the value of that mission daily.

 

Assessment for Improvement: Tracking Student Engagement Over Time

Annual Results 2009, National Survey of Student Engagement

http://nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2009_Results/go.cfm?what=AR

Course management and interactive technologies were positively related to student engagement, self-reported learning outcomes, and deep approaches to learning. Course management  technology was most strongly related to student-faculty interaction and self-reported gains in personal and social development. It is possible that the use of this type of organizational technology encourages contact among classmates as well as between students and their instructors. Interactive technologies corresponded most strongly with students' self-reported gains and the supportive campus environment benchmark. Students who use interactive technologies are also more likely to say their campus environment is supportive and contributes to their knowledge, skills, and personal development.

 

The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2009

Shannon D. Smith, Gail Salaway, and Judith Borreson Caruso

http://www.educause.edu/Resources/TheECARStudyofUndergraduateStu/187215

Although a majority of respondents to the ECAR student survey don't identify themselves as what we call early adopters or innovators, it appears that a revolution in undergraduates' use of the mobile Internet has already begun. A quarter of the respondents to this year's study told us they are using handheld devices weekly or more often to access the Internet. This level of use may not be taxing the support capacity of higher education IT departments at the moment, but if the numbers of users increase, as they likely will if the cost of mobile Internet access drops, institutions could be quickly overwhelmed with demands for technical support and development of new mobile services. Will student adoption outpace institutional support capability, or will institutional support rise to the challenge of student demand? Perhaps institutional implementations of mobile services will encourage even more student use of the Internet from handheld device.