Market Development and Academic Quality in Online Higher Education President David Decker, PhD Franklin University CIEES Mexico D.F. May 31, 2017

U.S. ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION 2017 3,000,000 students study exclusively online (2,200,000 Undergraduate 800,000 Graduate) Another 3,000,000 are partly online Over 2,000 institutes offer fully online programs 9% of Bachelor’s students, 18% of Master’s students and 5% of Doctoral students are fully online

STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE U.S. Introduction 1996 – 2000 Growth 2001 – 2012 Maturity 2013 - Present

GROWTH RATES AND STUDENT NUMBERS IN ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION 1996 - 2000 Many experimenters using homegrown platforms Skepticism about quality and employer acceptance Indicators of very large demand possibility Accreditors / Regulators uncertain about how to respond About 20 institutions providing full programs online

GROWTH 2001 - 2012 Standardization of platforms Very rapid enrollment growth Emergence of quality standards For-profit sector rises rapidly Professionalization of design / assessment approaches About 250 institutions providing full online programs Rapidly rising market acceptance / accreditor approval

MATURITY 2013 - PRESENT Slowing demand growth Rapidly improving multimedia technology Universal acceptance Heavy competition - 2,000 institutions, with 600 institutions having more than 1,000 online students Penetration of all levels of tertiary sector - Non-credit, 2-year Degrees, 4- year Degrees, Master’s Degrees & Doctoral Degrees Diffusion of modality to almost all disciplines Large state actors investing in modality

EXAMPLE OF STATE INVESTMENTS IN ONLINE MODALITY SAUDI ELECTRONIC UNIVERSITY A state-run, online/hybrid, English-language university with 60% of places reserved for females Based in Riyadh with multiple branch locations in provincial cities of KSA Direct sponsorship of the King; $300MM annual budget Using Blackboard as platform Using Franklin as course/program and design/quality assurance resource

Development Stages of Online Higher Education ONLINE MODALITY IS AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF MATURITY IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD Development Stages of Online Higher Education UNITED STATES OUTSIDE UNITED STATES 2017 2017

QUESTION: comparable to traditional methods? Does online higher education produce learning outcomes comparable to traditional methods?

U.S. Department of Education study in 2010 is the most comprehensive review Evaluated and summarized more than 1,000 empirical studies conducted between 1996 and 2008 Published report: “Evaluation of Evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies”

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning (2010, Sept) Findings Students in online conditions performed modestly better, on average, than those learning the same material through traditional face-to-face instruction Instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2009). Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. US Department of Education.

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning (2010, Sept) Findings Effect sizes were larger for studies in which the online instruction was collaborative or instructor-directed than in those studies where online learners worked independently The effectiveness of online learning approaches appears quite broad across different content and learner types Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2009). Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. US Department of Education.

QUALITY CONTROL ORGANIZATIONS Aims to promote and improve the quality of online education and student learning nationally and internationally. Provides professional development, instruction, best practice publications and guidance to educators, online learning professionals and organizations around the world. WCET is the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies, focuses on the policy, practice, and advocacy of technology-enhanced higher education. Online courses have become increasingly popular There’s arisen a need to create and assess quality There are many aspects of this need. I highlight 5 and show how we have addressed these issues: Design Quality –quality course standards in course reviews to ensure course quality. Review and use course data to revise and improve course quality. Effective Course Delivery – Use an effective learning management system that enables design and assessment of learning Accessibility – Use of Universal Design principles to ensure all populations can access materials Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty - Use plagiarism detection software and use physical or virtual test proctoring services Learning and Program Assessment – Use rubrics to assess learning and provide feedback. Systematic methods for evaluating effectiveness of program and improving learning experiences.

FRANKLIN’S VIEW OF QUALITY CONTROL IN ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION Quality through design – scientific, universal principles Quality through course delivery – faculty development / training Quality through academic honesty monitoring – software and proctors Quality through assessment – data collection and regular feedback

The International Institute for Innovation Instruction FRANKLIN’S INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT QUALITY AND WORK WITH PARTNERS The International Institute for Innovation Instruction (i4) 16 Instructional Designers (10 with PhD, 6 with M.S.) Instructor quality and faculty development Interactive Design / Multimedia Assessment of learning

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS Institutions in areas where online is entering the growth stage have advantages over the U.S. pioneers of 1996-2001 Resistance and skepticism from Students, Employers, and Accreditors disappear much more quickly than internal resistance from Faculty and Staff Speed to market and some early successes are key to overcoming internal resistance External professional support can significantly expedite implementation