Remember There Are Benefits to Online Learning
Written By Ned Zimmerman-Bence, Co-Founder of GogyUpOn this National Online Learning Day we ponder this question: how does technology and, more broadly, innovation improve learning?
As is often the case, innovation does not equate with displacement or replacement. As learners of all stripes have discovered this year, "established techniques for student success in traditional classrooms do not always work in distance courses” according to distance learning researcher Dr. Judy Serwatka. Online learning is indeed not the same as in-person learning and, in fact, can facilitate sub-par results when it does replace in-person, on-site classroom learning.
But we should not throw the baby out with the bath water. While online learning is not a replacement for in-person learning, it certainly can enhance the experience and amplify outcomes. When the advantages brought by technology are fully implemented and are fit to the needs of students, online learning can be a great success.
Successes of Online Learning
Take Khan Academy and the NROC Project. Khan Academy is mainly geared towards providing K-14 students with on-demand lessons that are used by millions to fill in the gaps in knowledge or skills a learner might have. The NROC Project's EdReady is used across the country for many educational use cases and, in particular, helping students regain skills lost between high school graduation and when they enter post-secondary education. Khan Academy's on-demand lessons have improved test scores across subjects and levels because it fills a niche that most, if not all, teachers would be hard pressed to replicate. And it does it for free! EdReady saves adult learners precious tuition dollars and class time that would otherwise be spent on remediation by providing learners the ability to review and recover knowledge and skills before entering post-secondary instruction.
Further afield, technology and innovation spurred by online learning can be applied to additional formal and informal learning environments. As stated on the MN ABE distance learning website, online learning increases access to educational services "by making quality instructional content available outside the classroom". Online learning can be used to address limiting factors faced by Adult Education programs. One need only look at the shift in conference and webinar topics offered by adult education organizations like COABE and ProLiteracy to see how online learning can be used to mitigate perennial challenges such as attrition and access. The flexibility and adaptability of online learning is particularly advantageous for adults as they can learn on their own time, allowing learners to continue working and taking care of other obligations in their lives. Transportation, family or work commitments, and other barriers are diminished when students are able to take advantage of online learning.
Increased Adoption of Online Learning
Employers are taking note of the added benefits of online learning, especially post-pandemic. In a recent report by Deloitte, "organizations confirmed that virtual learning will constitute at least 40 percent of the formal learning structure, with some organizations expecting this figure to reach as high as 90 percent". One of the reasons cited for this shift is that online learning is more easily customizable and personalized, disrupting the "static" and "one-size-fits-all" approach traditionally employed. The flexibility of online learning allows for a more dynamic, contextualized learning experience.
Technology can often be utilized to expand learning in novel use cases and continually bridge what seems like inseparable differences in approach. GogyUp incorporates assistive-reading technology with pre-existing content to address the unique problems faced by adult learners, employees with limited literacy or English proficiency, and the 50% of U.S. adults who struggle to read complex, technical documents. Our approach and technology facilitated GogyUp's Twin Cities-based partner Communidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES) to pivot to online learning and continue their instruction with the same materials while COVID-19 was closing down adult learning programs. GogyUp is partnering with Chicago-based Cara Collective to consolidate critical information from various departments into one digital home – allowing their participants from across the city and with a wide range of educational backgrounds to efficiently access and understand information anytime and anywhere so that they can continue to grow with Cara's comprehensive and diverse programming.
A New Way of Thinking
Throughout history, innovation has amplified and destroyed, enhanced and displaced. Vellum-based paper, the printing press, movable type, the Internet, and online learning have all created opportunity and controversy. Controversy, however deserved, can make it easy to miss or dismiss the opportunities online learning and educational technology can create. The key is to avoid "OR" replacement-style thinking that easily leads to sub-par results as many instances these past 18-months have shown. Instead, we urge everyone to remember the mistakes but embrace "AND" additive-based thinking. As we start this academic year, we look forward to working with our partners and customers to identify how online learning, educational technology, and innovation in general can add to and amplify learning experiences – whether it is a mini-lesson to help fill a knowledge gap, an opportunity to regain knowledge, or increased access to learning opportunities.