Jeff Williams, the CEO of Public Sector Consultants, oversees all of the firm’s work in the field of K-12 education policy. He has spent years poring over research data to find the most effective education strategies, policies and methods.
His firm, and others like his all over the country, are in the midst of researching the correlation between an early start in online education and overall preparedness for collegiate learning and, eventually, entering the workforce.
Research within the realm of online education started in the 1990s. Through the 2000s, Williams said, the focus of his firm’s research was, simply, did it work?
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The resounding answer has been, “Yes.” Now, PSC has moved into another phase of research: studying the real-world benefits of supplementing a traditional education with online courses.
PSC, Williams says, has been looking at that question for five to seven years, and the research is still in its relative infancy. With a research pool of students either still in college or just beginning to enter the workforce, the sample sizes are still too small to form a definitive answer.
The research may not be complete, but Williams believes the ability to learn online is essential in today’s world.
“Online learning is so embedded in corporate and institutional training programs, it is a skill just like learning to speak in public,” he said. “This is a skill you need, whether you’re going to college or into a vocation, you’re going to hit online learning pretty quickly.”
But from personal experience, Williams knows just how important it can be to become well acquainted with learning online.
One of his professional certificates, which he has held for 12 years, requires annual training and education. A decade ago, this was done through reading books and attending conferences; he’d have to hop on a plane and spend a week at lectures.
“Five years ago, they put the book online, so it was asynchronous,” Williams said. “I would do it on my own. Now, a third of the time I do the computer-based training, I’m in a chat room, in a video conference with 10, 20 or 50 other people from around the world and it’s a mix of that in-person, face-to-face interaction. I have seen that needle swing as it gets more integrated.”
Williams also recently finished his Master of Business Administration at the University of Michigan. Once a month, he would attend classes for three days in Ann Arbor. The rest of the 19-month program was done via online materials.
“The first time I had an online class, it was a struggle, because it is a different way of learning,” he said. “You have to think differently. You interact with the teacher and your classmates differently.”
Now, with opportunities provided by online institutions like Michigan Virtual University, high schools students within the state who want to broaden their educational scope, can get a jump on online learning.
“Anecdotally, it is no different than Advanced Placement classes,” Williams said. “One of the reasons you take an AP course in high school is to prepare you for the pace, the rigor and the thinking that is going on in college. By the same logic, everyone should have at least one quality online learning experience in high school so when you graduate and move on, whether it’s college, a career, technical training or the armed services, you are prepared to participate in online training.
“It is a skill, just like reading, writing, arithmetic, working in groups, learning from a computer - those are all skills to participate in modern life.”
Two- and four-year colleges and universities are increasing the online aspect of their curriculum every year.
According to the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute, 11.5 percent of all undergraduate college students at a four-year public institution in the state of Michigan enrolled in at least one distance course. Three percent did all of their learning online.
At two-year schools, 15.4 percent of all students took at least one course online, and 7.9 percent of those students did all their coursework online.
Michigan students have advantage in online learning
Luckily for high school students in Michigan, they have a unique chance to get an upper hand in the realm of online education.
Mike Flanagan, former Michigan State Superintendent, admits that it was mostly a hunch when, in 2006, he made Michigan the first state in America to adopt an online education requirement. Just like students must take math, science and other subjects in order to graduate, now every student must also complete one online course.
Back then, before the iPhone, Flanagan’s idea was met with some resistance by state legislators, parents and a concerned teacher’s union that thought he was trying to make their jobs obsolete.
Quite the contrary. By requiring one online course, Flanagan wanted to add another layer of depth to students’ educational experience. He wanted to supplement the public education offered within the state to make students even more prepared for the real world.
“We were the first state to even consider anything like that,” Flanagan said. “We wanted to require it to show the kids that online learning was an effective tool. I had a lot of teachers who really helped me, but I also ended up doing a lot of learning on my own. We were trying to jump-start a new way of learning.
“MVU helped us design some courses very early on. At that point, there weren't many courses available. And they helped us produce catalogues for those that were available, so kids had options from day one.”
Two years later, Flanagan never heard another negative word about the incentive.
Even for someone who was an early adopter of the idea, Flanagan is surprised to see the growth of the prevalence of online educational options.
“I have kids who are in college now, paying tuition, room and board, and they’re in the dorm rooms taking an online course, along with their other classes,” he said. “By introducing them to online learning early on, they become fluent in that type of learning. The world has changed so much that it must be a big help.”
This story is part of a series on online education in Michigan. Support for this series is provided by Michigan Virtual University.