Giving Compass' Take:

• Babson Survey Research Group shares studies that examine student perceptions of online learning and how they have changed in the last fifteen years. 

• The research finds that the amount of students taking online courses is increasing but their perceptions around these classes are shifting slowly towards the negative/ambiguous. Should educators make an effort to increase effectiveness and engagement online? Or should they focus efforts on classroom learning? 

• Read about how some community colleges are not embracing online learning. 

Online course offerings in the United States have expanded. In both K12 and higher education options for students to take whole courses, blended courses and—in some places—entire degree programs online are more prevalent than ever.

The Babson Survey Research Group, an organization that tracks online enrollment, notes that between 2012 and 2016 the percent of online enrollment in universities increased 17.2 percent while overall enrollment decreased.

But that expansion doesn’t necessarily correlate with how the public perceives the quality of online courses, historically questioned for its lack of rigor and limited measurable learning gains.

Researchers that have looked into public perceptions of online learning note that over the last 15 years views inched in a more positive direction, evidenced by the increase of students enrolling in courses and surveys given to pupils and professors.

The last academic leader perception survey released by the Babson Research Group was in 2016. “We've had more and more of the group in the middle that said, 'I'm not sure' move into a pro online learning stance,” says Seaman, speaking of the academic leaders he surveyed in the past. “The negative group [those who viewed online learning negatively] had not wavered at all. The positive group did not waiver at all, but we had a steady migration flow of academic leaders in the middle.”

This correlation is one reason why Seaman believes perceptions of online learning will become more positive over time. “More students taking these courses means that there are more academic leaders and more faculty members with direct experience teaching online,” he continues.

Read the full article about online learning by Jenny Abamu at EdSurge