We decided to take a look at the current statistics surrounding online or distance learning. The Internet has revolutionised the future of education, bringing with it mobility, convenience, flexibility, team learning and as research now suggests, quality. Not much research has been conducted locally but recent findings from US studies bring some interesting conclusions to light.

From U.S. Department of Education - Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning
A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies (May 2009)

The U.S. Department of Education analysed research studies undertaken from 1996 to 2008 that address whether online education is as effective as face-to-face learning at a university level. They analysed 51 factors which affect learning and concluded the following: 

1. Online education is more effective than face-to-face learning
2. Online learning combined with some face-to-face learning (blended learning) is the most effective
3. Face-to-face learning alone is the least effective method among the three types studied
4. Adding video and online quizzes or other forms of razzle-dazzle does not increase educational efficacy
5. What seems to give online and blended education their significant power boost is time spent on learning combined with the additional communication opportunities that online delivery afford

From Sloan Consortium - Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States 2008  (2008)

• Almost 3.5 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2006 term, a nearly 10 percent increase over the number reported the previous year - and a near-doubling from the 1.6 million students enrolled just four years prior, in 2002
• The 9.7 percent growth rate for online enrolments far exceeds the 1.5 percent growth of the overall higher-education student population
• Nearly 20 percent of all U.S. higher-education students were taking at least one online course in the fall of 2006
• Associate’s institutions have a wide lead in online penetration for psychology, social sciences, and liberal arts

From Get Educated.com - Who Uses Distance Learning? (January 2009)

• Those who are most likely to utilise distance learning today include rural learners; military personnel (who are mobile and require a campus that is equally mobile); and single mothers (average age 36)
• Since the 1990s, the masters degree has been the most prevalent degree offered via distance learning in the United States
• The MBA is the most popular and prevalent online degree earned in the United States
• The associate degree is materialising as the prime growth area for online education in the coming decade
• Online learning is prevalent in high-demand job areas such as business, IT, justice and healthcare

Also check out:

• The Internet and Adult Education
• 6 Ways to Get Yourself an eMarketing Education
• To Distance Learn or Not to Distance Learn - That is the Question