ffff

OnlineLearning:BenefitsandBarriers

Whatdoesonlinelearninglooklike?Today’s student is presented with a wide array of online technologies for accessing

educational material and a diverse selection of settings in which to utilize them. Thetechnological tools employed in online learning are constantly evolving, and include bothsynchronousandasynchronouscommunicationoutlets,aswell asonlinewebportals,blogs,webchat,email,videolectures,andmore.

Of these technology‐enhanced settings, blended/hybrid classrooms and distancelearningareincreasinglyused2,3,11.Indistancelearning,studentsreceivetheentiretyoftheirinstructiononline.Inblended/hybridcourses,studentsaccesseducationalcontentinbothatraditional brick and mortar classroom and online settings. In addition to blended/hybridclasses,manytraditionalclassroomssupplementinstructionwithonlinelearningcomponents.

ResearchBrief

Whoarethestudentsparticipatinginonlinelearning? In2001‐2011,46%ofcollegegraduateshadtakenaclassonline.11

4‐15%ofcollegestudentscompletetheirdegreeentirelyonline.3,11

In2011‐2012,morethan4millionK‐12studentswerelearningonline.7

Collegestudentswhoareolder,havefulltimejobs,spouses,ordependentsaremorelikelytoen‐rollindistancelearning.12

Onlinelearningmaybeparticularlybeneficialforruraland/orgifteddeaflearners.4

Whereisonlinelearninghappening?

About90%ofcollegesofferdistance‐learningopportunities.1

Around75%ofK‐12schoolsofferblended‐learningprograms.5

Highschoolsareincreasinglyofferingdistanceeducationopportunities.2,3,5,7

Onlinelearningisalreadyaprerequisiteforgraduationin5states.7

Onlinelearningisincreasinglyusedindeafeducationsettings,particularlyforspecializedprograms(i.e.,teachertrainingandscienceeducation).6,13

“Onlinelearningisincreasinglyusedindeafeducationsettings.”

Onlinelearningisoften

saidto“levelthe

playingfield”fordeaf

students.

Whatdodeafstudentsexperienceinonlinelearning?

Increasedquantityandqualityinteractionswithprofessorsandpeers.9,10

Greateraccesstocoursecontent.9,14

Highercomprehension,learningoutcomes,andgrades.6,8,14

Communicationdifficultiesrelatedtoclassroomaccommodationscanbeavoided.10

Whatarethingstobemindfulofwhendesigningonlinelearningcontent? Interaction,feedback,andmultimodalinstructionareallcrucialtosuccessfullearning.

Accessibilityislostwhenonlinelearningcoursesutilizeaudiocontentwithoutcaptionsortranscripts,servicesreliantonvoicecommunication,and/orexclusivelyEnglishcontentwithoutASLtranslationsoftextandaudiocontent.

Visualdemandsshouldbeminimized.Multitaskingdemandsarehigherondeafstudents,astheymustattendtovideorepresentationofaudiocontentinadditiontoattendingtothesamevisualinformationhearingstudentsarepresentedwith.15

Whilehearingstudentscanattendtomultiplesourcesofauditoryandvisualstimulisimultaneously,deafstudentsmustswitchbetweensourcesconsecutively,whichoftenleadstomissedinformationwhencontentispresentedconcurrently.16

Lagsininternetconnectioncandisruptreceptionofinformation.Allvideorepresentationsoftheaudiostreamshouldberewindableandaccessiblewithouttimelimit.

Over‐video captions are preferable for non‐technical content, while full transcripts arepreferablefortechnicalcontent.17

Whatroledoesinternetchatplayinonlinelearningfordeafstudents? Increasedinteractionleadstoacademicgainsforbothdeafandhearingstudents.8

Deafstudentsreportfeelingthatonlinechat“levelstheplayingfield”forthem.8,9

Evendeafstudentswithlowerliteracyreportpositiveexperienceswithonlinechat.8,9

!

References

1Akanegbu,A.(2012).50strikingstatisticsaboutdistancelearninginhighereducation:Thephysical classroomisbecomingadistantmemoryforsomestudents.EdtechMagazine.Retrievedfrom http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article//2012/ 07/50‐striking‐statistics‐about‐distance‐learning‐higher‐education2Allen,I.E.,&Seaman,J.(2011).Goingthedistance:Onlineeducationintheunitedstates,2011.Babson SurveyResearchGroup.3Aud,S.,Hussar,W.,Kena,G.,Bianco,K.,Frohlich,L.,Kemp,J.,&Tahan,K.(2011).Theconditionofeducation,

2011[NCES2012‐045](NCES2012‐045).Washington,D.C.:U.S.DepartmentofEducation,NationalCenterforEducationStatistics.

4Belcastro,F.P.(2004).Ruralgiftedstudentswhoaredeaforhardofhearing:Howelectronictechnology canhelp.AmericanAnnalsoftheDeaf,149(4),309.313.16Cavender,A.C.,Bigham,J.P.&Ladner,R.E.(2009,October).ClassInFocus:Enablingimprovedvisualattention strategiesfordeafandhardofhearingstudents.InProceedingsofthe11thinternationalACM SIGACCESSconferenceoncomputersandaccessibility(pp.67‐74)5Education&theWorkforceCommittee.(2013).Didyouknow?10fastfactsonschoolchoice.Retrieved fromhttp://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=31824017Kushalnagar,R.S.,Lasecki,W.S.&Bigham,J.P.(2012,October).Areadabilityevaluationofreal‐time crowdcaptionsintheclassroom.InProceedingsofthe11thinternationalACMSIGACCESSconference oncomputersandaccessibility,(pp.67‐74).ACM.6Lang,H.G.,&Steely,D.(2003).Web‐basedscienceinstructionfordeafstudents:Whatresearchsaystothe

teacher.InstructionalScience,31,277‐298.7Lepi,K.(2013).Theteacher’squickguidetoblendedlearning.Edudemic.Retrievedfrom http://www.edudemic.com/blended‐learning‐guide/8Long,G.L.,Marchetti,C.,&Fasse,R.(2011).Theimportanceofinteractionforacademicsuccessinonline

courseswithhearing,deaf,andhard‐of‐hearingstudents.TheInternationalReviewofResearchinOpenandDistanceLearning,12(6),1‐19.

9Long,G.L.,Vignare,K.,Rappold,R.P.,&Mallory,J.(2007).Accesstocommunicationfordeaf,hard‐of‐hearingandESLstudentsinblendedlearningcourses.InternationalReviewofResearchinOpen&DistanceLearning,8(3).

10Luetke,B.(2009).EvaluatingDeafeducationWeb‐basedcoursework.AmericanannalsoftheDeaf, 154(1),62‐70.11Parker,K.,Lernhart,A.,&Moore,K.(2011).Thedigitalrevolution:Mainreport.PewResearchInternet Project.Retrievedfrom:http://www.pewinternet.org/2011/08/28/main‐report‐17/12Radford,A.W.(2012).Learningatadistance:Undergraduateenrollmentindistanceeducationcoursesand

degreeprograms.NationalCenterforEducationStatistics.StatisticsinBrief.NCES,154.15Silke,S.B.,Berman,P.D.,Kline,T.,Rebilas,K.&Bosch,E.(2008).Providingonlinecourseopportunitiesfor

learnerswhoaredeaf,hard‐of‐hearing,orhearing.AmericanAnnalsoftheDeaf,153(3),304‐308.13Smith,C.,&Allman,T.(2010).Meetingthechallengesofdeafeducationteacherpreparation:Innovative

practicesinonlinelearning.JournalofOnlineLearningandTeaching,6,523‐532.14Wang,Q.(2006).Blendingelectronicandclassroomteachingtosupportdeafandhard‐of‐hearingcollege

students.InWorldConferenceonE‐LearninginCorporate,Government,Healthcare,andHigherEducation(Vol.2006,No.1,pp.2471‐2478).

!!

!