Online learning has gradually matured and gone mainstream over the past 20 years. Today, more than six million students in U.S. higher education study fully or partly online, about a third of the total. While online learning has often been viewed as a provisional and experimental activity, it now demands to be studied as a pillar of higher education.
Ron Legon, QM Executive Director Emeritus and co-lead of the CHLOE project explains, “The answers emerging from the CHLOE Survey challenge our assumptions about online learning in the mainstream. For example, despite the array of new technologies and approaches in the marketplace, CHLOE found that most institutions (76%) anticipate only supplementary, not transformative, changes in the tools and techniques of online learning in the coming years.”
Richard Garrett, Eduventures Chief Research Officer and co-lead of the project added, “The words ‘online learning’ and ‘innovation’ often go together, but we need to recognize that online is now part of the mainstream. Online learning has changed higher education, but higher education also shaped online learning.” Garrett went on to say, “CHLOE is a new kind of survey about online learning, going beyond counting students to examine the evolving impact of online learning on higher education.”
The second CHLOE survey will launch in the coming weeks.
The co-authors of the report, Ron Legon for Quality Matters and Richard Garrett for Eduventures, are available for comment. Download the full report.
About Eduventures
Eduventures, the research division of NRCCUA, provides data, research and advisory services that are focused exclusively on analyzing the forces that are transforming higher education. Building on 20 years of success in working with education leaders, Eduventures provides forward-looking and actionable research based on proprietary market data and advisory services that support both strategic and operational decision-making. Our recommendations and personalized support enable clients to understand the top traits of leaders in critical disciplines and evaluate the opportunities presented by new technologies. For more information about Eduventures’ research, practice areas, and team, visit us at eduventures.com.
The CHLOE Survey is being led by QM Executive Director Emeritus and Senior Adviser for Knowledge Initiatives Ron Legon and Eduventures Chief Research Officer Richard Garrett. The second CHLOE Survey will be administered in June 2017 with the goal of greater participation and a refinement of the survey questions to obtain more detailed results on key issues. If you would like to be sure your institution is included, email Barbra Burch, Manager of Research and Development, (bburch@qualitymatters.org) with the name, title, and email address of your chief online officer (i.e., the person generally regarded as coordinating the support for online learning).
About Quality Matters
Grounded in research. Driven by best practices. A community that puts learners first. Quality Matters (QM) is the global organization leading quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. It provides a scalable quality assurance system for online and blended learning used within and across organizations. When you see QM Recognition and Certification Marks on courses or programs, it means they have met QM Course Design Standards or QM Program Review Criteria in a rigorous review process.
