Nov 19, 2008

Susan Patrick, the president and CEO of the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL), was among the speakers at this morning's National Broadband Strategy Symposium hosted by the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) where she spoke about her organization's mission to ensure that K-12 students everywhere have access to a "world-class education."

She said that broadband is dramatically changing education around the world, and that other countries are moving much faster than the United States to implement online learning programs. And she provided examples of how countries like Singapore are leveraging broadband infrastructure to create a new distribution model for learning that is creating what she describes as a "fundamental shift" in how teachers teach and students learn.

The Singapore example was impressive. Apparently, 100 percent of the country's secondary schools are online, and every single teacher receives training in how to teach online. There's even an official E-learning Week where schools close down to allow time for the training.

She also pointed to efforts by the European Union to offer an International Baccalaureate diploma program online, and China's plans to use WiMax technology when its build-out is complete to reach millions of students in rural areas.

So how is broadband impacting K-12 education here in the U.S.?

She said that the "good news" is that 26 U.S. states have virtual schools in place so students can take online courses either from home or on a school campus, and 18 states have full-time online programs. In addition to offering Advancement Placement courses to students who might not have access otherwise (34% of U.S. high schools offer no AP classes), these programs supplement students' learning with specialized courses in subjects like Mandarin and Arabic.

Test scores also indicate that students taking online courses, on average, perform 10-20 points better than their counterparts. And overall enrollment in online learning programs is growing at a rate of 30% annually, with one million students in 2007. However, the growth rate in other developed countries is even faster, and only the wealthiest school districts in the U.S. can afford the costs associated with transitioning to online learning.

According to NACOL's Patrick, the U.S. needs a national broadband strategy that provides robust connectivity because there are "appalling disparities" in students' learning opportunities created by the fact that the educational system operates as a cottage industry with decisions made at the local level.

Tags: broadband, education, Internet Innovation Alliance, national broadband, online education