NAIS Task Force

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Defining what we mean by online learning…

0 Online Learning, virtual learning, eLearning, and Distance Education are all terms used to describe teaching and learning that does not take place in the traditional face-to-face classroom. We use the term “online learning” to refer to all of these as a wide range of methods and implementations ranging from the use of a class website to supplement face-to-face instruction, to a fully online school. We take this term to include blended or hybrid classes that include both face-to-face and online components. For different reasons, different models work in different situations. We adopt NAIS’s definition of the term online course as one “conducted outside of the physical classroom using Internet-based technology for instruction.” A further distinction is then made between instruction that is “fully online,” meaning that at least 80 percent of learning is conducted online at a distance with little or no face-to-face component, and “hybrid” or “blended” learning which combines online learning with face-to-face instruction. We also agree with the Sloan Consortium’s terminology around the spectrum of use of online tools:
Source: Allen, I.E. and Seaman, J., Learning on Demand; Online Education in the United States, 2009. Needham, MA: Sloan-C, 2010.
http://www.sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/learning_on_demand_sr2010