The Inclusion of Online Education Data in the MLDS Inventory: A Review with Recommendations
Author: Croninger, Robert G.
Date: 2015-05-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Electronic Learning,Elementary Secondary Education,Postsecondary Education,Educational Trends,Longitudinal Studies,Data,Nontraditional Education,State Programs

The rapid growth in &quot;digital connectivity&quot; has dramatically altered how we interact with each other as citizens, students and educators. Along with this change has been the creation of new ways to deliver educational content to students at all levels of education, including online courses, programs, and even virtual schools. The increased &quot;connectivity&quot; created by the Internet and computers and accelerated by increasingly capable mobile devices is rapidly changing the educational landscape. The question guiding this report is whether that change warrants the inclusion of online education data in the Maryland Longitudinal Data System (MLDS). We believe that the answer to this question is a resounding, &quot;Yes.&quot; Policymakers and educators at K-12 and postsecondary institutions across the state are implementing new instructional technologies and online learning opportunities for their students. Although change is more substantial in postsecondary institutions, which saw dramatic increases in the number of online courses and enrollments during the last ten years, K-12 education has also witnessed increases in online learning for students during this same time period. The growth of online education software, tools and strategies utilized by both public and private institutions also affords emerging opportunities for vocational training and ongoing education for Maryland citizens. We argue that MLDS is an ideal repository for data about this new and growing format for delivery of education and training. Incorporating these data in the MLDS will provide opportunities for the development of dashboards about online education and increase research to inform policy and programming. Although the collection of these data poses challenges, not the least of which is the absence of uniform definitions or standards for reporting online education data, we at the MLDS Center believe that the inclusion of these data will provide a richer picture of the educational landscape in Maryland, one that can better inform state policy in the years to come. A large and growing majority (84%) of Americans now have access to and use the Internet (World Bank, 2014), with Maryland being a leader in connecting its citizens (third highest state percentage of &quot;highly connected&quot; individuals; File, 2013). However, low income students and families of color are overrepresented among those who still do not have internet access (File, 2011). Still, such connectivity is dramatically changing the way we interact with each other, deliver goods, provide services, and search for information (Fox &amp; Raine, 2014; Smith 2010). One of those services is education. Schools, colleges and universities are investing more and more financial and intellectual resources in digital services and private sector investors are racing to develop and provide new web-based educational options to students and educators (Ahn, 2011; Ahn, Quarles, &amp; Beck, 2014; Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, &amp; Jones, 2009; Molnar, 2013). With increased connectivity, the educational landscape is changing quickly, so the question guiding this report is whether that change warrants the inclusion of online education data in the Maryland Longitudinal Data System (MLDS). We assert the answer is resoundingly, &quot;Yes.&quot; Doing so will provide both portal dashboards about online education and provide opportunities to engage in research to inform policy and programming about online education across Maryland. To that end, we first offer a definition in this report of what &quot;online education&quot; includes. Then we detail overarching national trends and patterns with respect to the emergence and evolution of online educational services at both the K-12 and postsecondary levels, including the use of online education for career training. Then we detail what we know about online educational opportunities provided by Maryland schools, colleges and universities. Finally, in the context of our review of current trends in online education, we make recommendations about how the MLDS Center and the state of Maryland should approach the inclusion of online educational data. Our recommendations are based on our assertion that online education services will continue to grow in the state and nation, fueled by market demands and the desire to provide greater access to educational opportunities to students and citizens throughout the country. Maryland will participate in the growth of digital education and training services nationwide, and the MLDS Center should incorporate indicators of these new digital educational opportunities to better inform policymakers and education providers across the state. Given the widespread interest in online education and the growth in digital learning at the K-12 and postsecondary levels of education, we recommend that the MLDS Center collect student data from online education and training programs in order understand the benefits and possible limitations of these programs. MLDS is an ideal repository for these data. Although multiple organizations collect relevant data about online education, there is little uniformity about how data are collected and reported. Including online education data in MLDS would help establish guidelines that could improve the data's validity and reliability. Moreover, the inclusion of online data in MLDS would provide opportunities to examine who has access and use of online education and to promote research to inform policymakers and citizens about online education in Maryland. Specific recommendations for the MLDSC to include data about online education in the data system include: (1) Convene stakeholder meetings with K-12, postsecondary institutions, and alternative agencies that provide online trainings across the state, to discuss and explore strategies and opportunities for collecting data about online education across the state; (2) Develop guidelines and operationalized definitions of what constitutes online education. Consider other forms of digital learning that policymakers might want to include in MLDS; (3) Explore strategies on how to collect data from out-of-state colleges and universities who provide online education to Maryland residents; (4) Develop a comprehensive list of providers of online education to provide to students, workers, and citizens in the state. Include links to additional information about the providers; (5) Develop and pilot data collection protocols to be used with different providers; (6) Develop a timeline for inclusion of various sources of data about online education in the MLDS; and (7) After initial dashboards and research ideas are developed, seek feedback from the stakeholders.