Online Learning: Growth, Benefits, and Supporting Our Students
Online learning and the implementation of digital resources in education is continuing to expand and impact our students annually. In a study conducted by Bay View Analytics, a leader in survey research in K-12 and higher education, it was found that between 2012 and 2019, the number of students taking at least one online course at a college or university grew by 2 million students (from 5.4 to 7.4 million), or about 37% of all students enrolled at a U.S. degree-granting institution in 2019 … and that was before the pandemic impacted our schools, colleges, and universities! As Novella Teacher, Dawn Ruiz wrote in her blog Our Virtual Reality: Perspectives on Online Learning, “Whether students are in the classroom or at home, technology will certainly continue to drive education into the future.”
As online education continues to expand, not only in the United States but worldwide, studies have been conducted to examine the efficacy of online learning. As indicated in The Effectiveness of Online and Blended Learning, the growth of instructional technology resources and collaborative learning tools have contributed to “raising expectations for the effectiveness of online learning.” Per this study, not only have the expectations been raised, but the learning outcomes indicate that students in the online learning environment performed slightly better than students in the face-to-face classroom.
At Novella Prep, our online program model supports and prepares students as they navigate their current learning environment and prepare for their next steps in higher education. Through Novella’s one-on-one learner-centered approach, students have the opportunity to work with our highly experienced and qualified teaching staff as they focus on achieving their unique goals. Our program model is efficient and flexible, meeting the needs of our students where they are. By modeling best practices in online learning, our teachers provide students with the knowledge and experience they need to be successful in the online learning environment.
Novella Prep utilizes video conferencing and collaborative online tools to engage students in the learning process and to provide a customized learning experience with access to a myriad of learning resources. Novella teachers share screens with their students, guiding them through the strategic use of each tool to support students’ performance, organization, and learning. We are able to track student growth and provide feedback to students and parents, ensuring timely task management is at the forefront of a student’s unique educational journey.
Through practice and experiencing our online program, Novella Prep students sharpen their digital expertise in the online learning environment, a 21st century skill that will continue to become all the more commonplace and important. This provides a strong foundation for our students as they move forward towards their academic and personal goals and prepare to move into the world of higher education and beyond.