ROYAL OAK – Michigan Virtual University, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in May, published a report that shows the growth of online learning has been accompanied by mixed results. The statewide pass rate was 55 percent. About one in four Michigan public school students who took at least one online course did not pass any of their online courses. Over 2,700 students took and failed 11 or more virtual courses.
The report, says Joe Freidhoff, Ph.D., Vice President at Michigan Virtual University, also found that students in poverty were more likely to be provided with online courses and had a lower pass rate (48 percent) in their virtual courses than students who were not in poverty (66 percent.)
Part of the poorer performance is due to students struggling in their face-to-face courses are disproportionately proved with online learning opportunities, and these struggling students are all too often placed in virtual options that lack the student supports necessary for improving student learning, Freidhoff says in this interview on M2 TechCast.
But the data also point to significant milestones, he says. Almost 50,000 Michigan K-12 students took and passed all of their online courses. More than a quarter of schools using virtual learning accomplished school-wide virtual pass rates of 90 percent or higher.
You can read the full report at https://mvlri.org/research/publications/michigans-k-12-virtual-learning-effectiveness-report-2016-17/
You can listen to the interview by clicking on https://soundcloud.com/internet-advisor-755109612/m2-techcast-episode-128-joe-freidhoff-phdvp-michigan-virtual-university
