There Has to be an Easier Way!

In many industries, the solution to staff training has already been created, field-tested, implemented and used for over a decade – online learning.

Online learning is used to train new staff and provide professional development in beginning, intermediate and advanced concepts.

Much research has been conducted on the effectiveness of online learning across industries and it has been proven as effective as classroom training. In fact, administrators and staff usually prefer online learning to traditional didactic instruction (Wegner, Holloway, & Garton, 1999, Nettles, K., Dziuban C., Cioffe, D., & Moskal, P., 2000)
 

“Online Training has been found to be as effective as
classroom training and users usually prefer online training to traditional didactic instruction."

Using Online Learning in the Fields of Behavior and Autism

With the significant rise in autism, schools are faced with a higher demand for trained administrators, teachers and paraprofessionals. With that demand, comes a need for a more efficient way to train staff in evidence-based autism and behavioral interventions. A shortage of qualified trainers and growing budget constraints are common problems within schools.

Online training can help alleviate some of the stress and cost of traditional classroom training. The benefits include:

• Significantly reduced employee travel and substitute teacher costs
• Ability to train more people, more frequently
• Shorter training sessions that are easier to coordinate and schedule
• Customized training to meet the needs of individual staff and students

With online training, states, regions, districts and/or schools have the ability to deliver trainings with a consistent message in a way that can quickly be disseminated across locations, with real-time updates that align with current research.
 

Benefits of Online Learning

Online learning is one of the fastest growing trends in educational technology. The advent of the Internet and the widespread adoption of advanced technology, have led to a new emphasis on online education and training, both in the academic and business worlds, by providing unique alternatives for reaching larger audiences than ever before possible (Bartley & Golek 2004). It provides professionals control over the content, learning sequence and pace of instruction, allowing them to tailor their experiences to meet personal learning styles and organizational objectives.
 

Does Online Learning Work?

In 2009, the Department of Education and Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia & Jones completed the Meta- Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies report, identifying thousands of empirical studies with positive outcomes in online learning.
 

Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia & Jones found that, on average, learners who took all or part of their training online performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.
 

The meta-analysis narrowed their focus to 46 studies that compared online learning to face-to- face learning. The number of students in the studies included in the meta-analysis ranged from 16 to 1,857, but most of the studies were modest in scope. The average learner age ranged from 13 to 44.

Nearly all the studies involved formal instruction, with the most common subject matter being medicine or health care. Other content types included computer science, teacher education, social science, mathematics, languages, science and business. Of the 46 studies, 19 involved instructional time frames of less than a month and the remainder involved longer periods.

Online learners typically had opportunities to practice skills or test their knowledge. Opportunities for learners to receive feedback were less common.

The overall finding of the meta-analysis is that classes with online learning (whether taught completely online or blended), on average, produced stronger student learning outcomes than do classes with solely face-to-face instruction.

One published research study from 2009 investigated the use of online learning within the field of autism and Applied Behavior Analysis (Granpeesheh, D., et al.,). It compared classroom instruction to an eLearning tool when training behaviorists. Knowledge of behavior principles and procedures increased substantially for both groups, with the traditional didactic group achieving scores only slightly higher than the eLearning group. These preliminary results suggest that eLearning tools may be a useful strategy for extending training in behavior principles and procedures to settings in which limited or no contact with live professional trainers may be available.
 

Blended Compared to Pure Online Training

Does supplementing face-to-face instruction with online instruction enhance learning? The meta-analysis (Means, et al, 2009) found 23 studies that compared blended conditions of online learning and face-to- face instruction alone.

Overall these studies found that blended learning, on average, had stronger learning outcomes than did face-to- face instruction alone.

Campbell et al. (2008) compared a blended course (in which students accessed instruction online but attended face-to- face discussions) with a purely online course (in which students accessed instruction and participated in discussions online). Tutors were present in both discussion formats. Students were able to select the type of instruction they wanted, blended or online. Mean scores for online discussion students were significantly higher than those for the face-to-face discussion group.

Variables of Effectiveness in Online Learning

Certain variables, including interactive video and media, embedded quizzes, immediate feedback and supports for student’s self monitoring, influenced the effectiveness of online learning.

Scientists Zhang, D., Zhou, L., Briggs, R., & Nunamaker, J.F. (2005) evaluated the effectiveness of using video, no video or interactive video within online learning. Students that were provided with online, interactive video achieved significantly better learning performance and satisfaction than those without.

Some studies also suggest that online pre and post quizzes had a positive effect when immediate feedback and additional practice was given after a question was answered incorrectly (Grant & Courtoreille, 2007).

Chung, Chung and Severance (1999) and Cook et al. (2005) further examined online student interaction. They found that self-monitoring and self-checklists improved students’ ability to demonstrate understanding and performance of the concepts covered in online learning.
 

How Can I Make Online Learning Work for my School?

Schools who are including online professional development within their special
education and autism programs need to carefully plan the transition.

These five steps are recommended -

We Can Help!

Our team has implemented online professional development programs for states, regions, districts and schools’ special education and autism programs. Please feel free to contact us to explore how other organizations are successfully implementing and measuring professional development success in the classroom or obtain suggestions for your unique training needs.

Autism Training Solutions
info@autismtrainingsolutions.com
866.966.9452