This comprehensive 140-page report gives highly detailed data on the use of distance, blended, self-paced, independent study and flipped-classroom education by 1,065 full time students at 4-year colleges in the United States. The study answers questions such as: how many college students have taken distance learning classes and how open are they to taking them in the future? How many of their total classroom credits are accounted for by distance education? The report also provides data for the number of credits accumulated through blended learning classes, self-paced independent study, and courses using flipped-classroom techniques. Moreover, in open ended questions, students give their opinion of what they think of these technologies and approaches.
Data in the report is presented in the aggregate and broken out for 16 variables such as age, gender, sexual orientation, family of origin income level, academic major or intended major, ACT/SAT scores, college grades, regional origin, public/private school status, institutional Carnegie class, race and ethnicity and other variables.
Just a few of the report’s many findings are that:
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52.49% of students sampled said their institutions allowed them to take distance learning courses to satisfy course credit requirements.
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In terms of student age groups, students over the age of 30 were by far the most likely to have taken a distance learning course at their present institution; 66.27% had done so.
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Students who consider their religion a very important part of their life are more likely than their secular counterparts to have ever taken a blended learning course at their present institution.
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17.28% of those sampled had ever taken an instructor-led independent study course.
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About 8.5% of students who have a full time job have taken one or more self-paced independent study courses that are web or video-based and which do not emphasize a live instructor.
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Students who grew up in the US South were more likely than those who grew up in other regions or abroad to say that they would likely take a distance learning course in the future.
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Students who grew up abroad had accumulated far more flipped classroom credits than had students who grew up in the USA..