This came through my inbox a day or two ago from the iNACOL group on LinkedIn.
Click on the image or visit http://www.linkedin.com/e/-y9qygg-gwvu58kf-2g/ava/87260094/100728/eml-anet_dig-b_nd-pst_ttle-cn/?hs=false&tok=39oHkK69Cx4l41
Essentially the query was:
Is there a recent (last 3 years) study on the subjects most offered in online courses for high school and junior colleges?
My response was:
I’ve heard the iNACOL leadership indicate in the past that Algebra I and Algebra II were the highest enrolled courses in the United States. I’ve also heard that physical education is high on the list. But I have no idea where these figures come from. Have you checked the publication “Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning” by John Watson and his team to see if there is anything in there?
Anyone else have suggestions?
[This gives me the opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year!]
I don’t have an answer, but do have a caution… both for community colleges and K-12.
Highest enrolled courses vs most frequently offered will be different.
And, of course program size makes a difference. Looking at enrollments as a proportion of total students in a program will provide a different metric than the total number of courses.
And, just to cause trouble, I’d ask if they want to count Algebra I offered as a course, and Algebra I offered as credit recovery as the same course or as different courses?
The other question, is another ball of worms…. looking at enrollments (sign ups at the start of the course) vs course completers (those that stayed with the course and didn’t drop out).
I think a survey of the iNACOL membership would result in some interesting data, even just asking for say the top 5 courses and enrollment numbers. It would provide a starting place.
Getting the data from community colleges nationally would be interesting, and there are community college associations that might have the ability to conduct a survey to get that info.
Be well
ray
Comment by Ray Rose — January 2, 2012 @ 1:03 pm |
And a Happy New Year to you too Ray!
I agree that there is a big difference between high school and community college. I should have clarified or maybe cautioned my response. The Algebra I and Algebra II comment came from the opening that Susan Patrick gave to the Virtual School Symposium back in 2007 or 2008. So it is a bit dated, but made perfect sense at the time given that most states require at least one year of mathematics in order to graduate and many students struggle with mathematics (although that would mean that credit recovery courses would be included in those enrollment numbers).
The physical education I first heard at the Virtual School Symposium as well, although I can’t remember the source (although it was likely in a full session, like Susan’s introduction or one of the keynotes or panels). If I recall correctly, to illustrate the high level of online physical education enrollment, the speaker used Florida as an example. The line went something like, many schools schedule high school physical education during the first period of the day and many high schoolers (particularly boys) don’t like to shower at school and don’t want to spend the rest of the day smelling like sweat, so they elect to take their physical education online.
I’ve never attempted to verify either claim, which is why I responded that I had only heard these things.
Comment by mkbnl — January 2, 2012 @ 4:38 pm |
Figured that I should add, Allison Powell from iNACOL contributed this to the LinkedIn discussion:
As she notes, not exactly enrollment figures (and doesn’t address Ray’s concern between online course and online credit recovery), but the beginnings of an answer.
Comment by mkbnl — January 3, 2012 @ 11:47 am |