Digital learning in a new age

Key points:

Digital learning–in the form of online, hybrid, and blended schools and courses–is growing steadily in U.S. schools. These learning options can transform education because they allow for learning, teaching, and student engagement outside the confines of traditional physical schools.

Students no longer have to show up at a school building every morning, and millions of students and families are demonstrating their preference for more flexible learning options by choosing their district’s online schools, charter schools, and private schools.

Digital learning meets the needs of today’s students, who are seeking flexibility in their scheduling. Many high school students want to pursue sports, arts, and career interests in the form os jobs, internships, and other program. Others simply crave the control an innovative school gives them over the time, place, and pace at which they learn. Digital learning also meets the needs of teachers, who, just like knowledge workers around the world, are interested in employment that allows them to choose their schedules.

Online and hybrid learning is becoming easier to implement as technology grows and improves. Unlike just a few years ago, when teachers were concerned about using multiple technology tools, much-improved integration and interoperability between platforms is making adoption of multiple tools far easier.

While relatively few students and families prefer their education to be 100 percent online, many students are selecting hybrid options that combine online and face-to-face interactions. Much like young knowledge workers who are increasingly blending home offices with corporate headquarters, digital learning is showing up in unexpected places as well. Let’s take a closer look at two examples: career and technical education (CTE) and physical education (PE).

CTE is often perceived as being “hands on” in ways that casual observers might expect would not align well with digital learning–but the truth is exactly the opposite.

Digital learning is broadening the world of CTE for students. Online and hybrid schools provide CTE programs by offering a combination of online career courses and by partnering with businesses, state and regional training centers, and other
organizations to combine online learning with on-the-ground, real-world jobs, internships, and learning opportunities.

Hybrid schools and programs, including those run by mainstream districts, provide academic scheduling flexibility to students who seek to prioritize their time in jobs, internships, or career training. No longer do these students have to fit in their career interests after regular school hours or on weekends–when many companies and high-value jobs are not open or available.

For example, a student interested in a veterinary career can work at a vet’s office during the regular week and school hours, completing some of their online coursework after normal work hours.

Virtual Arkansas, a state-supported course provider supporting districts across Arkansas, has made digital CTE a central element of its offerings.

“CTE is a key part of our value to students and schools across Arkansas. Students, teachers, counselors, and the business community, all appreciate that we are providing flexible options for students to gain real-world expertise and experience via our online and hybrid programs,” said John Ashworth, the programs’ executive director.

Perhaps even more surprising than CTE shifting to digital is the idea that next generation physical education is based on online tools, adept teachers, and student voice and choice.

Today’s students are accustomed to going into a coffee shop and ordering their drink with a dozen customized features. And yet, in traditional PE classes, we expect students to all want to learn the same sport, activity, or exercise, at the same time and pace. That’s how too many traditional gym classes operate–based on the factory model of education in which all students do the same thing at the same time.

There’s a better way, which is being embraced by online schools, hybrid schools, and traditional districts. Online and hybrid PE classes shift exercise, activity, and wellness to match student interests and timing. A student chooses from hundreds of detailed instructional videos in dozens of categories, from aquatics to basketball to yoga, trains using the videos combined with instruction provided by a teacher, and tracks her progress.

This doesn’t sound like a traditional gym class; instead, it mimics the ways that young adults are active in gyms, yoga studios, and sports leagues all around the country. Consider fitness clubs from the local YMCA to the most high-end club–they are all offering a wide variety of classes, on varied schedules to fit busy lifestyles, and at different levels of expertise. No school can match this, of course, by the traditional approach to gym class. But Joe Titus, founder and CEO of Hiveclass, which offers online physical education courses, points out that student agency to
choose from a wide variety of PE options is possible–when schools are ready to make the leap.

Online schools and district programs are already doing so, with fantastic outcomes as students lean into their choices and options. As futurist William Gibson said decades ago, “the future is here, it’s just not evenly distributed.”

Online and hybrid CTE, physical education, and other options prove the point. The next step is to make these options widely available to all the students who are seeking a better alternative.