Distance Education Use in Rural Schools

A national survey of rural school systems in the United States was conducted to determine the extent to which distance education is being utilized by rural schools, the technologies used, the curriculum areas impacted, the perceived needs for distance education, their satisfaction with distance education, and the barriers to distance education use. Data were collected through telephone surveys with 394 school districts selected at random. Most rural school districts were currently using distance education. The subjects most often offered by distance education were math, foreign language, and English. A large majority of the districts indicated satisfaction with distance education courses; almost half stated they were very satisfied. The majority of students who enrolled in distance education courses completed these courses. Two-thirds of the districts indicated a need for additional distance education courses. Only a small portion of school districts indicated they are able to offer all the advanced and enrichment classes that students need without using distance education. The large majority of the districts did not see connectivity as a barrier to distance education use. Common barriers were funding, scheduling, and difficulty implementing distance education courses. The two most common formats for distance education courses in rural schools were two-way videoconferencing courses and online courses. Implications for future research are discussed.

                            Rural schools face unique challenges associated with geographic isolation, racial segregation, and limited school and community resources (Johnson & Strange, 2007). Many rural schools experience difficulties attracting and retaining teachers for a variety of reasons including lower salary levels. Rural school districts can have difficulties offering a comprehensive curriculum that includes upperlevel courses, advanced placement courses, and vocational This research was supported by a research and development center grant from the Institute for Educational Sciences to the National Research Center on Rural Education Support (R305A004056-06). The research reported in this submission was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Correspondence concerning this article should be directed to Wallace Hannum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Education, Peabody Hall CB#3500, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3500 (hannum@unc.edu) courses because of financial and human capital constraints. Aronson and Timms (2004) indicated that faculty in some high schools lack the expertise to teach specialized or advanced courses, especially advanced placement courses. Gruber, Wiley, Broughhman, Strizek, and Burian-Fitzgerald (2002) note that about half of all U.S. high schools do not offer AP courses while those that do often offer only one or two courses. This situation is especially troublesome for rural schools that experience difficulty attracting and retaining qualified and experienced teachers (Hammer, Hughes, McClure, Reeves, & Salgado, 2005; Jimerson, 2006). Besides problems associated with a teacher shortage, rural schools also face circumstances in which it is not practical to offer specialized or advanced courses because there may be an insufficient number of students in a school that are adequately prepared or interested in taking such courses. For some years people including Barker and Hall (1994) have suggested distance education—including the use of Internet and web-based materials, interactive television, computer conferencing, and multimedia modules—as at least a partial solution to some of the problems rural schools face.The impact of teaching and learning with technology, including distance education technology, on student achievement has been investigated in numerous studies. In a review of studies on teaching with technology, Cradler, McNabb, Freeman, and Burchett (2002) indicate that research findings are consistent in finding a positive impact on achievement in content area courses, higher order thinking and problem-solving, and workforce preparation. In a meta-analysis of 42 research studies that used technology for teaching, Waxman, Lin, and Michko (2003) report an overall effect size of 0.41 for affective, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes. In a meta-analysis of the effects of distance education on K-12 students, Cavanaugh, Gillan, Kromrey, Hess, and Blomeyer (2004) reviewed 116 effect sizes and concluded that distance education was as effective as traditional, face-to-face instruction for K-12 students. They reported a non-significant overall mean effect size for all outcomes indicating little difference in the performance between students who participated in online programs and students who learned from traditional, face-to-face instruction. In a meta-analysis of the effects of distance education at all levels, Bernard et al. (2004) report a nonsignificant effect size of distance education on learning achievement. They also found evidence that distance education using asynchronous learning methods was superior to synchronous learning methods overall although they indicated that K-12 students likely needed the structure of synchronous learning. Research to date has shown that students who learn through technology, including distance education, typically have learning outcomes at least as good as students who learn through face-to-face instruction. This evidence supports the assertions by Clark (2003) and Hannum (2007) that technology itself does not produce learning gains; rather it is the pedagogy that matters. While there are calls for higher quality research and for more studies (Abrami & Bernard, 2006; Phipps & Merisotis, 1999), there is evidence to support consideration of distance education as a way to address some of the common problems facing rural educators.