ATLANTA — Nine Southern Regional Education Board states are cited as national leaders in online learning in Education Week’s new Technology Counts 2009 report, as e-learning continues to grow rapidly across the SREB region and the nation.
Released today, Technology Counts notes recent research showing that more than a million K-12 public school students took online courses nationwide during the 2007-08 school year, a 47 percent jump from 2005-06. The report also cites research indicating that the quality of online courses can be equal to or better than that of traditional classes. The special report is published annually by Education Week, the leading national publication covering K-12 education.
Technology Counts issues letter grades to states in two main categories: policies related to the use of technology for learning, and policies designed to increase educators’ capacity to use technology. No overall state grades or grades in technology access were given this year because of a shortage of data.
In the use-of-technology category, six of the nine highest-rated states in the nation are SREB states — Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia. Each has implemented all of the policies tracked by the report, earning a perfect score and an A.
For the second year in a row, three SREB states — Georgia, Kentucky and West Virginia — were the only states in the nation that earned A’s for enacting at least five of the six policies monitored in the second category. Most states nationwide received only a C-plus on average for policies that support the capacity for educators to use technology.
Thanks in part to the SREB Educational Technology Cooperative, which brings together education technology leaders from the 16 SREB states to share information and resources, SREB states have led the nation for several years in providing online courses to middle grades and high school students.
"The use of education technology has grown exponentially in the last 10 years," said Bill Thomas, the director of the Cooperative and a nationally known expert on school technology and online learning. He is cited throughout Technology Counts and will participate in a Webinar based on the report on March 31 at 1 p.m. EST. Visit www.edweek.org to register.
"The challenge now is for states to look beyond simple growth and to set policies that ensure the quality of online learning. The future of e-learning and the quality of online teaching that students receive in our region depend on this important work," he said.
Teaming up with SREB states, the Cooperative created the nation’s first standards for quality online teaching and online courses, which became the basis for international standards adopted by the North American Council for Online Learning.
With support from the AT&T Foundation, the Cooperative now is creating guidelines for the professional development of online teachers, which will be published by June.
SREB also recently launched a first-of-its-kind Web site serving K-12 online teachers in the region. The site, www.srebonlineteachers.org, allows online teachers to communicate, share best practices and more. In recent weeks, SREB and state leaders across the region have begun to recognize exceptional online teachers in each state’s virtual school with special awards for their work.
For more information on the Technology Counts report or your state’s progress in education technology, contact SREB Communications. The full report is online at www.edweek.org.
SREB, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, advises state education leaders on ways to improve education. SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial appointees. For more information, visit www.sreb.org.
