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The first online degree programs launched in the early 90’s. Since then, online education has only continued to grow in popularity. Although traditionally considered more of an option for higher education, it’s becoming increasingly common in K-12. There are now entirely online institutions, like Florida Virtual School, popping up around the country. Teachers are also adding more digital tools to their classrooms creating blended or hybrid learning environments that are changing they way we think about education.

Kaye Shelton, an online learning consultant and professor of Educational Leadership, has made a career for herself in higher education, but she’s seen an uptick in requests for her expertise by K-12 districts reacting to the growing trend of parents choosing alternative methods of education, including home schooling, or sending their children to charter or virtual schools, which may rely more heavily on digital learning modules.

“A lot of parents are finding they would rather their children go there than participate in a regular school,” says Shelton. “I see more and more people choosing that option.”

What makes these uniquely modeled schools so attractive is the flexibility of an online format and the opportunities it provides for more personalized learning.

“The content is right there. They can repeat it over and over,” says Shelton. “You can build in immediate feedback.”

If a student is struggling with a particular concept, they can repeat the learning module multiple times, allowing the content to sink in. As for feedback, online platforms allow for educators to build in quizzes that, once submitted, are immediately scored. Students know right away whether or not they have grasped the material.

Online education also offers a variety of formats through which content is delivered. Lessons can contain text, video, audio or an interactive quiz. The variety in method helps to reach students of all learning styles, thus delivering education in a way that is personalized according to how a student learns best.

The flexibility of online learning is another attractive feature. Students do not have to go to school at a designated time and switch classes on cue if they take an online class. If a student is not a morning person, no problem. They can sleep in and begin working at 11 a.m. If they’re a night owl, they can feel free to pull an all-nighter. Because there is no set schedule, students choose what subject to work on and when to work on it. There is a greater level of freedom, but also a higher level of responsibility. The student needs to hold himself accountable for completing work on time.

Blended or Hybrid Classrooms

Even more popular than completely online courses are blended or hybrid learning environments. These are classrooms in which there is both a face-to-face component and an online component. For example, students might have online videos or quizzes to help them with their studies, but the actual learning of the concepts takes place in the traditional classroom. Or, a teacher may use an online game or learning module to teach or reinforce particular concepts. The introduction of online tools and blended learning environments is changing the K-12 classroom and the traditional structure of education.

“The classrooms I see where they are powerfully using technology, the entire environment looks different,” says Keith Krueger, CEO of Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). “It much more shifts the role of the teacher to be the facilitator, not necessarily to be the expert on everything.”

The teacher’s job is then to help steer students onto the right path and to guide their learning through exploration. As a result, the physical layout of a blended classroom often looks different than you might imagine. Desks are not likely to be in rows, but in groups or perhaps even a circle where students can easily work together. The teacher isn’t found at the head of the room, but wandering among the desks, listening to the students as they collaborate and stopping to answer questions, review concepts and offer help as needed.

“The opportunities [for blended learning] are enormous, especially for much more self-directed learning or allowing students to move at their own pace through the content,” says Krueger.

With blended learning, many parents fear their child’s teacher will be less involved in the classroom. They wonder how the teacher fits in once technology is introduced. Conversely, teachers may think they don’t have to do as much work if they incorporate online learning tools.

“That’s a big misconception,” says Shelton. “There’s content prep whether you’re using canned curriculum or your own and that takes time and effort just like it would in a real classroom.”

Teachers can’t just go on autopilot when using an online learning module. They need to keep students interested and engaged.

“You’re engaging them. You’re retesting. You’re clarifying. You’re making sure they are all participating and you’re trying to pull them out and get them to lead a conversation,” explains Shelton. “You’re working very hard to really build a positive learning environment.”

Personalized Learning

The biggest draw of online tools is their ability to personalize education. Students working with a particular math program, for example, are able to review concepts and practice with a level of on-on-one interaction a teacher could not possibly provide to every student. Different students struggle with different concepts so an online math program could help students practice whatever concept it is they need help with.

Julie Garcia is a middle school math teacher in the California-based Poway Unified School District. Last year she used a math program called Learning Upgrade with her eighth grade Algebra Readiness class. Learning Upgrade is designed like a game, where there are 60 levels. Students must earn at least a 75 percent on the quiz at the end of every level to move to the next one. At the completion of each level, a student is awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal.

Garcia had the students use the math program from October to May and compared their MAPS (Measure of Academic Progress) state benchmark test results with those from last year’s students who did not use the program. Garcia’s students from the previous year were of similar ability to the students she had this year thus it was reasonable to expect that they might make similar gains. However, Garcia found the students who used the math program had greater gains.

“In MAPS, expected growth is only four points a year. Optimal growth would be seven or more points,” says Garcia. “I had 63 percent and 68 percent make at least expected growth this year and I had over half make optimal growth. Some made a 17 point growth so they exceeded those seven points by quite a bit.”

For the classes that did not use the math program the previous year, only 50 percent of students made expected growth and 39 percent made optimal growth. Garcia credits Learning Upgrade and the blended environment with keeping the students engaged. They were excited to practice math because it was fun. More practice equals better results.

“Look at the video games that they play on their own. They get to a level and they’re excited,” says Garcia. “That’s the power in blended learning.

Teachers who want to begin to begin to incorporate more digital tools in their classrooms can small steps towards online or blended learning. They can record videos or put class presentations online for on-demand viewing. They can also search for supplementary tools such as games, video clips, outside digital texts or websites that reinforce a concept learned in class. Even these small steps can help teachers harness the power of technology to re-engage students and augment their learning.