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Version 1.3 – Updated November 2024

Distance education

Overview

  • Influence: Distance education
  • Domain: Technology, School, and Out-of-School Strategies
  • Sub-Domain: Distance/blended
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have positive impact
  • Influence Definition: The various uses of technologies in situations where the student is remote from the teacher and often not part of a regular classroom of students. This can be done to provide virtual instruction for the entire class, or specific individuals.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 20
  • Number of studies: 1,178
  • Number of students: 4,070,364
  • Number of effects: 2,085
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.25
  • Robustness index: 5

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author First Author's Country Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
International Journal of Educational Telecommunications Cavanaugh USA The effectiveness of interactive distance education technologies in K-12 learning: A meta-analysis. 2001 Interactive distance learning on achievement 19 0 19 0.13
American Journal of Distance Education Allen, Bourhis, Mabry, Burrell, & Timmerman USA Comparing student satisfaction with distance education to traditional classrooms in higher education: A meta-analysis. 2002 Distance vs. traditional teaching 54 74,275 54 0.09
Educational Technology Research and Development Lou, Bernard, & Abrami USA Media and Pedagogy in Undergraduate Distance Education: A Theory-Based Meta-Analysis of Empirical Literature 2006 Distance education in undergraduates 103 0 218 0.02
Teachers College Record Zhao, Lei, Yan, Lai, & Tan USA What Makes the Difference? A Practical Analysis of Research on the Effectiveness of Distance Education 2005 Distance vs. traditional classes 51 11,477 98 0.10
American Journal of Distance Education Williams USA The effectiveness of distance education in allied health science programs: A meta-analysis of outcomes.  2006 Distance in Allied Health Science programs 25 0 34 0.15
Report Bernard, Abrami, Lou, Wozney, Borokhovski, Wallet, Wade, & Fiset Canada The Effects of Synchronous and Asynchronous Distance Education: A Meta-Analytical Assessment of Simonson's" Equivalency Theory" 2004 Distance education 232 3,831,888 688 0.01
Learning Point Associates/North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL Cavanaugh, Gillan, Kromrey, Hess, & Blomeyer USA The Effects of Distance Education on K-12 Student Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis 2004 Distance in all classes 14 7,561 116 -0.03
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning Shachar & Neumann USA Differences Between Traditional and Distance Education Academic Performances: A Meta-Analytic Approach 2003 Distance vs. traditional teaching 72 15,300 86 0.37
Journal of Communication Allen, Mabry, Mattrey, Bourhis, Titsworth, & Burrell USA Evaluating the Effectiveness of Distance Learning: A Comparison Using Meta-Analysis 2004 Distance vs. traditional classes 25 71,731 39 0.10
American Journal of Distance Education Machtmes & Asher USA A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of telecourses in distance education 2000 Effectiveness of telecourses 19 0 19 -0.01
Review of Educational Research Bernard, Abrami, Borokhovski, & Lou USA A Meta-Analysis of Three Types of Interaction Treatments in Distance Education 2009 Most interactive distance vs. least interactive distance 34 32,000 74 0.39
Teachers College Record Means, Toyama, Murphy, & Baki USA The effectiveness of online and blended learning: A meta-analysis of the empirical literature 2013 Distance education 27 0 27 0.05
Dissertation Roberts USA Best Instructional Practices for Distance Education: A Meta-Analysis 2011 Web based distance learning 59 0 86 0.55
Teachers College Record Zhao, Lei, Yan, & Tun USA What makes the difference? A practical analysis of research on the effectiveness of distance education. 2005 Distance education 98 0 98 0.10
Journal of Computing in Higher Education Bernard, Borokhovski, Schmid, Tamim & Abrami USA A meta-analysis of blended learning and technology use in higher education 2014 Distance education 117 0 117 0.39
JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association Cook, Levinson, Garside, Dupras, Erwin, & Montori Canada Internet-based learning in the health professions: a meta-analysis. 2008 Distance internet learning 63 26,132 63 0.12
Education and Information Technologies Akin Turkey The effectiveness of web-based Mathematics instruction (WBMI) on K-16 students' mathematics learning: a meta-analytic research.  2022 Web based distance learning 63 0 115 1.10
Medical education online Pei & Wu China Does online learning work better than offline learning in undergraduate medical education? A systematic review and meta-analysis 2019 Distance on medical students 14 0 14 0.68
Conference paper Roberts & Strudler USA Measuring Aggregate Improvement in Distance Education Outcomes, 1997-2010: A Meta-Analysis. 2013 Distance education 59 0 86 0.78
Sustainability Alshammary & Alhalafawy Saudi Arabia Digital platforms and the improvement of learning outcomes: Evidence extracted from meta-analysis.  2023 Distance education 30 0 34 0.28
TOTAL/AVERAGE 1,178 4,070,364 2,085 0.27
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