Today, more than one million K-12 children in the United States are engaged in some form of online learning. Whether it is called online, virtual, or distance learning, the number of schools implementing supplemental online learning is growing—fast.

How fast? Since 2005-2006, K-12 public school districts reported a 47 percent increase in students taking an online course—and there are projections of annual 22 percent increases, according to a 2009 report by the Sloan Consortium, "K-12 Online Learning: A Survey of U.S. School District Administrators."

In fact, the Heritage Foundation, in a January report, said confidently that online learning is "revolutionizing education." Dan Lips, their senior policy analyst, said that "virtual learning has the potential to improve the quality of instruction, while increasing productivity and lowering costs, ultimately reducing the burden on taxpayers … by allowing funding to follow the students to their learning institutions of choice."

"In the future, students will be able to receive customized instruction from teachers anywhere in the United States or even in the world," explained Lips. "The best teachers will use technology to reach many more students. Virtual and blended-learning programs will enable mass customization in education, allowing students to learn at their own pace in ways that are tailored to their learning styles and interests," he added.

Actually, the future is now.

The fact is that online learning—specifically supplemental instruction—is being implemented more and more every year in private, charter, and hybrid schools throughout the country, simply because it works. Advancements in interactive and real-time multimedia technology, coupled with cutting-edge online "mastery-based" learning methodologies, combine to create curricula that improve student performance.

Knowledge-Based Courses
While some online education providers just scan a textbook, post it to the Web, and stamp it as an online "course," today's knowledge-based virtual learning providers offer core and elective courses with a full arsenal of online text, graphics, multi-media, interactive demonstrations, offline reading materials and activities, plus interactive online discussions. The difference between the two is akin to performing calculations with a slide rule or a computer.

For example, at K12, a Herndon, Virginia-based online learning provider, courses are built by teams of curriculum experts from scratch. Learning experts, teachers, cognitive scientists and course designers work together designing and developing courses for online delivery from the outset. Learning objectives are outlined using state and national standards and employ assessment and testing tools. And, most importantly, courses are designed for student achievement because they are mastery-based. That is, students progress at their own pace as they master core concepts and only then move on to the next level of learning.

Filling an Educational Void
Private K-12 schools are augmenting their curriculum with online courses for a number of reasons. Some schools may not have a teacher to give a core science, math, or language course. Or, schools may want to expand their curriculum by offering AP or such languages as Chinese. Still others want to broaden their elective courses by offering, for example, computer and environmental science courses. Schools also look to online learning for credit recovery, special needs, or students who need to catch up to grade level. The menu of online course offerings is deep and diverse.

Another core reason online education is taking off is its cost effectiveness. With schools having to tighten their belts these days, adding supplemental online courses is an alternative to hiring teachers—or overloading them. Moreover, adding online options help private schools attract students because parents are impressed with the wide array of course offerings.

Results
Citing 2009 data from the U.S. Department of Education, the Heritage report said that "students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction." Moreover, the researchers reported that students who participated in online learning and who spent more time on task benefited the most.

Recently, William J. Bennett, former Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan, and now host of a national daily radio show, "Bill Bennett's Morning in America," interviewed K12 founder and CEO Ron Packard about the past, present and future of online learning. To listen to the interview, please visit http://www.k12.com/educators.