Results from a comprehensive study conducted by APLU (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities) show that eLearning is growing rapidly in the universities. Key statistics from the survey:

“During the past decade, online learning has begun to weave into the fabric of higher education and has become the fastest growing segment,” said Peter McPherson, president of Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (A۰P۰L۰U).  “All indications are that this growth will continue”

• Between 21% to 28% of all faculty are currently teaching online courses (staff strength 645,000).
• Around 33% of all faculty have developed an online course (10% currently developing)
• Nearly 64% of faculty said it takes “somewhat more” or “a lot more” effort to teach an online course compared to a face-to-face course. The results for online course development are even more striking, where more than 85% of all faculty with online course development experience said it takes “somewhat more” or “a lot more” effort.
• While technology for online delivery is considered above avg; it is incentives for online content development and delivery which are below avg. considering the extra effort involved in creating and delivering this content, this could be an issue.
• Around 70% of faculty believe that the learning outcomes of online learning are inferior to F2F. But, only 48% of faculty who’ve developed or delivered an online course believe that online eLearning outcomes are inferior

You can read the entire report here

APLU,online learning in higher education