What Makes the Difference? A Practical Analysis of Research on the Effectiveness of Distance Education

By Yong Zhao, Jing Lei, Bo-Yan Lai, Hueyshan Sophia Tan. Teachers College Record, 2005

624 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This article reports findings of a meta-analytical study of research on distance education. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that affect the effectiveness of distance education. The results show that although the aggregated data of available studies show no significant difference in outcomes between distance education and face-to-face education as previous research reviews suggest, there is remarkable difference across the studies. Further examination of the difference reveals that distance education programs, just like traditional education programs, vary a great deal in their outcomes, and the outcome of distance education is associated with a number of pedagogical and technological factors. This study led to some important data-driven suggestions for and about distance education.

Subfields: Communication, Computer Science Applications, Education

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f189c4cc136999c0c9e5f311074e7c0f50fb5262

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Citations in the corpus

Learning presence: Towards a theory of self-efficacy, self-regulation, and the development of a communities of inquiry in online and blended learning environments (2010, neutral): “In 2005 however, Zhao et al. ’ s investigated the “ heterogeneity ” of empirical results and began to identify the conditions under which distance and online education resulted in better outcomes (Zhao, Lei, Yan, Lai, & Tan, 2005).”
How do online course design features influence student performance? (2016, result): “…have been mixed across studies, with some ﬁ nding positive results for online learning and others ﬁ nding negative results (e.g., see Bernard et al., 2004; Jahng, Krug, & Zhang, 2007; Sitzmann, Kraiger, Stewart, & Wisher, 2006; U.S. Department of Education, 2010; Zhao, Lei, Yan, Lai, & Tan, 2005).”
Emerging Practice and Research in Blended Learning (2012, background): “At least five recent meta-analyses have looked specifically at BL as a moderating variable (Paul, 2001; Zhao et al., 2005; Sitzmann et al., 2006; Bernard et al., 2009; Means et al., 2009).”
The Validation of One Parental Involvement Measurement in Virtual Schooling. (2010, background): “…identified as one of the key factors that influence student academic achievement in online learning (Blomeyer, 2002; Cavanaugh, 2001; Cavanaugh, 2007; Cavanaugh et al., 2005; Hughes et al., 2005; NACOL, 2006; Swan, 2002; Swan, 2003; TallentRunnels et al., 2006; Zhao et al., 2004; Zucker, 2005).”
Effectiveness of using learner‐centered principles on student retention in distance education courses in rural schools (2008, background): “In a meta‐analysis of distance education studies, Zhao, Lei, Yan, Lai, and Tan ( 2005 ) reported an overall conclusion of equal effectiveness when all studies were taken into account but noted that in more recently published studies distance education was found to be more effective than face‐to‐face”
Benefits of training and development for individuals and teams, organizations, and society. (2009, neutral): “Zhao et al. (2005) conducted a meta-analysis comparing face-to-face and distance education courses and found no significant differences between formats.”
Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies (2009, methodology): “The electronic database searches were supplemented with a review of articles cited in recent meta-analyses and narrative syntheses of research on distance learning (Bernard et al. 2004; Cavanaugh et al. 2004; Childs 2001; Sitzmann et al. 2006; Tallent-Runnels et al. 2006; WestEd with Edvance Researc”
Measuring Student Engagement in the Online Course: The Online Student Engagement Scale (OSE). (2015, background): “Certainly, research comparing face-to-face and online courses has demonstrated that online courses can be as effective as traditional face-to-face courses (Maki & Maki, 2007; Robertson, Grant, & Jackson, 2005; Zhao, Lei, Lai, & Tan, 2005).”
THE COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF WEB-BASED AND CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION: (2006, result): “Similar meta-analytic ﬁndings were reported by Zhao et al. (2005), who found “mixed method” or blended distance courses result in better outcomes than distance education or face-to-face instruction alone.”