The Thomas B. Fordham Institute has published another working paper on creating policy for online learning, this time dealing with the costs associated with digital education. The paper, entitled Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning: The Costs of Online Learning, “attempts to estimate average costs—and a range of costs—for online learning as currently practiced in the U.S.”
The paper correctly points out that the question that must eventually be answered is: can digital learning improve student outcomes while reducing, or at the very least maintaining, current per-pupil cost. Because of the major variations in quality and efficiency of digital learning, the paper compares the average cost of traditional brick-and-mortar schools, a fully virtual model of education, and a blended model. Below is a graph that explains the comparisons on a per-student basis.
As the chart above shows, there is the potential to save $1,100 per student using a blended model and $3,600 using a fully virtual model. That said, the paper does explain that while per-pupil instructional costs may be reduced through the use of online models, this doesn’t always equate to overall savings for the district. The money, or resources, saved through instructional costs may be reallocated to other areas of a district’s budget including professional development, infrastructure improvements, instructional acquisition, and others.
While the paper explains that, to date, online learning has not shown a great impact on student outcomes, it does offer a path forward.
“In order to shift this paradigm, we must begin to examine not only costs but also outcomes. We must shift the focus to productivity—how to improve and maximize student achievement relative to the money invested.
…there is no “silver bullet” solution, there is evidence to suggest that virtual learning (both part-time and full-time) can provide significant opportunity to save money. Future innovation should include careful tracking of quality and outcomes to continue to provide more robust options for those experimenting with lower-cost delivery of instruction.”
To read about previous working papers Fordham has published as part of its working paper series, you can visit our previous post on Edtech’s Ability to Revolutionize Teaching.
Tags: blended learning, edtech, Fordham Institute, future of education, future of learning, online learning
