Size (d)
n: the Number of Studies included in Meta-Analysis; Hedges g: average effect size
p: significance level of the effect size; S error : standard error; EB low – EB up : lower and upper limits of the effect size
The square symbols in the forest graph in Fig. 3 represent the effect sizes, while the horizontal lines show the intervals in 95% confidence of the effect sizes, and the diamond symbol shows the overall effect size. When the forest graph is analyzed, it is seen that the lower and upper limits of the combined effect sizes are generally close to each other, and the study loads are similar. This similarity in terms of study loads indicates the similarity of the contribution of the combined studies to the overall effect size.
Figure 3 clearly represents that the study of Liu and others (Liu et al., 2018 ) has the lowest, and the study of Ercan and Bilen ( 2014 ) has the highest effect sizes. The forest graph shows that all the combined studies and the overall effect are positive. Furthermore, it is simply understood from the forest graph in Fig. 3 and the effect size statistics in Table Table3 3 that the results of the meta-analysis study conducted with 27 studies and analyzing the effect of online education on academic achievement illustrate that this relationship is on average level (= 0.409).
After the analysis of the effect size in the study, whether the studies included in the analysis are distributed heterogeneously or not has also been analyzed. The heterogeneity of the combined studies was determined through the Q and I 2 tests. As a result of the heterogeneity test, Q statistical value was calculated as 29.576. With 26 degrees of freedom at 95% significance level in the chi-square table, the critical value is accepted as 38.885. The Q statistical value (29.576) counted in this study is lower than the critical value of 38.885. The I 2 value, which is the complementary of the Q statistics, is 12.100%. This value indicates that the accurate heterogeneity or the total variability that can be attributed to variability between the studies is 12%. Besides, p value is higher than (0.285) p = 0.05. All these values [Q (26) = 29.579, p = 0.285; I2 = 12.100] indicate that there is a homogeneous distribution between the effect sizes, and fixed effects model should be used to interpret these effect sizes. However, some researchers argue that even if the heterogeneity is low, it should be evaluated based on the random effects model (Borenstein et al., 2007 ). Therefore, this study gives information about both models. The heterogeneity of the combined studies has been attempted to be explained with the characteristics of the studies included in the analysis. In this context, the final purpose of the study is to determine the effect of the country, academic level, and year variables on the findings. Accordingly, the statistics regarding the comparison of the stated relations according to the countries where the studies were conducted are given in Table Table4 4 .
The dispersion of the studies according to the countries and the heterogeneity test results
Country | Confidence interval (%95) | Heterogeneity test | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | Effect size (d) | Lower limit | Upper limit | Q | sd | |||
Academic Success | Turkey | 4 | 0.575 | 0.304 | 0.846 | 5.306 | 3 | 0.151 |
Taiwan | 15 | 0.370 | 0.236 | 0.503 | ||||
USA | 4 | 0.218 | -0.0092 | 0.528 | ||||
Others | 4 | 0.596 | 0.345 | 0.847 |
As seen in Table Table4, 4 , the effect of online education on academic achievement does not differ significantly according to the countries where the studies were conducted in. Q test results indicate the heterogeneity of the relationships between the variables in terms of countries where the studies were conducted in. According to the table, the effect of online education on academic achievement was reported as the highest in other countries, and the lowest in the US. The statistics regarding the comparison of the stated relations according to the class levels are given in Table Table5 5 .
The dispersion of the studies according to the class level and the heterogeneity test results
Level | Confidence interval (%95) | Heterogeneity test | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | Effect size (d) | Lower limit | Upper limit | Q | Sd | |||
Academic Success | 4. Class | 2 | 0.588 | 0.211 | 0.965 | 2.427 | 4 | 0.658 |
5. Class | 6 | 0.395 | 0.203 | 0.587 | ||||
6. Class | 9 | 0.472 | 0.272 | 0.671 | ||||
7. Class | 5 | 0.358 | 0.055 | 0.660 | ||||
8. Class | 5 | 0.266 | -0.007 | 0.539 |
As seen in Table Table5, 5 , the effect of online education on academic achievement does not differ according to the class level. However, the effect of online education on academic achievement is the highest in the 4 th class. The statistics regarding the comparison of the stated relations according to the class levels are given in Table Table6 6 .
The dispersion of the studies according to the school subjects and the heterogeneity test results
Subjects | Confidence interval (%95) | Heterogeneity test | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | Effect size (d) | Lower limit | Upper limit | Q | Sd | |||
Academic Success | Art | 2 | 0.109 | -0.329 | 0.547 | 10.996 | 7 | 0.139 |
Biology | 1 | 0.078 | -0.234 | 0.391 | ||||
ICT | 3 | 0.659 | 0.406 | 0.913 | ||||
English | 5 | 0.365 | 0.075 | 0.656 | ||||
Math | 4 | 0.386 | 0.077 | 0.695 | ||||
Nature | 3 | 0.405 | 0.159 | 0.651 | ||||
Science | 6 | 0.534 | 0.294 | 0.774 | ||||
Social Sciences | 3 | 0.409 | 0.063 | 0.756 |
As seen in Table Table6, 6 , the effect of online education on academic achievement does not differ according to the school subjects included in the studies. However, the effect of online education on academic achievement is the highest in ICT subject.
The obtained effect size in the study was formed as a result of the findings attained from primary studies conducted in 7 different countries. In addition, these studies are the ones on different approaches to online education (online learning environments, social networks, blended learning, etc.). In this respect, the results may raise some questions about the validity and generalizability of the results of the study. However, the moderator analyzes, whether for the country variable or for the approaches covered by online education, did not create significant differences in terms of the effect sizes. If significant differences were to occur in terms of effect sizes, we could say that the comparisons we will make by comparing countries under the umbrella of online education would raise doubts in terms of generalizability. Moreover, no study has been found in the literature that is not based on a special approach or does not contain a specific technique conducted under the name of online education alone. For instance, one of the commonly used definitions is blended education which is defined as an educational model in which online education is combined with traditional education method (Colis & Moonen, 2001 ). Similarly, Rasmussen ( 2003 ) defines blended learning as “a distance education method that combines technology (high technology such as television, internet, or low technology such as voice e-mail, conferences) with traditional education and training.” Further, Kerres and Witt (2003) define blended learning as “combining face-to-face learning with technology-assisted learning.” As it is clearly observed, online education, which has a wider scope, includes many approaches.
As seen in Table Table7, 7 , the effect of online education on academic achievement does not differ according to online education approaches included in the studies. However, the effect of online education on academic achievement is the highest in Web Based Problem Solving Approach.
The dispersion of the studies according to the online education approaches and the heterogeneity test results
Subjects | Confidence interval (%95) | Heterogeneity test | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | Effect size (d) | Lower limit | Upper limit | Q | Sd | |||
Online Education Approaches | Computer Assisted Learning | 2 | 0.433 | 0.054 | 0.812 | 10.245 | 7 | 0.175 |
Online Learning Environments | 11 | 0.416 | 0.263 | 0.569 | ||||
Digital Story Telling | 3 | 0.332 | 0.049 | 0.615 | ||||
Blended Learning | 2 | 0.586 | 0.208 | 0.964 | ||||
Mobile Learning | 3 | 0.463 | 0.216 | 0.711 | ||||
Learning by Social Networks | 2 | 0.409 | 0.049 | 0.768 | ||||
Web Based Problem Solving | 2 | 0.842 | 0.417 | 1.267 | ||||
Web Based Learning | 2 | 0.096 | -0.176 | 0.368 |
Considering the developments during the pandemics, it is thought that the diversity in online education applications as an interdisciplinary pragmatist field will increase, and the learning content and processes will be enriched with the integration of new technologies into online education processes. Another prediction is that more flexible and accessible learning opportunities will be created in online education processes, and in this way, lifelong learning processes will be strengthened. As a result, it is predicted that in the near future, online education and even digital learning with a newer name will turn into the main ground of education instead of being an alternative or having a support function in face-to-face learning. The lessons learned from the early period online learning experience, which was passed with rapid adaptation due to the Covid19 epidemic, will serve to develop this method all over the world, and in the near future, online learning will become the main learning structure through increasing its functionality with the contribution of new technologies and systems. If we look at it from this point of view, there is a necessity to strengthen online education.
In this study, the effect of online learning on academic achievement is at a moderate level. To increase this effect, the implementation of online learning requires support from teachers to prepare learning materials, to design learning appropriately, and to utilize various digital-based media such as websites, software technology and various other tools to support the effectiveness of online learning (Rolisca & Achadiyah, 2014 ). According to research conducted by Rahayu et al. ( 2017 ), it has been proven that the use of various types of software increases the effectiveness and quality of online learning. Implementation of online learning can affect students' ability to adapt to technological developments in that it makes students use various learning resources on the internet to access various types of information, and enables them to get used to performing inquiry learning and active learning (Hart et al., 2019 ; Prestiadi et al., 2019 ). In addition, there may be many reasons for the low level of effect in this study. The moderator variables examined in this study could be a guide in increasing the level of practical effect. However, the effect size did not differ significantly for all moderator variables. Different moderator analyzes can be evaluated in order to increase the level of impact of online education on academic success. If confounding variables that significantly change the effect level are detected, it can be spoken more precisely in order to increase this level. In addition to the technical and financial problems, the level of impact will increase if a few other difficulties are eliminated such as students, lack of interaction with the instructor, response time, and lack of traditional classroom socialization.
In addition, COVID-19 pandemic related social distancing has posed extreme difficulties for all stakeholders to get online as they have to work in time constraints and resource constraints. Adopting the online learning environment is not just a technical issue, it is a pedagogical and instructive challenge as well. Therefore, extensive preparation of teaching materials, curriculum, and assessment is vital in online education. Technology is the delivery tool and requires close cross-collaboration between teaching, content and technology teams (CoSN, 2020 ).
Online education applications have been used for many years. However, it has come to the fore more during the pandemic process. This result of necessity has brought with it the discussion of using online education instead of traditional education methods in the future. However, with this research, it has been revealed that online education applications are moderately effective. The use of online education instead of face-to-face education applications can only be possible with an increase in the level of success. This may have been possible with the experience and knowledge gained during the pandemic process. Therefore, the meta-analysis of experimental studies conducted in the coming years will guide us. In this context, experimental studies using online education applications should be analyzed well. It would be useful to identify variables that can change the level of impacts with different moderators. Moderator analyzes are valuable in meta-analysis studies (for example, the role of moderators in Karl Pearson's typhoid vaccine studies). In this context, each analysis study sheds light on future studies. In meta-analyses to be made about online education, it would be beneficial to go beyond the moderators determined in this study. Thus, the contribution of similar studies to the field will increase more.
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of online education on academic achievement. In line with this purpose, the studies that analyze the effect of online education approaches on academic achievement have been included in the meta-analysis. The total sample size of the studies included in the meta-analysis is 1772. While the studies included in the meta-analysis were conducted in the US, Taiwan, Turkey, China, Philippines, Ireland, and Georgia, the studies carried out in Europe could not be reached. The reason may be attributed to that there may be more use of quantitative research methods from a positivist perspective in the countries with an American academic tradition. As a result of the study, it was found out that the effect size of online education on academic achievement (g = 0.409) was moderate. In the studies included in the present research, we found that online education approaches were more effective than traditional ones. However, contrary to the present study, the analysis of comparisons between online and traditional education in some studies shows that face-to-face traditional learning is still considered effective compared to online learning (Ahmad et al., 2016 ; Hamdani & Priatna, 2020 ; Wei & Chou, 2020 ). Online education has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of online learning compared to face-to-face learning in the classroom is the flexibility of learning time in online learning, the learning time does not include a single program, and it can be shaped according to circumstances (Lai et al., 2019 ). The next advantage is the ease of collecting assignments for students, as these can be done without having to talk to the teacher. Despite this, online education has several weaknesses, such as students having difficulty in understanding the material, teachers' inability to control students, and students’ still having difficulty interacting with teachers in case of internet network cuts (Swan, 2007 ). According to Astuti et al ( 2019 ), face-to-face education method is still considered better by students than e-learning because it is easier to understand the material and easier to interact with teachers. The results of the study illustrated that the effect size (g = 0.409) of online education on academic achievement is of medium level. Therefore, the results of the moderator analysis showed that the effect of online education on academic achievement does not differ in terms of country, lecture, class level, and online education approaches variables. After analyzing the literature, several meta-analyses on online education were published (Bernard et al., 2004 ; Machtmes & Asher, 2000 ; Zhao et al., 2005 ). Typically, these meta-analyzes also include the studies of older generation technologies such as audio, video, or satellite transmission. One of the most comprehensive studies on online education was conducted by Bernard et al. ( 2004 ). In this study, 699 independent effect sizes of 232 studies published from 1985 to 2001 were analyzed, and face-to-face education was compared to online education, with respect to success criteria and attitudes of various learners from young children to adults. In this meta-analysis, an overall effect size close to zero was found for the students' achievement (g + = 0.01).
In another meta-analysis study carried out by Zhao et al. ( 2005 ), 98 effect sizes were examined, including 51 studies on online education conducted between 1996 and 2002. According to the study of Bernard et al. ( 2004 ), this meta-analysis focuses on the activities done in online education lectures. As a result of the research, an overall effect size close to zero was found for online education utilizing more than one generation technology for students at different levels. However, the salient point of the meta-analysis study of Zhao et al. is that it takes the average of different types of results used in a study to calculate an overall effect size. This practice is problematic because the factors that develop one type of learner outcome (e.g. learner rehabilitation), particularly course characteristics and practices, may be quite different from those that develop another type of outcome (e.g. learner's achievement), and it may even cause damage to the latter outcome. While mixing the studies with different types of results, this implementation may obscure the relationship between practices and learning.
Some meta-analytical studies have focused on the effectiveness of the new generation distance learning courses accessed through the internet for specific student populations. For instance, Sitzmann and others (Sitzmann et al., 2006 ) reviewed 96 studies published from 1996 to 2005, comparing web-based education of job-related knowledge or skills with face-to-face one. The researchers found that web-based education in general was slightly more effective than face-to-face education, but it is insufficient in terms of applicability ("knowing how to apply"). In addition, Sitzmann et al. ( 2006 ) revealed that Internet-based education has a positive effect on theoretical knowledge in quasi-experimental studies; however, it positively affects face-to-face education in experimental studies performed by random assignment. This moderator analysis emphasizes the need to pay attention to the factors of designs of the studies included in the meta-analysis. The designs of the studies included in this meta-analysis study were ignored. This can be presented as a suggestion to the new studies that will be conducted.
Another meta-analysis study was conducted by Cavanaugh et al. ( 2004 ), in which they focused on online education. In this study on internet-based distance education programs for students under 12 years of age, the researchers combined 116 results from 14 studies published between 1999 and 2004 to calculate an overall effect that was not statistically different from zero. The moderator analysis carried out in this study showed that there was no significant factor affecting the students' success. This meta-analysis used multiple results of the same study, ignoring the fact that different results of the same student would not be independent from each other.
In conclusion, some meta-analytical studies analyzed the consequences of online education for a wide range of students (Bernard et al., 2004 ; Zhao et al., 2005 ), and the effect sizes were generally low in these studies. Furthermore, none of the large-scale meta-analyzes considered the moderators, database quality standards or class levels in the selection of the studies, while some of them just referred to the country and lecture moderators. Advances in internet-based learning tools, the pandemic process, and increasing popularity in different learning contexts have required a precise meta-analysis of students' learning outcomes through online learning. Previous meta-analysis studies were typically based on the studies, involving narrow range of confounding variables. In the present study, common but significant moderators such as class level and lectures during the pandemic process were discussed. For instance, the problems have been experienced especially in terms of eligibility of class levels in online education platforms during the pandemic process. It was found that there is a need to study and make suggestions on whether online education can meet the needs of teachers and students.
Besides, the main forms of online education in the past were to watch the open lectures of famous universities and educational videos of institutions. In addition, online education is mainly a classroom-based teaching implemented by teachers in their own schools during the pandemic period, which is an extension of the original school education. This meta-analysis study will stand as a source to compare the effect size of the online education forms of the past decade with what is done today, and what will be done in the future.
Lastly, the heterogeneity test results of the meta-analysis study display that the effect size does not differ in terms of class level, country, online education approaches, and lecture moderators.
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| 30 June 2020
In fact, the pandemic has demonstrated what a practical, sustainable model online learning is. It keeps education accessible during a public health crisis, natural disaster, or other circumstance where students and faculty can’t travel. It can serve students across a wider geographic range, bringing in voices from across the country—and beyond. The online learning environment also promotes a better work-life balance. In this post, we outline the advantages of online learning and how you can leverage them to foster your personal and professional development.
The format of online courses can help you thrive both personally and academically, helping you meet your goals.
With online classes, you don’t need to move to a different city or commute long distances in order to attend the program of your choice. You can stay where you are and keep your current job while you work toward enhancing your career with an online college or graduate degree (However, some programs require fieldwork experience, which may necessitate relocation.)
On the other hand, if you want to become a digital nomad—someone who embraces a location-independent, technology-enabled lifestyle—online education may allow you to do that too. You can watch lectures and complete your coursework wherever you are—whether that’s at home, in a café, or on an exotic beach.
Whether you’re a full-time or part-time online student, the online learning experience allows for a much more flexible schedule. Some elements may be synchronous: You may need to attend live lectures, demonstrations, or discussion sessions. But many elements will be asynchronous, meaning that you can complete them at your own pace, learning at the time of day and in the place that works best for you.
When you’re more in control of your schedule, time management goes more smoothly. It’s easier to maintain an active social and family life while earning your college degree or graduate degree. It is possible to have it all: education, professional development, and a vibrant personal life.
Another benefit of online learning and a better school-life balance is that you can develop greater discipline about healthy habits. Not everyone enjoys squeezing in a workout or yoga session at the crack of dawn or right before bed. So if you’re learning from home, you can take a midday jog or online Pilates class. You can even take a power nap, which research has shown can benefit memory and learning .
Studying from home can also give you more time to focus on self-care. Whether through self-reflection , meditation, or yoga, practicing self-care can help boost your confidence and emotional intelligence.
If you’re taking in-person classes but don’t live near campus, commuting can take up a significant amount of your time. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the average daily commute time is 54.2 minutes. If you’re like most people, you’d probably rather avoid traffic or crowded public transportation. And saving that 54 minutes per day (or more) will free up time you can spend working, exercising, having fun, or connecting with loved ones. In fact, spending time away from work has been shown to ultimately boost productivity and creativity .
Many graduate students can’t afford to take time off from work. Or they want to keep working on career advancement while staying in their current position, improving their credentials and applying their learning on the job. So if you want to continue working at your current job while earning your degree, online education is a great way to go. You don’t have to choose between school and work—you can do both.
It’s an advantage to be able to create your own workspace. You can set up your desk at just the right height and find a supportive office chair—or you can work from your couch. Not only can your setup be more physically comfortable, but studies show that 42% of workers believe they’re more productive working at home.
Since different people are productive at different times of day, online learning allows you to work at the time when your brain is most engaged. Also, some people have trouble concentrating and participating in crowded classrooms. Online learning can make it easier for students to focus and for more introverted students to chime in with questions or ideas, which can help boost their confidence and positivity .
Staying organized is key to being a successful student. Find a method that works well for you, such as exploring these time management techniques , using planners , or trying out new virtual tools for productivity .
Immersing yourself in the technology that powers online learning will enhance your technical literacy.
Online learning creates opportunities to interact, participate, and communicate with your peers and instructors in different ways.
In order to stick to a schedule and keep up with your coursework, you must learn self-motivation and self-discipline—qualities that will serve you well in your personal and professional life.
12. reduce your carbon footprint .
Not only do you save money on gas, which averages out to $1,300 per person annually in the United States—you can save paper by lessening your reliance on printed materials, ultimately reducing your carbon footprint.
Learning at your own pace, participating in ways that feel more comfortable, and not having an arduous commute can help you limit stress.
Spending more time at home makes cooking easier, which is ideal for healthy eating and saving money.
Connecting with classmates from all around the world can help you share different cultural perspectives on your field, which makes you a more broad-minded practitioner.
Meeting classmates online can give you opportunities to network across a wider geographic region, which can help you advance your career. You might even find a mentor who can help support and guide you to apply your learning on the job.
Forbes Business Council. “3 Benefits of Remote Learning for Every Generation.” Forbes, 14 Oct. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/10/14/3-benefits-of-remote-learning-for-every-generation/?sh=3d7184e0528e . Accessed: March 20, 2024.
Cavanaugh, Joseph K. and Stephen J. Jacquemin. “A Large Sample Comparison of Grade Based Student Learning Outcomes in Online vs. Face-to-Face Courses.” Online Learning 19, no. 2 (February 2015). http://dx.doi.org/10.24059/olj.v19i2.454. Accessed: January 26, 2022
Shaw, Gabby. “Here’s How Much the Average Person Spends on Gas in Every State.” Business Insider. February 15, 2019. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-the-average-person-spends-on-gas-in-every-state-2019-2. Accessed: January 26, 2022
ManpowerGroup. “Closing the Skills Gap: Know What Workers Want.” 2019. https://workforce-resources.manpowergroup.com/closing-the-skills-gap-know-what-workers-want/closing-the-skills-gap-know-what-workers-want. Accessed: January 26, 2022
Levitz, Ruffalo Noel. “2018 National Student Satisfaction and Priorities Report.” 2018. http://learn.ruffalonl.com/rs/395-EOG-977/images/2018_National_Student_Satisfaction_Report_EM-031.pdf. Accessed: January 26, 2022
Roy, Robin, Stephen Potter, Karen Yarrow, and Mark Smith. “Towards Sustainable Higher Education: Environmental impacts of campus-based and distance higher education systems.” Design Innovation Group. March 2005. http://www3.open.ac.uk/events/3/2005331_47403_o1.pdf. Accessed: January 26, 2022
West, Robin L., Natalie C. Ebner, and Erin C. Hastings. “Linking Goals and Aging.” In New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance, edited by Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham, 439–459. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2013. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Natalie-Ebner/publication/287491758_Linking_goals_and_aging_Experimental_and_life-span_approaches/links/56773c0008ae502c99d2f10a/Linking-goals-and-aging-Experimental-and-life-span-approaches.pdf. Accessed: January 26, 2022
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In its infancy, online learning was viewed as a more accessible alternative for students unable to commit to the traditional higher education path. But in recent years online education has been gaining more acceptance. The most recent U.S. Department of Education data from fall 2014 indicate that 5.8 million students took at least one online course, with 2.85 million of them studying exclusively online. After thousands of online launches and millions of students, it is important to assess the advancement made in online learning as we look to further enhance online learning for future students.
Thirty years ago, we committed ourselves to a long-term program of research into higher education and how to improve it. Together, we have conducted several studies on student learning at colleges and universities.
Several factors emerged as determinants of students’ academic performance and related outcomes, such as retention, graduation, satisfaction and commitment toward their college or university. The four major predictors of student learning outcomes were:
In addition to our interest in advancing policy-based knowledge in higher education, we have held leadership positions at several colleges and universities and have been involved in pioneering distance and online learning programs. In 1996, we developed a vision for a new online university in which all functions (academic, support, services and administrative) were directly linked to the development of a comprehensive online learning environment. We named it the Robust Learning Model , and all components of the model were designed to:
The pedagogy included a completely interactive threaded discussion that allowed students to interact and engage with faculty members as well as each other. For each course, we introduced problem-based learning through case studies and project-based learning through a signature assignment. Self-reflection was included as part of the course as well as through a required essay at the end of the course. And when it came to assessment, the RLM was, to our knowledge, the first attempt to align institutional learning outcomes, program learning outcomes and course learning outcomes.
In 1998, we founded Touro University International, an independent branch campus of Touro College New York, using the RLM approach to online learning. It became a separately accredited institution and an academic and financial success. (Sold in 2007, it was later renamed Trident University International.)
Then, in 2012, we rejoined Touro in a new role of turnaround management for a division that it opened in 2008 named Touro University Worldwide. In the past four years, we have implemented a more advanced version of the RLM, based on our past experience with it and cloud and mobile technology, as well as on new developments in our conceptual map for an online university.
Throughout our two decades of experience, we have continued to improve the comprehensive learner-focused model using continuous assessment, experimentation and tests of new ideas and innovations. What have we learned about the factors in the online learning environment that directly or indirectly affect students’ learning performance?
Lessons Learned
Of the various lessons that we have discussed in this piece, some are related to policy issues currently on the agenda of higher education and its future directions, such as MOOCs, competency-based education, the unbundling of the learning process and the like. Our lessons are based on the distinct learning model and web-based learning environment that we envisioned, developed and implemented -- and are important additions to the public discourse. That said, they are not intended to be the ultimate conclusion applied to all online learning environments, nor are they intended to end discussion of these important issues. As educators, it is our responsibility to continue to examine and improve how our students learn through online education.
The New York institution’s unusual take on artificial intelligence could serve as a blueprint for others grappling wi
More from views.
The challenge is to promote help-seeking behaviors without fostering dependency, Erin Andrews writes.
A recent survey of AAPI adults drives that point home, Jim Jump writes.
The time to resist is now, Scott Latham writes.
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Why low completion rates may not matter
Out of all the students who enroll in a MOOC, only about 5 percent complete the course and receive a certificate of accomplishment. This statistic is often cited as evidence that MOOCs are fatally flawed and offer little educational value to most students. Yet more than 80 percent of students who fill out a post-course survey say they met their primary objective. How do we reconcile these two facts?
We’re used to focusing on completion rates in higher education, but they’re not the only—or even the most meaningful—indicator of engagement in open online courses. With no cost to enroll, no penalty for dropping out, and little reward for actually earning a certificate, MOOCs are fundamentally different from traditional classes— and students use them in fundamentally different ways.
Data from more than 1.8 million students enrolled in 36 MOOCs offered by the University of Pennsylvania show that students treat MOOCs like a buffet, sampling the material according to their interests and goals. Some are curious about the subject matter and just watch one or two video lectures; others use the discussion forums to connect with their intellectual peers around the world. Of all enrolled students, nearly 60 percent watch at least one video, complete at least one assignment, or post at least once in a forum.
The data show a pattern we call the “rule of thirds”: approximately one-third of students who sign up for a course watch the first lecture. One-third of those students watch the Week Four lecture, and of those, another third watch the Week Eight lecture. Finally, one-third of the students who watch the Week Eight lecture go on to complete enough of the assignments, quizzes, and exams to pass the course and receive a certificate.
But focusing on the tiny fraction of students who complete a MOOC is misguided. The more important number is the 60 percent engagement rate. Students may not finish a MOOC with a certificate of accomplishment, but the courses nonetheless meet the educational goals of millions.
Interested in pursuing an online educational program? Find out about the specific benefits that come with pursuing an online education.
Whether you want to learn a language, strengthen a specific technical skill, or earn a full academic degree, there have never been quite so many options to learn online. In fact, more students have been taking advantage of online education in recent years. For example, forty-four percent of undergraduate students and 52 percent of graduate students in the United States were enrolled exclusively in online courses in 2020 [ 1 ].
Online learning is a popular alternative to in-person learning because it can remove major barriers to education, thereby making it more equitable and accessible. In this article, we'll discuss the major benefits of learning online, so you can determine whether it's the best option for you.
Online learning is expanding the reach of education and empowering more people than ever before to work toward their personal goals. Let’s go over some of the major benefits of online learning.
With online learning, the classroom comes to you. No matter what type of credential you’re interested in achieving—degree, professional certificate, qualification—you can access some of the most renowned educational institutions or industry leaders online. What’s more: you’re not limited by borders. You can find programs across the country or even across the globe, without having to factor in relocation costs to study elsewhere.
Many colleges and universities also require students to pay parking fees to access campus, which can be costly. But you won’t have to worry about that additional cost, or the cost of commuting, with an online program.
Whether you’re learning synchronously or asynchronously online, you don’t have to worry about the hurdles of getting to class. All you have to do is turn on your computer. That may be a more comfortable option, especially if it means you don’t have to carry books, a laptop, or other necessities around. Instead, you’ll have what you need right in front of you.
Tip: If you’re learning from home, create a dedicated learning space—whether that’s the corner of a room or the corner of a table—so that it’s easier to shift into learning mode when it comes time to sit down and study
Read more: 11 Good Study Habits to Develop
A lot of students work part-time or full-time while attending college or completing other programs designed to enhance their education or skill set. But the rigid scheduling of many in-person programs can make it hard to balance your professional obligations with your educational ones.
With online learning, courses are often designed to be more flexible so that you can work them into your work schedule. That way, you don’t have to put your professional life on hold while you pursue your education.
You can change your entire career trajectory from your couch. Thanks to the range of courses, certificate programs, tutorials, and more that have been designed to teach you timely, career-relevant skills, you don’t have to go far to make a big change. Given that kind of focus, you also don’t have to spend time learning something you don’t need.
Beyond a career change, you can strengthen your existing skill set by taking similar offerings designed to teach you a specific workplace skill or technical skill that will help you advance. And you’re not limited to the course catalog of any one particular school—the options for online learning are nearly endless.
Many prestigious colleges and universities now offer online degree options. An online degree from a major institution typically has the same value as one you earned in person and may even expose you to more rigorous coursework or skills development. On Coursera, you can find degrees from the University of London, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Penn State, and HEC Paris.
In addition to universities, many major companies now offer programs designed to help you learn a new aspect of a career—or bolster your skill set. Google , IBM , Meta , and Salesforce all offer Professional Certificates on Coursera. These focused programs can be an excellent way to expand your industry knowledge or get started in a new field.
Online learning structures vary, but generally, they’re designed to be more flexible than in-person classes, which means you can access your program on your own time and, more often than not, work at your own pace. Studying takes time, so when you can fit it into your schedule, rather than adjust your schedule around your learning, it may create the flexibility you need to establish an education plan that works for you.
Beyond tuition and fees, there are a lot of costs associated with attending college or university—or a workshop, course, or certificate program—in person. With online learning, you tend to benefit from lower overall costs because there’s less overhead associated with operating each program. According to the Education Data Initiative, for instance, the cost per credit hour is often much lower for online courses than in-person ones [ 2 ].
Public 4-Year Online | $321 |
Public 4-Year On Campus | $729 |
Private 4-Year Online | $505 |
Private 4-Year On Campus | $1,598 |
Read more: How to Pay for Graduate School: 8 Ways
Thanks to the pace you can often set with your online coursework and the growing spate of accelerated degree programs, it may be possible to complete an online education faster because you can move through courses more rapidly, as opposed to waiting for a new lesson each week.
Learn how else you can speed up the process of earning your bachelor’s degree .
Diversity yields greater perspectives and insights. Thanks to the global availability of online learning, you may find yourself enrolled alongside students from around the world, which may in turn foster broader, more diverse opinions and learning. Moreover, depending on your program, you may have the opportunity to engage with your classmates as much as you want. Use the resources available in your program to connect with other students or maybe even start a virtual club to help stay in touch or keep each other on track.
You can not only bolster your subject knowledge when you learn online, but you can also hone transferable skills , like communication , critical thinking , adaptability , and more. Specifically, learning online often requires greater time management and self-discipline because you are responsible for logging in to complete your lesson rather than following an in-person class schedule that dictates where and when to be. When you learn online, you also sharpen your ability to work independently, or without supervision, which is a valued skill among employers.
There’s never been a better time to learn online than now. Explore an array of educational options on Coursera, including bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees from leading universities around the world. If you’re looking to gain career-ready skills, check out a Professional Certificate in computer science or IT , data science , business , or marketing .
Alternately, check out a number of free courses , like the popular The Science of Well-Being from Yale University, which examines the nature of happiness, or something more career-focused like Introduction to User Experience Design from Georgia Tech.
College Board. “ Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2021 , https://research.collegeboard.org/pdf/trends-college-pricing-student-aid-2021.pdf." Accessed December 21, 2023.
Education Data Initiative. “ Cost of Online Education vs. Traditional Education: Comparison , https://educationdata.org/cost-of-online-education-vs-traditional-education." Accessed December 21, 2023.
Coursera staff.
Editorial Team
Coursera’s editorial team is comprised of highly experienced professional editors, writers, and fact...
This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.
Home — Essay Samples — Education — Online Vs. Traditional Classes — Online Education And Its Benefits: Detailed Analysis
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Flexibility, self-disciple and responsibility, lower costs and debts, more choice of course topics, convenient learning environment.
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Since the inception of the Internet and advances in computer and mobile device technologies, the ability and availability to take an online course from nearly anywhere and anytime have emerged. Online education is an internet based education system seemingly substituting the conventional face-to-face brick and mortar education system; this allows students to undertake their coursework without necessarily attending classes on college campuses. This education system offers a great deal of flexibility for those who wish to continue their studies while pursuing other commitments. Increasingly more, institutions are embracing the concept of online learning to facilitate distance learning programs. This indicates that society has recognized the value of online learning. The Value and Impact of Online Education Bakia, Shear, Toyama & Lasseter (2012) cited that educational systems are always being pressurized to reduce costs and improve the performance of students. Different states and learning institutions have discovered that online education can help them achieve that goal. Bakia et al. (2012) wrote, “Online learning broadens student access to courses taught by qualified teachers in schools that could otherwise not afford to provide these courses because of relatively small student demand locally or the costs associated with recruiting teachers with the necessary skills and credentials.” Apparently, this is the primary reason why online education was becoming popular in the
Online degrees are becoming an ever more trendy method to receive a college education and many students are switching to online education due to the quality of material, ease, and the level of flexibility in distance education programs. Recently, the internet has developed into a reliable capital of information for college seekers. Everything from applying for financial assistance to taking a course can be done online. Now, a student can even obtain online degrees from one of many schools offering online education as a practical choice to a traditional classroom education. There’s a load of information regarding online education, and distance education is becoming increasingly popular for students everywhere.
Many students have a difficult time choosing between online education and traditional education. Both styles of education offer advantages and disadvantages to the student. There are many things to consider when making this life altering decision, such as, cost, convenience, time, social interaction, and technology. This information is meant to inform prospective students looking to further their education of the pros and cons of both online education and traditional education. Taking the steps to further your education is a big decision and one that should not be taken lightly. One should weigh all of his/her options and be well informed and certain of their choice before taking that leap.
The authors analyzed statistics of online learning to determine what they mean. They looked at the growth of online options in institutions. They also compared online learning with traditional learning to determine if it was as effective.
Nowadays, education becomes one of the important things in human life. Most people are aware of the necessity of a higher education. In this present day with the technology there are more options to obtain education. Besides attending traditional schools, people can get an online education. Although there is a similarity between online education and traditional education, the differences between them are more noteworthy.
In today’s society, so many people are continuing their education beyond high school. We realize that in order to make a decent living, a degree is most likely a requirement. In some cases even a bachelor’s degree is not enough to qualify for many positions. Nevertheless, thanks to technology, we now have the option to learn online or in a traditional classroom setting. There are very few differences between the two, and students need to understand that as much time and energy will need to be devoted to the online courses as on a campus. “A 2010 meta-analysis and review of online-learning studies concluded that online learning was as good as or slightly more effective than traditional face-to-face instruction” (Mendenhall, 2011).
Online college courses are almost becoming traditional for students. Some may perceive that a student does not receive an equal education when taking an online class. People tend to think that if a teacher is not directly giving the information about the subject, the course learning experience is different or unjust. This assumption is wrong according to the perception of many online course takers. Online college courses offer students the advantage to learn on their own time. The skills that a student learns in self-discipline, scheduling to complete graded assignments, and advantages learned with technology gives online classes equal education experience compared to classes on campus.
According to Barbara Means, the study’s lead author and an educational psychologist at SRI International, online education ultimate goal, is to provide learning experiences that are more tailored to individual students than is possible in classrooms. That enables more “learning by doing,” which many students find more engaging and useful.
Learning is more than just receiving information. Traditionally learning was to be in campus, where students would interact with one a another, there were no other ways for learners to get educated beside going to the classroom and listening to the instructor. Nowadays the Internet has brought different ways for people to receive information, such as getting education and degrees online. A few years ago online education was never thinkable, and yet it has become to reality and it is widely expanding with popularity. Online education is a type of educational instruction that delivers learning to individuals to their own homes, and it is getting very popular among nontraditional student and others. Individuals prefer online education
Non-traditional students are finding it easier and easier to maintain a job, a family, and pursuing a college career at the same time. This is possible because more and more non-traditional students are receiving an education using distance learning, as opposed to traditional, in-the-classroom teaching. Distance learning is basically taking college level, credit-bearing courses via the Internet. One of the most obvious advantages of distance learning is that it puts the classroom in your home, office, or wherever you can find a computer and log on to the Internet. However, there is much controversy regarding the quality of the courses being offered on the Internet versus the quality of
Online education is a type of distance learning. The student is taking courses without attending a school or university. Instead, online students and teachers interact over the Internet. Online classes can teach students educational responsibility. By forcing them to access the online portal to participate in reading the textbooks/lectures and doing the assignments. Technical abilities is also learned with online classes. Students who lack the tech savvy knowledge can learn how to navigate through the online environment. Being able to access the online portal at any given time of the day is one other benefit to online education. Though online education may seem beneficial, there are more negatives than
Technology is changing every aspect in our lives, even the way we learn. Online classes are a rapidly growing trend it today’s society. Online classes are a cost-effective substitute for traditional courses and more convenient for many, so more schools and universities are offering this option. Due to the increase in online course enrollment, people are questioning if students truly learn something from online classes because it’s not a traditional learning environment. Online classes are just, if not more, effective as traditional classes because grades have increased and online discussions provide students with the chance to interact through networking while earning a degree for less than what it would cost to enroll at the same university.
Education has undergone significant changes because of the development of information and communication technology over the 21st century (Lin & Jou, 2012:2). As a convenient and inexpensive way to gain knowledge while pursuing higher education, online learning, a form of training or teaching that takes place over the Internet, has been considered as an alternative to traditional classroom learning (Zhang et al, 2004). This essay will argue that even though online learning has benefit such as flexibility which could outweigh traditional learning, traditional classroom learning might still not be entirely replaced. This essay will discuss positive and negative aspects of online and traditional learning in terms of four criteria:
Education is an important part of people’s lives; it will either make them or break them in the future depending on the careers they choose. Education is greatly diverse today in comparison to the 1950s because of advancements in teaching and other great inventions that provide easier techniques of teaching. One major issue that has been raised is distant learning courses and online education.
Andrew Simoncelli once said, “Students who take online classes must be motivated, independent learners.” This is relevant because independence and motivation is what it takes to succeed in an online course. Online learning will not only expand what students learn, but will also bring a number of positive changes in the way students are taught. Courses online have changed everyone’s look at learning all over the world. It allows more opportunities for observers to learn online rather than learning in class. Another affirmative of taking an online course is flexibility and convenience. Students who would like to experience some of these ideas should look into an online class!
Online education has grown since it first came about, there are mixed views on whether it is truly beneficial. The reasons for the huge growth of online education is money even though online education targeted working adults that have little or no time to sit in a traditional classroom for millions of men and women serving in the armed forces online education has made earning a degree much more possible.
500 words essay on value of education.
Education is a weapon for the people by which they can live a high-quality life. Furthermore, education makes people easy to govern but at the same time it makes them impossible to be enslaved. Let us take a look at the incredible importance of education with this value of education essay.
Value Of Education Essay
Education makes people independent. Furthermore, it increases knowledge, strengthens the mind, and forms character. Moreover, education enables people to put their potentials to optimum use.
Education is also a type of reform for the human mind. Without education, the training of the human mind would always remain incomplete.
Education makes a person an efficient decision-maker and a right thinker. Moreover, this is possible only with the help of education. This is because education acquaints an individual with knowledge of the world around him and beyond, besides teaching the individual to be a better judge of the present.
A person that receives education shall have more avenues for the life of his choice. Moreover, an educated person will be able to make decisions in the best possible manner. This is why there is such a high demand for educated people over uneducated people for the purpose of employment .
Without education, a person would feel trapped. One can understand this by the example of a man who is confined to a closed room, completely shut from the outside world, with no way to exit it. Most noteworthy, an uneducated person can be compared to this confined man.
Education enables a person to access the open world. Furthermore, a person without education is unable to read and write. Consequently, a person without education would remain closed to all the knowledge and wisdom an educated person can gain from books and other mediums.
The literacy rate of India stands at around 60% in comparison to more than 80% literacy rate of the rest of the world. Moreover, the female literacy rate is 54.16% in accordance with the 2001 population census. These figures certainly highlight the massive problem of lack of education in India.
To promote education, the government of India takes it as a national policy. The intention of the government is to target the very cause of illiteracy. As such, the government endeavours to eradicate illiteracy, which in turn would lead to the eradication of poverty .
The government is running various literacy programmes like the free-education programme, weekend and part-time study programme, continuing education programme, mid-day meal programme, adult literacy programme, etc. With the consistent success rate of these programmes, hopefully, things will better.
Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas
Education is one of the most effective ways to make people better and more productive. It is a tool that can make people easy to lead but at the same time difficult to drive. Education removes naivety and ignorance from the people, leaving them aware, informed, and enlightened.
Question 1: What is the importance of education in our lives?
Answer 1: Having an education in a particular area helps people think, feel, and behave in a way that contributes to their success, and improves not only their personal satisfaction but also enhances their community. In addition, education develops the human personality and prepares people for life experiences.
Question 2: Explain the meaning of true education?
Answer 2: True education means going beyond earning degrees and bookish knowledge when it comes to learning. Furthermore, true education means inculcating a helping attitude, optimistic thinking, and moral values in students with the aim of bringing positive changes in society.
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The education system in the United States has been a highly controversial topic for a long time. Many people argue its value and require serious reforms. However, others believe that the current situation is totally acceptable and emphasizes the strengths of educational institutions in the country. The main goal of this paper is to discuss the key aspects of the education system in the United States and highlight its value.
There are several benefits and drawbacks to the US education system. The fact that most college graduates have better salaries its main advantage. The average income for citizens aged 25 years and older with bachelor degrees is almost two times higher than for people with only high school diplomas (Snipp, 2015). Another reason to choose higher education is that many jobs require college degrees. However, there are significant cons, as well.
Student debt loans are a heavy burden for graduates. More than half of the students in the United States spend almost 60 percent of their annual income to pay off loan debts (Bok, 2015). In addition, in spite of the fact that most employers hire only college-educated specialists, many graduates cannot find a job.
My parents have already spent on my education more than $30,000. However, I believe that it is worth this money. Education offers many opportunities for students. They can interact with teachers, professors, and other professionals to gain very valuable experience and knowledge. Education helps to develop social and vocational skills that are necessary for modern society. Also, educational institutions narrow the gap between the rich and the poor.
Many specialists claim that education is one of the most prominent instruments that can serve as a social equalizer. First, more educated people have better chances to obtain higher-paying positions (Biddle, 2014). The most successful careers require many different qualities that are cultivated in educational institutions. Second, various studies show that there is a direct connection between a poverty level and the number of people with college and university degrees (Pavlakis, Noble, Pavlakis, Ali, & Frank, 2015). Educated citizens are more productive and reliable members of society. Such individuals are less likely to end up living in poverty. Therefore, education can reduce the difference between materially needy and wealthy people.
Evaluation is another important aspect that is necessary to discuss. Standardized tests are the major approach that is used by most educational institutes. There are many reasons for the application of such an assessment. First, standardized tests positively affect academic achievements. Second, they ensure an equal and complete evaluation of students. Third, standardized tests help to focus on the most important aspects of an educational program.
Therefore, this measure is highly objective, reliable, and fair. However, there are some additional evaluation methods like teachers’ reports or extracurricular activities. Teachers’ reports provide parents with information about the student’s achievements. It might help them to decide on certain steps aimed at enhancing their children’s performance. Such reports demonstrate the student’s strengths and weaknesses. Also, teachers might offer some recommendations, highlighting specific areas that need to be improved.
Extracurricular activities might serve as an evaluating tool, as well. It helps a college administration understand more deeply the personality of an applicant. However, these additional measures can also be overwhelming to students. Their effectiveness depends on a family’s socioeconomic background. Therefore, students from healthy families benefit from teachers’ reports and extracurricular activities as they have a strong and reliable support system. However, it might be a heavy burden for children who live in dysfunctional families.
Therefore, educational institutions should provide special treatment to people from a poor socio-economic environment. Colleges have to do much more to admit low-income students and help them to complete programs. There are many successful examples that demonstrate that needy people can get the necessary support from the education system. Such assistance improves academic achievements and, subsequently, chances to get a more favorable job.
Low-income students are faced with different barriers that prevent them from enrolling in and completing educational programs. Many colleges put their prestige too high, and it makes them unaffordable to most learners. Therefore, it is necessary to bring particular attention to such institutes. Also, some ethnic communities require additional support. Many African-American students ask for fair treatment. Although equal rights are guaranteed to all citizens, this ethnic group is still faced with unfair attitudes that lead to low enrolment rates.
In conclusion, the development of a nation depends on the quality of education. The lack of literacy among the general public leads to economic and intellectual stagnation. Many American citizens believe that the education system in their country is not effective and should be changed. Students cannot afford to study at colleges and universities due to high tuition. The financial status also has a direct impact on their academic achievements. In addition, many graduates cannot find appropriate jobs. However, education offers many different opportunities that let a young person become a decent member of society. Although this system is not ideal, it is still the major factor that makes the United States one of the most prosperous countries.
Biddle, B. (2014). Social class, poverty and education . New York, NY: Routledge.
Bok, D. (2015). Higher education in America . New Jersey, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Pavlakis, A. E., Noble, K., Pavlakis, S. G., Ali, N., & Frank, Y. (2015). Brain imaging and electrophysiology biomarkers: Is there a role in poverty and education outcome research? Pediatric Neurology , 52 (4), 383-388.
Snipp, C. (2015). A historical overview and current assessment . W. G. Tierney. (Ed.). Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.
IvyPanda. (2020, October 29). The Value of Education. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-value-of-education/
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Offline reinforcement learning (RL) is a compelling paradigm to extend RL's practical utility by leveraging pre-collected, static datasets, thereby avoiding the limitations associated with collecting online interactions. The major difficulty in offline RL is mitigating the impact of approximation errors when encountering out-of-distribution (OOD) actions; doing so ineffectively will lead to policies that prefer OOD actions, which can lead to unexpected and potentially catastrophic results. Despite the variety of works proposed to address this issue, they tend to excessively suppress the value function in and around OOD regions, resulting in overly pessimistic value estimates. In this paper, we propose a novel framework called Strategically Conservative Q-Learning (SCQ) that distinguishes between OOD data that is easy and hard to estimate, ultimately resulting in less conservative value estimates. Our approach exploits the inherent strengths of neural networks to interpolate, while carefully navigating their limitations in extrapolation, to obtain pessimistic yet still property calibrated value estimates. Theoretical analysis also shows that the value function learned by SCQ is still conservative, but potentially much less so than that of Conservative Q-learning (CQL). Finally, extensive evaluation on the D4RL benchmark tasks shows our proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art methods. Our code is available through \url{https://github.com/purewater0901/SCQ}.
If 2023 was the year the world discovered generative AI (gen AI) , 2024 is the year organizations truly began using—and deriving business value from—this new technology. In the latest McKinsey Global Survey on AI, 65 percent of respondents report that their organizations are regularly using gen AI, nearly double the percentage from our previous survey just ten months ago. Respondents’ expectations for gen AI’s impact remain as high as they were last year , with three-quarters predicting that gen AI will lead to significant or disruptive change in their industries in the years ahead.
This article is a collaborative effort by Alex Singla , Alexander Sukharevsky , Lareina Yee , and Michael Chui , with Bryce Hall , representing views from QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and McKinsey Digital.
Organizations are already seeing material benefits from gen AI use, reporting both cost decreases and revenue jumps in the business units deploying the technology. The survey also provides insights into the kinds of risks presented by gen AI—most notably, inaccuracy—as well as the emerging practices of top performers to mitigate those challenges and capture value.
Interest in generative AI has also brightened the spotlight on a broader set of AI capabilities. For the past six years, AI adoption by respondents’ organizations has hovered at about 50 percent. This year, the survey finds that adoption has jumped to 72 percent (Exhibit 1). And the interest is truly global in scope. Our 2023 survey found that AI adoption did not reach 66 percent in any region; however, this year more than two-thirds of respondents in nearly every region say their organizations are using AI. 1 Organizations based in Central and South America are the exception, with 58 percent of respondents working for organizations based in Central and South America reporting AI adoption. Looking by industry, the biggest increase in adoption can be found in professional services. 2 Includes respondents working for organizations focused on human resources, legal services, management consulting, market research, R&D, tax preparation, and training.
Also, responses suggest that companies are now using AI in more parts of the business. Half of respondents say their organizations have adopted AI in two or more business functions, up from less than a third of respondents in 2023 (Exhibit 2).
Most respondents now report that their organizations—and they as individuals—are using gen AI. Sixty-five percent of respondents say their organizations are regularly using gen AI in at least one business function, up from one-third last year. The average organization using gen AI is doing so in two functions, most often in marketing and sales and in product and service development—two functions in which previous research determined that gen AI adoption could generate the most value 3 “ The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier ,” McKinsey, June 14, 2023. —as well as in IT (Exhibit 3). The biggest increase from 2023 is found in marketing and sales, where reported adoption has more than doubled. Yet across functions, only two use cases, both within marketing and sales, are reported by 15 percent or more of respondents.
Gen AI also is weaving its way into respondents’ personal lives. Compared with 2023, respondents are much more likely to be using gen AI at work and even more likely to be using gen AI both at work and in their personal lives (Exhibit 4). The survey finds upticks in gen AI use across all regions, with the largest increases in Asia–Pacific and Greater China. Respondents at the highest seniority levels, meanwhile, show larger jumps in the use of gen Al tools for work and outside of work compared with their midlevel-management peers. Looking at specific industries, respondents working in energy and materials and in professional services report the largest increase in gen AI use.
The latest survey also shows how different industries are budgeting for gen AI. Responses suggest that, in many industries, organizations are about equally as likely to be investing more than 5 percent of their digital budgets in gen AI as they are in nongenerative, analytical-AI solutions (Exhibit 5). Yet in most industries, larger shares of respondents report that their organizations spend more than 20 percent on analytical AI than on gen AI. Looking ahead, most respondents—67 percent—expect their organizations to invest more in AI over the next three years.
Where are those investments paying off? For the first time, our latest survey explored the value created by gen AI use by business function. The function in which the largest share of respondents report seeing cost decreases is human resources. Respondents most commonly report meaningful revenue increases (of more than 5 percent) in supply chain and inventory management (Exhibit 6). For analytical AI, respondents most often report seeing cost benefits in service operations—in line with what we found last year —as well as meaningful revenue increases from AI use in marketing and sales.
As businesses begin to see the benefits of gen AI, they’re also recognizing the diverse risks associated with the technology. These can range from data management risks such as data privacy, bias, or intellectual property (IP) infringement to model management risks, which tend to focus on inaccurate output or lack of explainability. A third big risk category is security and incorrect use.
Respondents to the latest survey are more likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider inaccuracy and IP infringement to be relevant to their use of gen AI, and about half continue to view cybersecurity as a risk (Exhibit 7).
Conversely, respondents are less likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider workforce and labor displacement to be relevant risks and are not increasing efforts to mitigate them.
In fact, inaccuracy— which can affect use cases across the gen AI value chain , ranging from customer journeys and summarization to coding and creative content—is the only risk that respondents are significantly more likely than last year to say their organizations are actively working to mitigate.
Some organizations have already experienced negative consequences from the use of gen AI, with 44 percent of respondents saying their organizations have experienced at least one consequence (Exhibit 8). Respondents most often report inaccuracy as a risk that has affected their organizations, followed by cybersecurity and explainability.
Our previous research has found that there are several elements of governance that can help in scaling gen AI use responsibly, yet few respondents report having these risk-related practices in place. 4 “ Implementing generative AI with speed and safety ,” McKinsey Quarterly , March 13, 2024. For example, just 18 percent say their organizations have an enterprise-wide council or board with the authority to make decisions involving responsible AI governance, and only one-third say gen AI risk awareness and risk mitigation controls are required skill sets for technical talent.
The latest survey also sought to understand how, and how quickly, organizations are deploying these new gen AI tools. We have found three archetypes for implementing gen AI solutions : takers use off-the-shelf, publicly available solutions; shapers customize those tools with proprietary data and systems; and makers develop their own foundation models from scratch. 5 “ Technology’s generational moment with generative AI: A CIO and CTO guide ,” McKinsey, July 11, 2023. Across most industries, the survey results suggest that organizations are finding off-the-shelf offerings applicable to their business needs—though many are pursuing opportunities to customize models or even develop their own (Exhibit 9). About half of reported gen AI uses within respondents’ business functions are utilizing off-the-shelf, publicly available models or tools, with little or no customization. Respondents in energy and materials, technology, and media and telecommunications are more likely to report significant customization or tuning of publicly available models or developing their own proprietary models to address specific business needs.
Respondents most often report that their organizations required one to four months from the start of a project to put gen AI into production, though the time it takes varies by business function (Exhibit 10). It also depends upon the approach for acquiring those capabilities. Not surprisingly, reported uses of highly customized or proprietary models are 1.5 times more likely than off-the-shelf, publicly available models to take five months or more to implement.
Gen AI is a new technology, and organizations are still early in the journey of pursuing its opportunities and scaling it across functions. So it’s little surprise that only a small subset of respondents (46 out of 876) report that a meaningful share of their organizations’ EBIT can be attributed to their deployment of gen AI. Still, these gen AI leaders are worth examining closely. These, after all, are the early movers, who already attribute more than 10 percent of their organizations’ EBIT to their use of gen AI. Forty-two percent of these high performers say more than 20 percent of their EBIT is attributable to their use of nongenerative, analytical AI, and they span industries and regions—though most are at organizations with less than $1 billion in annual revenue. The AI-related practices at these organizations can offer guidance to those looking to create value from gen AI adoption at their own organizations.
To start, gen AI high performers are using gen AI in more business functions—an average of three functions, while others average two. They, like other organizations, are most likely to use gen AI in marketing and sales and product or service development, but they’re much more likely than others to use gen AI solutions in risk, legal, and compliance; in strategy and corporate finance; and in supply chain and inventory management. They’re more than three times as likely as others to be using gen AI in activities ranging from processing of accounting documents and risk assessment to R&D testing and pricing and promotions. While, overall, about half of reported gen AI applications within business functions are utilizing publicly available models or tools, gen AI high performers are less likely to use those off-the-shelf options than to either implement significantly customized versions of those tools or to develop their own proprietary foundation models.
What else are these high performers doing differently? For one thing, they are paying more attention to gen-AI-related risks. Perhaps because they are further along on their journeys, they are more likely than others to say their organizations have experienced every negative consequence from gen AI we asked about, from cybersecurity and personal privacy to explainability and IP infringement. Given that, they are more likely than others to report that their organizations consider those risks, as well as regulatory compliance, environmental impacts, and political stability, to be relevant to their gen AI use, and they say they take steps to mitigate more risks than others do.
Gen AI high performers are also much more likely to say their organizations follow a set of risk-related best practices (Exhibit 11). For example, they are nearly twice as likely as others to involve the legal function and embed risk reviews early on in the development of gen AI solutions—that is, to “ shift left .” They’re also much more likely than others to employ a wide range of other best practices, from strategy-related practices to those related to scaling.
In addition to experiencing the risks of gen AI adoption, high performers have encountered other challenges that can serve as warnings to others (Exhibit 12). Seventy percent say they have experienced difficulties with data, including defining processes for data governance, developing the ability to quickly integrate data into AI models, and an insufficient amount of training data, highlighting the essential role that data play in capturing value. High performers are also more likely than others to report experiencing challenges with their operating models, such as implementing agile ways of working and effective sprint performance management.
The online survey was in the field from February 22 to March 5, 2024, and garnered responses from 1,363 participants representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures. Of those respondents, 981 said their organizations had adopted AI in at least one business function, and 878 said their organizations were regularly using gen AI in at least one function. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent’s nation to global GDP.
Alex Singla and Alexander Sukharevsky are global coleaders of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and senior partners in McKinsey’s Chicago and London offices, respectively; Lareina Yee is a senior partner in the Bay Area office, where Michael Chui , a McKinsey Global Institute partner, is a partner; and Bryce Hall is an associate partner in the Washington, DC, office.
They wish to thank Kaitlin Noe, Larry Kanter, Mallika Jhamb, and Shinjini Srivastava for their contributions to this work.
This article was edited by Heather Hanselman, a senior editor in McKinsey’s Atlanta office.
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