Using eClassroom Helps Increase Colorado Online Learning’s Course Completion Rates by 10%

Focus on Interactivity and Engagement within Online Classes Increases Student Engagement and Success

Colorado Online Learning (COL) needed a Learning Management System (LMS) that could offer interactivity and engagement to COL students, while providing teachers and course developers a flexible course creation environment. eClassroom, the K-12 division of eCollege, a Pearson company, provided an LMS with these options and more.

By utilizing the tools provided by the eClassroom platform, COL courses actively engage students in rural school districts. Rich communication and student interaction within these courses allow students separated by great distances to become part of a connected learning community. These improved courses, powered by eClassroom, contributed to an average 88% course completion rate for Colorado Online Learning in 2007, up 10% from their rate in 2003.

COL Needed a More Advanced Online Education Solution
In 2000, Colorado Online Learning was serving 18 online courses to 60 enrollments. When the program began, the students who enrolled in COL’s online courses were mostly rural high school students seeking credit recovery. Within two years, COL increased its offering to 43 separate courses that were delivered to over one thousand students.

Beginning with their program launch in 1998, COL used a software package that was little more than an HTML editor to deliver their courses. The school’s courses could offer content and images with very limited interaction between students and teachers. The eClassroom LMS offered the interactivity and flexibility that COL sought. Additionally, COL found that eCollege’s Software as a Service learning model would allow the school to grow without worrying about additional system resources or IT staff.

“As Colorado Online Learning started making progress and enrollments started to increase, it became evident that we needed the more interactive and flexible options provided by learning management systems,” said Chris Rapp, Director of Colorado Online Learning.

eClassroom converted 43 courses from COL’s legacy platform in time for the 2003 fall semester. The eClassroom platform allowed COL to get to the next generation of online learning. Their courses could now include threaded discussions, assignments with student drop boxes and an integrated course grade book feature.

eClassroom Helps COL Engage More Students
COL now offers over 70 rigorous online courses with the eClassroom learning management system. The school’s catalogue includes courses in the arts, business, world languages, mathematics, science, social studies and technology. Each of these courses has significantly increased the achievement and success of Colorado’s students.

In addition to a solution for those students seeking credit recovery, COL now provides high-quality, standards-based online coursework for Colorado students looking for advanced courses or to avoid scheduling conflicts. COL helps districts supplement high school curriculum, delivering a wide variety of highly engaging courses with the eClassroom solution.

The eClassroom platform offered the interactivity and flexibility that COL sought. Additionally, COL found that eClassroom’s Software as a Service learning model would allow the school to grow without worrying about additional system resources or IT staff.

“The eClassroom platform offered Colorado Online Learning a turnkey learning management solution that included full system hosting, a 24/7 help desk and personal administration support,” said Chris Rapp. “The unit-based, always-present navigation structure offered by eClassroom was another big draw for us. It was the most intuitive system available.”

COL Maintains Unprecedented Student Success Rates

The growth and success of COL cannot be denied. Between the fall of 2003 and 2007, the online high school added 23 courses to the catalog. The number of student enrollments has also steadily increased. In 2007, COL served more than 2,000 students in 100 school districts across the state of Colorado. Yearly enrollment growth has been as much as 46%, as it was between 2006 to 2007.

Despite the rapid growth in student population and course numbers, COL has topped national averages for student completion in each consecutive year. With the adoption of the eClassroom solution in 2003, course completion average for the program was 78%. By 2007, this rate had grown 10%, with 88% of COL students successfully completing their online courses. A national survey of online programs in 2007 found that “reported completion rates vary from 50% to approximately 99%, with many responses in the range of 65 – 85%.”*

“The eClassroom learning platform has definitely allowed us to raise the level of sophistication for our courses,” said Rapp. “Because eClassroom provides transparent technology, our instructors are able to focus on the teaching and learning when they develop their courses. The learning management system never gets in the way of learning.”

* Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning: A Review of State Level Policy and Practice. Evergreen Consulting Associates, November 2007.