Student satisfaction and performance in an online teaching certification program

Distance education continues to expand, from a reported 1.6 million students enrolled in distance education courses in 1998 (NCES, 1999) to 3.2 million in 2005 (Sloan Consortium, 2006). As online education has come to dominate all types of courses taught at a distance, and constitutes a greater proportion of overall enrollment in higher education, researchers have increasingly investigated a host of questions regarding its viability as an alternative to traditional on-campus education. Consistently, this research has found online education equals or surpasses on-campus instruction in terms of student learning, student perceptions, and student satisfaction (Neuhauser, 2002; Thirunanrayanan & Perez-Prado, 2002; Russell, 2001; Arbaugh, 2000), thus supporting its viability and continued development. Online delivery of teacher education courses is well established, with practicing teachers taking courses online for faculty development, graduate degrees, and professional specializations