THE AMOUNT LEARNED IS SOME WHAT GREATER THAN IN THE TRADITIONAL LECTURE-BASED COURSE.

And that goes for even the least prepared, as reflected by their scores on pretests. Pritchard said improvement levels increased across the board, explaining that, even if a student with a lower initial score ends the online course with what would be equivalent to a failing grade, "that person would nevertheless have made substantial gains in understanding."

Translation: Online learning outcomes are equal, or even better than, those produced in a traditional classroom.  If professors want to improve outcomes in either setting, researchers suggest an approach called "interactive engagement pedagogy," where students regularly interact in small groups and participate in peer-to-peer learning.

Pritchard told MIT News the study is "just the start of a process of mining the data that can be gained from these online classes." How long students spend watching lectures, or how often they pause or repeat sections, can all be recorded and used to discover what method of online learning works best.

Recently released its final report on what the school's future will look like, education-wise. Exactly what this new research suggests. Faculty might even begin blending traditional, residential learning with online education to keep tuition costs low.