Dive Summary:

• A study from Ithaka S+R found that interactive learning produced results that were equivalent or better to students taking face-to-face classes.
• In the fall 2011 study, 605 college students in the same introductory statistics course at six public universities were split in two groups--one taking the course in a traditional format, the other completing an online component with an hour of in-class instruction each week.
• The report's authors note that the differences are not "statistically significant" and that they could not account for differences in the quality of the teachers.

From the article:

Critics of online learning claim that students are exposed to an inferior education when compared to traditional in-class instruction, but a recent study from Ithaka S+R, a strategic consulting and research nonprofit, questions this notion. ...