Researchers planning to study the effectiveness of online education for disabled students at the University of Kansas’ Center for Research on Learning received a $7.5 million grant from the federal government.

The grant, which will last five years, comes from the U.S. Department of Education and is also intended to help fund new developments in the use of technology for learning.

In an interview with the Kansas City Star, assistant research professor and the project’s co-principal investigator Diana Greer explained the goal of the research.

“We want to determine what’s happening in online instruction in K-12 schools and whether students’ needs are being met,” Greer said.

For the project, KU will form the Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities. The center is being founded along with The National Association of State Directors of Special Education and CAST, a program working with technology and education. Work is scheduled to begin on the center in January.