The current pandemic closed schools worldwide, tasking teachers to engage learners remotely without time to prepare. This study focuses on a professional development webinar series for English language teachers worldwide. Access to geographically dispersed English language teachers created an opportunity to gain international perspectives on…

Despite the massive growth in K-12 online learning, there are no opportunities for teachers to learn and develop skills to succeed as online instructors. This study is the third iteration of an action research project, which focused on improving a graduate instructional technology course and developing teachers with these skills. Previous results…

The history of online learning at the K-12 level is almost as long as its history at the post-secondary level, with the first virtual school programs beginning in the early 1990s. While these opportunities were designed as a way to provide rural students with access to more specialized courses, as opportunities have become organized into virtual…

University students who had completed at least one distance education course were surveyed during their first and fourth year of postsecondary studies. When controlled for those who had previous distance education experience in high school, it was found that self-regulatory learning behaviors, which are frequently linked to positive experiences…

Variation in policies virtual schools use to calculate course completion and retention rates impacts the comparability of these quality metrics. This study surveyed 159 U.S. virtual schools examining the variability in trial period and course completion policies--two policies that affect course completion rates. Of the 86 respondents, almost 70%…

This article presents the results of a survey study of secondary students' perceptions of useful and challenging characteristics of Web-based learning environments. Data were collected using a modified version of a questionnaire from earlier studies. More specifically, the author focuses on what Web-based learning looks like for secondary…

Two years ago, the then North American Council for Online Learning released the initial "Snapshot State of the Nation: K-12 Online Learning in Canada" report. This study was the first systematic examination of K-12 distance education policies and activities in each of the thirteen Canadian provinces and territories. One year ago, the…

Over the past two decades, distance education has become a reality of rural schooling in Newfoundland and Labrador. In this article, I provide historical background into the challenges facing rural schools in the province and how distance education was introduced to address that challenge. I also describe how that system of distance education…

This paper considers student use of a web-based discussion forum in a second year, non-major Biology course. The authors discuss how meaningful participation in the forum is a form of public writing and may be an indicator of overall student success in the course. The authors also discuss how this success in the course is not tied to the students?…

Six years ago the Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation began a virtual high school within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Designed primarily to provide courses in specialized areas to students in rural areas, where schools have difficulty in attracting second language, mathematics and science teachers. However, there has…