Articles and reports

Based on the SREB Standards for Quality Online Teaching (March, 2009)
Providing quality professional development for online teachers is extremely important to ensure ongoing quality teaching and learning — just as it is for teachers in traditional classrooms. The professional development of online teachers should be well-planned and organized to meet the specific academic and instructional needs of online teachers.

http://publications.sreb.org/2009/09T01_Guide_profdev_online_teach.pdf

"The purpose of this issues brief was to obtain a better understanding of how online programs are dealing with students who have been identified as at-risk. The first section, Strategies for Working with At-Risk Student Populations in Online Environments, documents a sampling of K-12 online programs currently working with at-risk student populations by examining the strategies these programs were implementing. The second section, Trends and Instructional Practices for Teaching At-Risk Students in Virtual Courses, surveyed online schools to determine the online delivery and design methods employed to assist at-risk students. We conclude this issues brief with specific recommendations for future research into the experience of at-risk learners in virtual school environments."

http://www.inacol.org/research/docs/iNACOL_CreditRecovery.pdf

iNACOL - (April, 2010)

A quick read and good article published by AASA Startup Advice for Online Education (April 2010)

"So what should a school district hoping to jump into online education do next?

First, realize you don’t have to go it alone. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel when so many states and school districts already have mapped out strategies. But it’s a fluid endeavor — it’s different for every district, and there’s not just one way to go about it"

This month's issue of School Administrator has a series of interesting articles:

Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning: A Review of State-Level Policy and Practice, 2009 is the latest in a series of annual reports that began in 2004 that examine the status of K-12 online education across the country, providing a research-based overview of the latest policies, practices and trends affecting online learning programs across all 50 states.
- kpk12.com

http://www.kpk12.com/downloads/KeepingPace09-fullreport.pdf

In April 2010, COSN released the Horizion Report, a study looking at emerging trends in K12 instruction. [Download PDF 430k]

Five key trends from the report:

1. Technology is increasingly a means for empowering students, a method for communication and socializing, and a ubiquitous, transparent part of their lives.
2. Technology continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate, and succeed. Information technologies impact how people work, play, learn, socialize, and collaborate.
3. The perceived value of innovation and creativity is increasing. Innovation is valued at the highest levels of business and must be embraced in schools if students are to succeed beyond their formal education.
4. There is increasing interest in just-in-time, alternate, or non-formal avenues of education, such as online learning, mentoring, and independent study.
5. The way we think of learning environments is changing.

Read more from the web-based version.