Craft Category: Artifacts

This report provides national estimates about student enrollment in distance education courses in public school districts. Estimates are based on district surveys during the 12-month 2009-10 school year. Specifically, the survey covered the following topics:

• Extent of enrollment
• Monitoring and accountability
• Deliverers and developers
• Courses
• Technologies

Download this report to browse survey responses and selected national findings regarding distance education.

K-12 education is in the throes of a worldwide revolution. The goal is to better prepare students for the challenges of a world that is rapidly changing – economically, demographically and technologically. These changes have already forced widespread rethinking of traditional modes of education, which fall short in providing students with the quality and breadth of knowledge and competencies they need to function effectively in a global environment.

The heart of this revolution is online learning, described by the World Future Society as one of the top 10 breakthroughs that will transform life globally over the next 20 to 30 years. Online learning offers students endless opportunities to access world-class teachers – regardless of neighborhood or geography or family resources – and the education they will need to achieve success in an increasingly networked and knowledge-based society.

The Online Learning Definitions Project is designed to provide states, districts, online programs, and other organizations with a set of definitions related to online and blended learning in order to develop policy, practice, and an understanding of and within the field. The initiative began with a thorough literature review of existing definitions, followed by a research survey to iNACOL members and experts to ensure the efficacy of the definitions adopted.

These definitions should be implemented and monitored by each state, district, or organization, as they reserve the right to apply the definitions according to the best interest of the population for which they serve.

This report provides states, districts, online programs, and other organizations with a set of quality guidelines for:

• Online course content
• Instructional design
• Technology
• Student assessment
• Course management.

These standards are guidelines for districts and organizations implementing blended or online learning, to ensure a high-quality education for all students. The standards should be modified to meet local needs, and used as a tool to understand and make informed decisions about blended and online learning programs.

This report provides states, districts, online programs, and other organizations with a set of quality guidelines for online teaching. Districts and organizations can use these standards, adapted for local needs, to design professional development and for the evaluation of online teachers. These standards indicate what online teachers should know and be able to do, and what online teachers should be able to demonstrate for evaluation purposes.

Online learning is growing by 40% annually and creating new full- and part-time options for students and families. However, most charter school legislation, drafted in the early 1990s, is not inclusive to online learning opportunities. This paper addresses 3 key questions that state policymakers and authorizers need to answer:

• Who will operate and authorize online schools?
• How will students be enrolled?
• How will online schools be funded?

After framing these questions, authors Susan Patrick and Tom Vander Ark provide advice on innovation and the provision of high-quality online learning programs.

Leaders and innovators in competency education convened at the 2011 Competency-Based Learning Summit to explore how state policy can loosen its regulatory handcuffs from educators attempting to move toward competency-based learning models. This paper is designed to answer the following 4 questions:

• What is performance-based learning?
• What are states doing to advance performance-based learning?
• What type of policy framework can guide state leadership in advancing a performance-based education system?
• What are the emerging issues in redesigning the education system around performance-based learning?

By drawing on insights and innovations across the country, these leaders seek to expedite the process of constructing policies that promote innovative competency-based education systems.

From Anchorage, Alaska, to Orlando, Florida, and from Gray, Maine, to Yuma, Arizona, one hundred competency-based innovators gathered at the Competency-based Learning Summit in March 2011. Because pockets of innovation were operating in isolation, these leaders set out to expedite capacity-building to meet the growing demand for competency-based approaches. This paper highlights the following three goals of the Summit:

• Sharing expertise across and among innovators and policy leaders.
• Building a common working definition of competency-based learning.
• Enhancing the strategies and skills for advancing the establishment of competency-based education.

Through the thoughtful generation of ideas, these leaders provided the building blocks to expedite competency-based approaches to education.

In times of great economic challenge, citizens look to policymakers for solutions that lay the foundation for a brighter tomorrow. In K-12 education, one of the most promising and cost-effective solutions is quality online learning. Many states have made an important initial investment in online learning. Since every dollar spent this year must count even more than ever, now is the time to preserve and expand investments in online learning.

Starting an online learning program is a daunting task, which often can be overwhelming. The information and resources provided here have been compiled and organized to help you feel less overwhelmed.

The majority of content on this site is intended for program administrators — the people that are either investigating the possibility of creating an online learning program or have already been assigned this task. The site also contains useful information for policy makers — state legislators, staff members at the state department of education, and district administrators who wish to establish a positive policy environment for online learning.