Craft Category: Artifacts

The standards in this document address what is needed for a quality online program, elements of which include quality course design and quality online teaching. This report provides the encompassing and over-arching set of standards program leaders need to assure a quality online program. It is designed to provide states, districts, online programs, and other organizations with a set of quality guidelines for online program leadership, instruction, content, support services, and evaluation.

This document provides an overview of the most critical of the course design and teaching standards. It describes the necessary support standards needed for programs designed to supplement schools’ course offerings as well as those programs designed for full-time students.

How do communication and interaction work in an online teaching environment? This document answers this question, drawing on quality online teaching literature, school policies regarding online teaching practices, and professional development programs for online teachers.

Online teaching is a complex professional practice. In addition to content knowledge and pedagogical skills, online teachers must be qualified in methods of teaching content online. Examine this report for deeper insights into communication and interaction strategies for online teaching.

This memo examines the outcomes of existing studies on K-12 learning effectiveness, and it provides a literature review of these studies.

A number of rigorous studies have asked the question, “Is online learning effective?” However, there is not a single, large-scale, national study comparing students taking online courses with traditional students, using control groups in the instructional design. The most in-depth, large-scale study to-date is a meta-analysis and review of studies from the U.S. Department of Education.

This memo contains 3 sections:

• A summary of the major study by the U.S. Department of Education
• A brief literature review of online learning research and studies
• Future research recommendations.

Download this memo to learn more about how online learning is an effective alternative for improving student performance.

This infographic portrays how Congress and the federal government can take actionable steps to promote quality online learning opportunities. By explaining specific policy approaches, and how to achieve each approach, iNACOL informs policymakers and constituents of potential ways to expand online learning opportunities. View this infographic for direct federal government actions that can improve access and equity for all students.

What do strong policy and funding frameworks look like, and what specific benefits do they afford? Which online learning policy and funding structures hold promise for all modes of learning? This report lays the groundwork by creating frameworks for policy and funding development in online learning environments.

In at least 44 states across the country, students are logging in to learn at all times of the day and night—accessing courses they might otherwise be unable to take, interacting with students they might otherwise never know, and working with highly qualified teachers they otherwise could not access.

While the viability and popularity of online learning is gaining widespread acceptance, the policy needed to support its growth is lagging. The continued success and sustained growth of online learning requires state education policy frameworks to be adjusted.

Read this report now and explore promising practices for funding and policy development in your online learning environment.

Online learning is creating transformative change in today’s education system as states and districts create new online schools. This catalytic growth reflects the widespread understanding that online learning can serve a wide variety of students and needs. Many school leaders are excited about the possibilities of online learning, and this report seeks to address some of the major challenges faced by innovators, such as:

• Creating online courses.
• Finding, hiring, and managing online teachers.
• Supporting students in online learning environments.
• Managing technology.
• Evaluating programs to determine the level of success.

Read this report and learn from leaders who have years of experience operating online schools, developing and revising operations and management structures, and sift through examples of emerging promising practices.

To assist parents in choosing the right online program for their student, we offer this list of questions parents should use as a guide.

It is estimated that there are over one million K-12 enrollments in online courses across the country. The number of online courses and providers continues to grow at a steady rate each year (a staggering 30% annually), providing scores of options for today’s students.

With all of the benefits that online learning provides to students and their families, many parents find themselves unsure of where to turn or even what questions to ask when sorting through the various online learning options. View this guide to ensure you are asking the appropriate questions of online programs for your child.

The findings in this report represent Phase II of the Going Virtual! research series. In this report, we posed the question, “What are the unique needs and challenges of K‐12 online teachers?” The first phase of the Going Virtual! research series, conducted in 2007, investigated the national status of professional development for K‐12 online teachers.

Investigators in this study used an interpretive research design to identify the unique needs and challenges of K-12 online teachers. The findings provide practical information for policymakers to establish national and state standards for K-12 online teachers, as well as for trainers designing professional development programs.

Study this report to gain a deeper understanding of the unique needs and challenges of K-12 online teachers, as expressed by the teachers themselves.

Several virtual schools portray the mentoring structures they have implemented to assist their new online teachers. Each school’s mentoring program is unique – designed specifically for the school’s staff, size, and instructional approach.

These schools learned that successful mentoring programs are key in developing effective novice virtual teachers, as well as supporting the continued growth of all online teachers. Browse this report now to discover how effective mentoring programs can help everyone: mentees through skill and knowledge development, mentors through leadership and communication improvement, and schools through idea- and knowledge-sharing.

This report is iNACOL’s first systematic effort to examine K-12 distance education in Canada, and it has two main purposes: to examine Canada’s K-12 online learning activity, and to examine policies in each province and territory. Thus, this report provides a brief national overview of K-12 online learning, as well as a more detailed focus on three specific jurisdictions. Review this report to discover how K-12 online learning has quietly developed across Canada.