Michael K. Barbour

Full‑time K‑12 online learners saw little change when schools shifted to remote learning in March 2020. Supplemental online learners—who normally rely on school‑based supports—offer lessons for future closures. This case study of students in one rural school traces the steps they took when they needed academic support while enrolled in a supplemental online program, illuminating where and how support was sought and the implications for designing robust support structures.

When school buildings closed worldwide, teachers had to engage learners remotely with little preparation. This study analyzes a professional‑development webinar series for English language teachers around the world to identify challenges, needs, and perceived impacts as teachers shifted to remote online teaching. Webinars provided effective just‑in‑time PD—especially for engagement, feedback, online presence, and activity design. Major challenges included sustaining student engagement, inequitable technology/internet access, and learning/troubleshooting technology; many teachers nonetheless valued learning new tools and resources.

The authors argue that by 2025 all teacher education programs should prepare candidates to teach online and in blended settings. They synthesize evidence showing why every teacher needs OBL proficiency and propose six objectives: sufficient coursework on research and best practices; direct experiences as online learners and in OBL fieldwork; improved metrics and instruments to assess growth; widely accepted K‑12 OBL standards; and alignment with national accreditation expectations. They discuss threats to each objective and strategies for implementation.

From a prior dataset of K‑12 online learning articles (1994–2016), the authors identified 62 papers with five or fewer citations to explore why they attracted limited attention. They analyzed authorship, outlets, years, and topics and considered contributions that may still inform the field. Many appeared in lesser‑known journals, addressed narrow or non‑U.S. topics, and were authored by both established and one‑time scholars. Importantly, the articles were not uniformly uninteresting or poor quality; several offered historical insight and practical lessons still relevant today (interaction, community, technology, management, cost, access).

K‑12 online course designers can draw on various standards, but research‑based, openly available standards are limited. Many jurisdictions use the iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses, which lack systematic validation. This article (phase two of a three‑stage study) engaged two expert panels through multiple rounds to examine, refine, and in some cases combine or remove standards and elements. The outcome is a more focused, evidence‑aligned rubric to guide K‑12 online course design and streamline review processes.

This inductive, interpretive analysis of 42 Canadian high‑school distance‑education teachers explores asynchronous and synchronous online teaching. The paper outlines affordances and constraints of each approach and examines degree of use, tools, contexts, student preferences, and limitations. Results suggest pedagogy is more important than medium for both modes. Synchronous teaching tended to be teacher‑centred, while asynchronous teaching supported self‑paced, highly independent learning, often supplemented with synchronous sessions for questions and troubleshooting.

Virtual schooling emerged in the mid‑1990s and is now a common K‑12 distance education method. A virtual school is typically a state‑approved or accredited entity offering courses at a distance, most often via the Internet. Deliveries include independent, asynchronous, and synchronous modes. Most virtual school students have historically been academically capable, motivated, independent learners. Purported benefits include expanded access, improved opportunities and outcomes, educational choice, and efficiency, but research evidence is limited. Challenges include the need for student self‑regulation and strong time‑management, literacy, and technology skills more common among adults. The literature calls for more research on factors supporting K‑12 student success and design‑based approaches beyond simple achievement comparisons.

K‑12 online learning research dates to the mid‑1990s and builds upon a century of distance education practice. Despite growth in programs, rigorous published research on virtual schooling policy and practice remains limited. This review synthesizes open‑access literature and reports a structured content analysis of documents from 1997–2008. Themes include steady enrollment growth and recurring attention to benefits, challenges, and broad effectiveness. Newly developed standards for K‑12 online learning appear frequently in descriptions of effective practices. The field needs more empirical, systematic research to guide program design and policy, beyond practitioner reports and small‑scale studies.