K-12 online students are increasingly communicating and collaborating with their peers; however, research on the topic is limited--especially research examining students' perceptions and experiences. Guided by the Adolescent Community of Engagement framework's concept of peer engagement, this qualitative descriptive case study examined…

With the rapid growth of K-12 online learning opportunities, calls have come for more and better parental engagement to improve student engagement and reduce student attrition. In this article, we drew from a larger study to share rich narratives from three parents of students who required high levels of parental support for their online learning…

Efforts to identify K-12 online instructional best practices and standards have been limited because they largely ignored students' voice--the primary stakeholder in any educational context. In this case study, we conducted 20 interviews among 10 students enrolled in a cyber charter high school. Qualitative analysis of interviews found that…

Despite high growth rates, cyber charter schools experience higher attrition rates than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. Students' reasons for failing an online course are complex and students may require a high level of teacher support to be successful online. Research examining effective teacher engagement has relied heavily on teacher…

As enrollments in cyber charter schools grow, it becomes increasingly important to understand how parents engage in their students' learning. Researchers have hypothesized that parental engagement is even more critical when online students learn from home, but few researchers have examined parents' engagement behavior--especially parents of…

A growing number of adolescents are taking all or most of their courses online. This places a greater responsibility on parents to support and facilitate their students' learning. This case study used teacher surveys and interviews to better understand how teachers perceived and supported parents' attempts to support their online students at a…

Little research has examined the critical components of successful K-12 online schools, due in part to the theoretical focus of current frameworks on higher education rather than characteristics of K-12 online learners and environments. Using K-12 online research, this paper examined "teaching presence" as explained by the Community of…

Distance education has historically contained little or no learner-learner interactions. Currently the Internet allows for unprecedented levels of learner-learner interaction and has the potential to transform how students learn online. However, many courses offered online focus more on flexibility and independence than on interaction and…

Several online programs use on-site facilitators to create a stronger sense of community and reduce student dropout. However, very little research addresses how programs that are fully online can provide their students with comparable support. Using K-12 online research, this case study analyzed a "shepherding program" at Mountain…

A belief commonly held in the K-12 education community is that parents can have a positive impact on their child's learning. However, little research has examined parental involvement in an online learning environment. In this study, researchers using survey data found that generally students and parents viewed parent-instructor and learner-parent…