The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how gifted high school graduates in Arizona describe their experiences of relatedness with peers and teachers as motivation in the online high school learning environment. The study's theoretical foundation is Self-Determination Theory's concept of relatedness, or connection. Two…

Technology is being integrated inside classrooms to aid in student engagement, learning, and academic growth. The accessibility to mobile devices is on the rise in educational institutions. The change is known as 1:1 computing, U-learning or Ubiquitous learning Schools are implementing these initiatives to enhance learning in all grade levels and…

"Hybrid schools" are schools that combine "face-to-face" education in a specific place with online instruction. In this article, the authors describe school models which offer a vision for what deeply integrated technology can mean for children's education, for the way schools are structured, and for the promise of greater…

Many reports on rural education give little attention to digital learning. At most, they tend to note either infrastructure needs or the potential of remote course access, with little focus on instruction, outcomes, or exemplars. This report intends to begin correcting that imbalance by connecting the dots between rural regions, rural education,…

Virtual school programs--especially online high school courses--are gaining traction in school districts around the country. While offering online courses was once the exclusive province of large state, nonprofit and for-profit organizations and companies, districts and even individual schools are now starting virtual schools of their own. Not…

Many industries in the United States already have seen positive results and increased productivity from the effective use of technology. With the challenges currently facing the nation's education system--including a persistent dropout rate of nearly 30 percent, slashed state and district budgets, and the economically and socially important goals…

When superintendent Calvin Baker of the Vail School District in Vail, Arizona, substituted laptops for textbooks in Vail's first 1-to-1 high school in 2005, he saw that his district now had the freedom to purchase digital content the way he purchased digital music. "People would say, "So, what digital textbook are you going to use?"…

The infusion of online education has brought about significant changes within the traditional, brick-and-mortar schoolhouse. With an increasing number of students enrolling in online courses, administrators must identify more quality online educators to meet the needs of the students in their care. Hence, the focus of this study is to answer the…