Local schools are increasingly providing their students who are enrolled in an online course with an on-site facilitator as a means for increasing online pass rates. However, few studies have examined how online teachers and on-site facilitators work in conjunction to support online students. Successful on-site facilitators (n = 12) and online…

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…

Emerging research suggests that on-site mentors can play an important role in supporting K-12 online learners, yet in practice there is wide variability in what mentoring looks like from program to program. Recently, states like Michigan have expanded online course access programs, accelerating the need for better on-ground support models for…

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…

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…