Most proponents of flexible online learning, and critics alike, have little more than anecdotal evidence to support their claims about the benefits or drawbacks of flexibility (Houlden & Veletsianos, 2019; Veletsianos & Houlden, 2019). This study departs from past literature that characterizes flexibility as a universal experience of…

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to discover if and to what extent a difference between virtual K-12 teachers' (VT) and K-12 traditional teachers'(TT) burnout for the components of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (D), and personal achievement (PA), as indicated on the Maslach Burnout Inventory --…

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to explore K-12 teachers' perspectives on distance learning and teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research questions that guided the study were: How do schoolteachers perceive online teaching during the pandemic? What advantages of online teaching did schoolteachers experience during the…

With the sudden movement to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a need to understand the impact on teachers and their ability to facilitate learning in the online setting during this time period in the hopes of understanding and improving on such practices in the future. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe teacher experiences of teacher-to-student technology-mediated communication (TMC) in secondary virtual school (VS) environments in Alabama. The central research question for this study was: How do virtual school teachers in Alabama describe their experiences of…

The proliferation of online learning during the past decade is believed to have addressed multiple challenges facing secondary and post-secondary educators, yet outcomes are still being weighed. This study of Alabama Agricultural Educators provided insights to the potential practice of online learning in agriculture education courses. Apart from…

This paper presents the results of a nationwide survey of educators for grades 6-12 who specialize in family and consumer sciences education (N=380). The paper examines teacher reports about their self-efficacy in online learning during the switch to off-campus instruction. Data revealed that district communication to teachers indicating that they…

A year of COVID-19 quarantine required educators to switch from in-person to virtual learning platforms, causing a dramatic reimagining of their daily praxis. Their experiences are likely to influence new norms for K-12 education. While virtual learning can be effective, student engagement, student retention, and student attention can be…

This white paper provides a snapshot of available policies and guidance related to online learning and students with disabilities from a small group of states that require online experience as part of high school graduation or report a higher number of online course enrollments. The Appendix allows for a quick scan of the following 12 elements…

Transformed into a large collaborative learning environment, the Internet is comprised of information reservoirs namely, (a) online classrooms, (b) social networks, and (c) virtual reality or simulated communities, to expeditiously create, reproduce, share, and deliver information into the hands of educators and students. Most importantly, the…

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,…

This report outlines how digital learning can connect middle and high school students with better teaching and learning experiences while also addressing three major challenges facing the nation's education system--access to good teaching, tight budgets, and boosting student achievement. But simply slapping a netbook on top of a textbook will 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…

As Internet technology encroached on the public school classroom about a decade ago, Kim Ross, superintendent of the Houston School District in Houston, Minnesota, saw an opportunity. At first, he and his administrative team simply wanted to offer students in the district of 1,300 access to more classes via the web than what a district that size…

Online teaching is a complex professional practice. In addition to their content knowledge and pedagogical skill, online teachers must be qualified in methods of teaching the content online and have experience in online learning. This document examines some of the aspects of online teaching, specifically those related to communication and…