With the proliferation of students' abilities to use technology, in particular virtual reality (VR) applications, teachers are experimenting with VR in virtual learning environments (VLE) to engage students; but clear ethics and safety guidelines are not available. Within the field of education additional research is needed to determine how VR is…

This article uses fixed effects models to estimate differences in contemporaneous and downstream academic outcomes for students who take courses virtually and face-to-face--both for initial attempts and for credit recovery. We find that while contemporaneous outcomes are positive for virtual students in both settings, downstream outcomes vary by…

This is a quantitative phenomenological study of the perceptions of principals of public secondary schools in rural Appalachian Ohio. The purpose of the study is to understand the experiences of the principals as online charter schools become feasible for students in their school district. A random sample of ten principals was obtained from the…

Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine and Comprehensive Cancer Center coordinate in-depth research immersion STEM programs to engage high school students in biomedical research and encourage pursuit of careers in health-related research and clinical care. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 programs were delivered entirely virtually. Student…

Just as they have in face-to-face courses, parents will likely play an important role in lowering online student attrition rates, but more research is needed that identifies ways parents can engage in their students' online learning. In this research we surveyed and interviewed 12 online teachers and 12 on-site facilitators regarding their…

This study was designed to explore how the electronic learning community (eLC) process at an established state virtual high school (SVHS) supported new and veteran online high school teachers through the communities of practice (CoP) framework. Specifically, this study focused on the institutionally-driven nature of the eLC process, using Wenger's…

Technology-enhanced learning has attracted increasing attention of educational community focused on improvement of traditional classroom learning. Augmented immersive reality (AIR) technologies enhance users' perception of reality by augmenting it with computer-generated components such as audio, video, 2/3-D graphics, GPS data, etc. The AIR…

Naming practices are inextricably linked to cultural values and social norms. Among Chinese English language learners, naming practices have been the focus of studies in both domestic and transnational contexts; however, teachers of Chinese as a foreign language have been largely overlooked. This case study seeks to address this gap by…

Approximately 40 to 60 percent of America's high school students are chronically disengaged (i.e., inattentive, exert little to no effort, do not complete tasks, and claim to be bored; National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2004). Disengagement is so widespread that it has been labeled the "Silent Epidemic" (Bridgeland et…

Technology is causing our world to change quickly. As a result, there has been a push to teach 21st century skills. This shift has caused school districts to increase expectations of teachers to use digital technologies to help student learning. To prepare teachers for the instructional shift, schools have increased opportunities for professional…

Multiple-source inquiry that involves collaboration and deliberation is a complex construct; accordingly, valid measurement of these related competencies should require students to demonstrate their collaborative inquiry and social deliberation skills as part of an integrated performance. In this article, we report findings from the first phase of…

Connections Academy is a full-time, tuition-free, virtual public school program that served more than 70,000 K-12 students in 27 states in the 2017-2018 school year. Pearson sought to explore how Connections Academy schools perform compared to the alternatives. This Research Report presents findings from two research studies: one…

Purpose: This paper aims to highlight a research on integrating technology into teaching and learning of second/foreign language writing. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 18 empirical studies, involving a total of 1,281 second and foreign language learners, have been reviewed. These studies are selected from the following two databases: Web…

STEM training of college-bound and college students has reliably employed hands-on experiential learning by placing students in on-campus research settings. Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center's Young Empowered Scientists for ContinUed Research Engagement (DF/HCC's YES for CURE) program introduces Massachusetts high school and college students from…

While higher education institutions seek to increase college admissions' predictions of student success, they have largely overlooked examining possible impacts of online distance education classes completed in high school. Using information from an undergraduate honors program, this study analyzed whether an indicator of undergraduate student…