Teaching in blended and online learning environments requires different pedagogical approaches than teaching in face-to-face learning environments. How educators are prepared to teach potentially impacts the quality of instruction provided in blended and online learning courses. Teaching presence is essential to achieving student learning…

The intent of this article is to introduce long-time "Online Learning" readership to the field of K-12 online learning while also providing direction for the K-12 online learning scholars about where the field is going or should be going in terms of meeting the needs of K-12 stakeholders. Recently an interview was conducted with Dr. Joe…

Students with disabilities represent a growing number of learners receiving education in K-12 fully online learning programs. They are, unfortunately, also a large segment of the online learning population who are not experiencing success in these environments. In response, scholars have recommended increasing instruction in self-regulation skills…

Despite the growth of its popularity in recent years, online learning has demonstrated high dropout rates compared to dropout rates in traditional face-to-face courses. Prior research attributes attrition to the physical isolation of students from one another and the lack of interaction between and among them--factors which foster feelings of…

Despite the pressure from potential employers and higher education administrators to develop students' global and intercultural competence, traditional study abroad programs simply are not feasible for many postsecondary students (Berdan & Johannes, 2014; Fischer, 2015). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an online…

Online learning has continued to grow in recent years. However, retaining students in online courses and programs has posed a challenge. Whether the university is public, private, offers both face-to-face and online programs, or is 100% online, retaining students in online programs can be an issue. This study reflects the widespread desire at a…

This article reports the findings of a study on the perceptions of faculty governance leaders to online and blended learning. For the purposes of this study, faculty governance was defined as formally established bodies in colleges and universities such as senates, councils, and collective bargaining organizations that are affiliated with the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate kinesiology students' experiences in an undergraduate online life span motor development course. This study was based on a theory of transactional distance (Moore, 1997). Seven undergraduate kinesiology majors (5 females, 2 males) enrolled in an online course at a Midwestern public university in the US…

This article examined a blended learning initiative in a large suburban high school in the Midwestern region of the United States. It employed a single-case exploratory design approach to learn about the experience of administrators, teachers, students, and parents. Using Zimmerman's Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) Theory as a guiding framework,…

Instructors play a role in helping online students develop a sense of community in virtual classrooms, but little is known about instructors' roles in online graduate programs. To explore the ways in which online instructors helped students create a learning community, defined as a space of connection, closeness and interactivity, the researcher…

This study explores the level of "social presence" or connectedness, in two iterations of a 13-month, graduate-level certificate program designed to help K-12 school leaders integrate technology in their districts. Vygotsky's Social Development Theory serves as the theoretical lens for this programmatic research. The methods include a…

Social support and face-to-face learning may enhance outcomes for students who face barriers in accessing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). This study investigated how self-identified volunteer leaders guide and foster interactions among small groups of students who face technical and conceptual barriers in accessing MOOC content. Several…

As online education continues to expand across varied educational sectors, so does the demand for professional development programs to guide academic teaching staff through the processes of developing their capacities to design and teach online courses. To meet these challenges at one higher education institution, a mixed methods research study…

Due to the challenges facing rural schools, many jurisdictions have resorted to the use of virtual school programs to provide curricular opportunities to their students. While the number of virtual schools that rely on synchronous instruction as a primary or significant method of delivery is quite small, there are some programs that do (and a…

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…