K-12 Distance Learning

This issue of the State of the Nation: K-12 E-Learning in Canada report marks its 11th year, and the sixth year of the Canadian eLearning Network’s (CANeLearn) support of this research. This report follows the relatively extensive tenth anniversary edition and the annual report has undergone significant changes. This 11th issue describes changes that have occurred in relation to the governance and e-learning activity over the past year in the provinces and territories. The full jurisdictional profiles can be found on the report website at https://k12sotn.ca/data/. Additionally, any brief issue papers and vignettes received are simply introduced or referred to in this report, but are presented in full on the
website. The online version of the State of the Nation: K-12 E-Learning in Canada will continue to be a more comprehensive resource for e-learning in each jurisdiction.

While there have been no major changes in the nature of regulation governing K-12 distance and online learning activity in distance or online learning remains relatively stable. The 263,686 students or 5.1% proportion of students engaged in K-12 distance and online learning across the country was a slight decrease in the overall participation level from the previous two school years yet represents only approximately a half a percent proportion difference and, from a proportional standpoint, the number of K-12 students engaged in distance and online learning has remained relatively steady over the past six years. Yet at the same time estimates of blended learning activity have shown a sharp increase. However, estimates of blended learning continue to be a best effort attempt at trying to quantify this type of e-learning activity.

The State of the Nation: K-12 E-Learning in Canada report, and its accompanying publications on its project website, provides critical information and insight into how Canadian educational authorities and governments are integrating technology-supported approaches to prepare students for today’s economy and a future society in which the use of technology will be ubiquitous. This report and website provide a benchmark for educators and offers background, guidance, and ideas for the improvement of policy and practice in online and blended learning. The Canadian eLearning Network is a proud supporter and partner of this research, its publication, and the dissemination of its findings and supporting research publications.

While the use of distance and online learning at the K-12 level of growing exponentially, the availability of empirical evidence to help guide this growth is severely lacking. The author of this chapter provides an overview of the nature of K-12 distance and online learning today and a critical examination of the literature and – lack of research – supporting its use. The author further describes some of the methodological issues surround the limited among of existing research, and calls for researchers in this field to adopt practices that have been employed by their colleagues investigating adult populations over the past decades.

The research presented created a revised K-12 online course design rubric based off the iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses. The redesign was completed in three distinct phases, beginning with a literature review of the iNACOL standards that compared current K-12, higher education, and other related literature to each element found in the standards to test for content validity. Results of phase one showed that the iNACOL standards did match up to current literature. Phase two consisted of an expert panel review of the standards, along with phase one suggestions, over three rounds. Viewing the standards through the specific lens of K-12 online course design, the experts combined, revised, deleted, or kept individual elements. The end result was a revised rubric based off the original iNACOL standards. This revised rubric was field tested against current K-12 online courses in phase three. Four groups of two reviewers used the revised rubric to test the inter-rater reliability. While the overall results of the revised rubric did not meet the reliability threshold for percentages, specific elements did. Future research should consider why certain elements were successful (i.e. phrasing, type of question asked) while others were not. This study could also be replicated with other widely accepted standards to help strengthen or revise expert results.

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of structured discussion by giving participants in online discussion groups different roles in transactional distance perception and knowledge sharing behaviors. In the study, a quasi-experimental design was utilized with pretest and posttest control groups. The study was conducted with 111 first-year undergraduate students at a university for 10 weeks. Quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques were used in the study, and the data were obtained from the Transactional Distance Scale, Knowledge Sharing Behavior Scale, and Student Opinion Determination Form. The findings indicate that online discussions carried out by assigning roles to discussion group members (starter, moderator, arguer, source searcher, and summarizer) decreased students' transactional distance perceptions and improved knowledge sharing behaviors in online discussions. Different suggestions are offered about how to structure online discussions in accordance with the findings of the qualitative data analysis.

In Fall 2017, the Government of British Columbia (2017) began a review of the model that it uses to fund K-12 education.  In the press release announcing the members of the review panel, the Government (2018a) described the goal of the review was “to find a better way to provide equitable and predictable funding to boards of education” (¶ 5). As a part of this review, the government panel released a discussion paper that stated, among other things, that there was “an artificial division in the current model between ‘bricks-and-mortar’ and distributed learning, which should not exist” (Government of British Columbia, 2018d, p. 3).

The purpose of this brief is to examine the nature of distributed learning funding in British Columbia and how that compares to other jurisdictions in Canada and the United States.  This brief begins with an overview of the existing funding model in British Columbia with respect to distributed learning.  This is followed by a description of how distributed learning is funded and resourced in other Canadian jurisdictions.  The brief concludes with an exploration of the research literature related to funding distributed learning, most of which focuses on contexts in the United States.

This brief outlines how distributed learning funding models across Canada generally fall into one of three models.  First, the government directly funds and/or resources distributed learning opportunities.  Second, individual distributed learning programs charge a fee for students who enroll on a per course basis (often paid for by the school or school district).  Third, the government provides direct funding for the distributed learning program through FTEs/CEUs.  Interestingly, those Canadian jurisdictions that did fund distributed learning through FTEs/CEUs provided less funding for distributed learning enrollments compared to traditional brick-and-mortar enrollments.

The larger body of literature indicates that the American context generally follows the second for supplemental program and the third model for full-time programs.  However, it is important to understand the role of private enterprise in public education with respect to distributed learning in the United States, and the impact this has on the funding of full-time distributed learning programs.  There is also the issue of whether the government has the obligation to provide the same funding for public education regardless of the modality that education is delivered.  As Ministries of Education across Canada review and revise funding models in their jurisdictions, issues of equity and access to effective learning options must be considered.  Funding is a critical driver for educational practice.  The research community would serve students and schools well to keep funding models for K-12 education in the forefront of their work.

Like many K-12 online learning programs, the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS) began by utilizing vendor content to populate its online courses. In its fourth year, the IVHS began a concerted effort to design more of its own online course content internally. The aim of this chapter was to examine the support needed and application of tools used by IVHS course developers. The data consisted of a two-part, web-based survey and telephone interviews that were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inductive analysis. The results showed these developers had a strong desire to use interactive elements in their course as well as working in cooperative teams. Further, developers were opposed to using a forced template, but indicated a need for general structural guidance and additional professional development. Finally, developers recommended that subject matter teacher-developers and multimedia specialists be split into two separate roles, and these individuals work together as a part of a team. Further research should be conducted on the intended use of technology tools requested.

Low power and limited processing are characteristics of nodes in Wireless sensor networks. Therefore, optimal consumption of energy for WSN protocols seems essential. In a number of WSN applications, sensor nodes sense data periodically from environment and transfer it to the sink. Because of limitation in energy and selection of best route, for the purpose of increasing network remaining energy a node with most energy level will be used for transmission of data. The most part of energy in nodes is wasted on radio transmission; thus decreasing number of transferred packets in the network will result in increase in node and network lifetimes. In algorithms introduced for data transmission in such networks up to now, a single route is used for data transmissions that results in decrease in energy of nodes located on this route which in turn results in increasing of remaining energy. In this paper a new method is proposed for selection of data transmission route that is able to solve this problem. This method is based on learning automata that selects the route with regard to energy parameters and the distance to sink. In this method energy of network nodes finishes rather simultaneously preventing break down of network into two separate parts. This will result in increased lifetime. Simulation results show that this method has been very effective in increasing of remaining energy and it increases network lifetime.

White paper sponsored by the Online Learning Consortium.

https://olc-wordpress-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2018/06/Access-and-Accessibility-in-Digital-and-Online-Learning-Issues-in-Higher-Education-and-K-12-Contexts.pdf

Accessibility in K-12 and higher education is becoming an increasingly complex terrain to traverse as schools increase online materials and instructional delivery options. This white paper provides an overview of critical terms, legal precedents, and other considerations for course designers, instructors, and administrators as they work to improve the educational experiences of learners with disabilities.
Key questions around accessibility include the following:
1. How do national laws that govern disability access apply to online courses?
2. What case law exists to guide online course design and delivery in various educational
settings?
3. What issues emerge regarding online course access that might be unique to higher
education and to K-12 settings? What issues are shared?
4. What support do online course designers need in order to generate accessible courses for
learners across the life span (from K-12 to higher education)?

There is a shift occurring in education systems around the world, which could change the face of education as we have known it through blended and online learning. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the current e-learning initiatives and projects for students in secondary schools in Singapore. An overview of the Singapore education system, along with a more in depth look at the current e-Learning initiatives and how they evolved are shared. Finally, a specific look at how e-learning has been implemented within Singapore’s secondary schools is described. The research in this chapter looked at both the policy and practices happening within Singapore’s education system.

Many involved with the practice or study of K-12 online and blended learning are familiar with the American context. It surrounds us in the media and published research. However, online and blended learning is occurring in meaningful ways to address specific K-12 student needs all around the globe. There are several areas where the international practice is consistent with what we know about the United States (e.g., similar evolutions, early initiatives were government-funded, many of the labels are similar). At the same time, there are some key differences internationally. While far less is known about K-12 online and blended learning in international contexts, programs in these jurisdictions are just as keen to tell their own success stories and undertake cyclic research to improve the design, delivery, and facilitation of their programs. As American-based researchers, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that these research-based lessons are known to our various stakeholders.

This chapter provides an overview of the state of K-12 online, blended and distance education, or e-learning, in Canada. A summary of the history of K-12 e-learning and research is provided along with enrolment, current policy and legislation. A description of programs is provided along with an overview of practitioner-based organizations and consortia that have evolved to support e-learning programs in the country. A discussion of issues in K-12 e-learning and research are included and the chapter’s conclusion calls for more research and sharing of innovative practices emerging in Canada.

This paper presents a synthesis of reports and research on K-12 blended teaching competencies compared with K-12 online teaching competencies. The skills needed to teach in online and blended environments are distinct from traditional teaching, but teacher education programs often do not equip preservice teachers for the new modes of instruction. Additionally, there is a dearth of research on blended teaching competencies. This review synthesizes 8 blended teaching documents and 10 online teaching documents. Seven global themes identified in both competency domains are: (1) pedagogy, (2) management, (3) assessment, (4) technology, (5) instructional design, (6) dispositions, and (7) improvement. The top twenty blended teaching skills include: flexibility and personalization, mastery-based learning, data usage and interpretation, learning management system usage, online discussion facilitation, and software management. The authors recommend that researchers collect more methodologically transparent data about blended teaching, and that teacher education programs include the identified skills in curriculum.

This issue of the State of the Nation: K-12 E-Learning in Canada report marks its 10th year, and the fifth year of the Canadian eLearning Network’s (CANeLearn) support of this research. The report continues to be Canada’s own benchmark for the expanding use of technology-supported blended and online learning in Canada. The anniversary report continues the traditional incisive analysis of the state of K-12 e-learning in Canada as well as an expanded collection of research briefs and a description of several vignettes providing considerable insight about innovation and new approaches emerging in online and blended practices in K-12 programs across Canada. Full results of the research and work undertaken in this study, including all annual reports and associated papers, are published on the State of the Nation: K-12 E-Learning in Canada project website (http://k12sotn.ca/). This document provides a synopsis and overview of the published work on the comprehensive website.

Canada provides an interesting exemplar for the rest of the world, given its widely varying population and geography fostering comparisons with other countries/regions of similar population. With two official languages and a growing immigrant population combined with a rich indigenous population, Canadian schools offer online and blended learning programs in English, French, and in some cases Aboriginal languages, leading to comparisons with other English and French-speaking countries and those with significant indigenous populations.

The ‘Brief Issue Papers’ and ‘Vignettes’ published on the website capture some of this diversity of program and populations served. They make for particularly topical reading about the challenges and innovations underway in many places across the country, featuring some of the personalities of the online educators who are blending practice, creating learning programs and environments with a varied mix of classroom and online learning methodologies that increase flexibility and access to learning for students.

The State of the Nation: K-12 E-Learning in Canada report, and its accompanying publications on its project website, provides critical information and insight into how Canadian educational authorities and governments are integrating technology-supported approaches to prepare students for today’s economy and a future society in which the use of technology will be ubiquitous. This anniversary report and website provide a benchmark for educators and offers background, guidance, and ideas for the improvement of policy and practice in online and blended learning.