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Virtual Schools are Virtually Here: Now What?

A National Perspective

Matthew WicksChief Operating OfficerInternational Association for K-12 Online Learning

International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL)• iNACOL is the premier K-12 nonprofit in online learning

• Provides leadership, advocacy, research, training, and networking with experts in K-12 online learning.– 4200+ members in K-12 virtual schools and online learning representing over 50

countries– Annual conference – Virtual School Symposium (VSS): New Orleans in October

2012• “Ensure every student has access to the best education available regardless of

geography, income or background.” • Next Generation Learning Challenges – Gates Foundation• Our strategic areas of focus in online and blended learning:

1. Policy2. Quality3. New Learning Models

U.S. Online Learning Facts• 4 states require online learning for high school

graduation

• 50% of employers use e-learning for training

• 1 in 4 undergraduate and graduate student enrolls in an online course in higher education; 5.9 million college students take online courses.

• 82% of school districts had one or more students in a fully-online or blended course

• More universities are offering K-12 courses online

U.S. Online Learning Facts• There were an estimated 1,816,400 enrollments in distance-

education courses in K-12 school districts in 2009-2010, almost all of which were online courses. 74% of these enrollments were in high schools.

• This estimate does not include students enrolled in most full-time online schools which were approximately 200,000 students in 2009-2010 and 250,000 students in 2010-2011

• These figures represent phenomenal growth as a decade ago, it was estimated there were 40,000-50,000 enrollments in K-12 online education

• The top reasons why school districts make online learning opportunities available to their students is to provide courses not otherwise available at their school, and to providing opportunities for students to recover course credits from classes missed or failed.

Definitions

Online learning – Education in which instruction and content are delivered primarily over theInternet. (Watson & Kalmon, 2005)

Blended learning – When a student learns at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and at least in part through online delivery with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace; often used synonymously with Hybrid Learning. (Horn and Staker, 2011)

Online school – A formally constituted organization (public, private, state, charter, etc.) that offers full-time education delivered primarily over the Internet.

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Online Learning and Students with Disabilities

Online Learning Demographics

Source: Glick, David. The Demographics of Online Students and Teachers in the United States 2010-11. August, 2011.

Online Learning Demographics

Source: Glick, David. The Demographics of Online Students and Teachers in the United States 2010-11. August, 2011.

K12, Inc. 2010 IEP/504 Students

Approximately 7K students

(10% of total)

Autism; 1% Traumatic Brain In-jury; 0%

Specific Learning Disability; 4%

Emotionally Dis-turbed; 1%

Cognitive Disability (mental retarda-

tion); 0%

Multiple Disabili-ties; 0%

Speech Language; 1%

Other Health Impaired; 2%

Visually Impaired; 0% Hearing Impaired; 0% Orthopedically (physically) impaired; 0% Other (please identify); 0%

Top 6 Challenges for Serving Students with Disabilities through Online Learning

1. Student Motivation and Engagement / Providing Student Support

2. Coordination with students’ local school district / getting students’ records

3. Deficiency in curriculum

4. Lack of proper parental support/involvement

5. Lack of staff / lack of time

6. Difficulty in identifying studentsSource: iNACOL April-May 2011 Membership Survey, n=73

Example of Effective PracticeHamilton County Virtual School (TN)

• Summer Blended Learning Program for elementary and middle school students. Students attend physical school, but utilize online content.

• Program is for most at-risk Title 1 students, which include many students with learning disabilities

• Utilize data from previous school year and online assessments to identify academic gaps to create personalized learning plan

• Teachers are available for in-person assistance

Example of Effective PracticeIllinois Virtual High School

• IVHS is a state virtual school that provides supplemental online courses to public, private, and home schooled students.

• As number of students with IEPs increased, online teachers felt unprepared to effectively serve these students.

• Solution: Hired special education teacher with responsibility to translate IEPs accommodations to the online environment and work with online teachers in the implementation of the IEP.

National Efforts• NCLD Online Learning Task Force headed by Judy Elliott.

Possible results include:– Identify best practices and provide resources– Offer professional development experiences– Establish mentoring network

• Newly created OSEP Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities– Contract awarded to the University of Kansas Center for Research on

Learning in partnership with CAST and NASDSE– Mission: To research how online learning can be made more

accessible, engaging, and effective for K-12 learners with disabilities by investigating approaches that address learner variability within the range of conditions under which online learning occurs.