The integration of technology in classrooms is rapidly emerging as a way to provide more educational opportunities for students. As virtual learning environments become more popular, evaluating the impact of this technology on student success is vital. Exploring the Effectiveness of Online Education in K-12 Environments combines empirical evidence and best practices in current K-12 distance learning and virtual schools. Emphasizing current research and opportunities, this book is an all-inclusive reference source for administrators, teachers, researchers, teacher educators, and policymakers interested in the development and implementation of blended and electronic learning in primary and secondary education.

"This book combines empirical evidence and best practices in current K-12 distance learning and virtual schools, emphasizing current research and opportunities for administrators, teachers, researchers, teacher educators, and policymakers interested in the development and implementation of blended and electronic learning in primary and secondary education"--

It has quickly become apparent in the past year that online learning is not only an asset, but it is critical to the continued education of youth during times of crisis. However, districts and schools across the nation are in need of guidance and practical, research-backed approaches to distance and hybrid learning. The current COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that effective learning in K-12 is possible, but many districts struggled and continue to struggle in achieving that reality. There is also the growing consensus that even if things “return to normal,” distance and blended learning strategies should continue to be employed in many ways across the K-12 environment. Designing Effective Distance and Blended Learning Environments in K-12 provides key insights into the ways that school districts and educators from across the world have effectively designed and implemented distance and blended learning approaches to enable and enhance student learning. The diverse collection of authors from various demographics and roles in school systems will benefit readers across a wide spectrum of school community stakeholders. There will also be an emphasis on how research and theory is put into practice, along with an honest discussion of what strategies and actions were successful as well as those that were less so. This book is essential for professionals and researchers working in the field of K-12 education, particularly superintendents, curriculum developers, professional learning designers, school principals, instructional technology specialists, and teachers, as well as administrators, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the effective practices being used in blended learning approaches.

In the current educational environment, there has been a shift towards online learning as a replacement for the traditional in-person classroom experience. With this new environment comes new technologies, benefits, and challenges for providing courses to students through an entirely digital environment. With this shift comes the necessary research on how to utilize these online courses and how to develop effective online educational materials that fit student needs and encourage student learning, motivation, and success. The optimization of these online tools requires a deeper look into curriculum, instructional design, teaching techniques, and new models for student assessment and evaluation. Information on how to create valuable online course content, engaging lesson plans for the digital space, and meaningful student activities online are only a few of many current topics of interest for promoting student achievement through online learning. The Research Anthology on Developing Effective Online Learning Courses provides multiple perspectives on how to develop engaging and effective online learning courses in the wake of the rapid digitalization of education. This book includes topics focused on online learners, online course content, effective online instruction strategies, and instructional design for the online environment. This reference work is ideal for curriculum developers, instructional designers, IT consultants, deans, chairs, teachers, administrators, academicians, researchers, and students interested in the latest research on how to create online learning courses that promote student success.

National efforts have been made to encourage technology integration in teacher preparation with expectations for frequent and successful applications with K-12 learners. While online learning has become pervasive in many fields in education, it has been somewhat slow to catch on in K-12 settings. The Handbook of Research on Emerging Practices and Methods for K-12 Online and Blended Learning is a collection of innovative research on the applications of technology in online and blended learning environments in order to develop quality courses, explore how content is delivered across disciplines and settings, and support the formation of relationships and enrichment opportunities. While highlighting topics including learning initiatives, institutional policies, and program structures, this book is ideally designed for teachers, principals, early childhood development centers, university faculty, administrators, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners.

Our goal with this book, Research on Enhancing the Interactivity of Online Learning, is to present a juried, scholarly, and accessible review of research, theory, and/or policy on specific issues of interactive online learning for K-16 educators, administrators, and students of online learning. Online learning has become the norm rather than the exception for many of today’s students. Instructors are more willing to explore online learning options, students are enrolling in record numbers and colleges, as well as many K-12 institutions, are offering more online courses. As educators, we have more tools than ever to ensure online course success, but just as with a traditional class, we must continue to place emphasis on good pedagogy. To achieve good pedagogy, online teaching takes additional time and a restructuring of course content by the instructor. Student issues include coping strategies, ease of navigation, skills required to complete the course, availability of online resources, feedback from the instructor, and collaborative, interactive learning opportunities. Principles of interactive online learning are new to many, and this book provides a forum for interactive online learning research while also including ideas that enhance both the practical and theoretical aspects of interactive online learning. The editors have included chapters that can further knowledge and understanding of emerging trends and foster debate regarding issues that surround interactive online learning.

Educators play a significant role in the intellectual and social development of children and young adults. Thus, it is important for next-generation teachers to have a strong educational background, as it serves as the foundation to their understanding of learning processes, leadership, and best practices in the field of education. Innovative Practices in Teacher Preparation and Graduate-Level Teacher Education Programs presents critical and relevant research on methods by which future educators in high-level courses are equipped and instructed in order to promote the best experience in academic scholarship. Featuring discussion on a diverse assortment of topics, such as social justice for English language learners, field-based teacher education, and student satisfaction in graduate programs, this publication is directed at academicians, students, and researchers seeking modern research on the approaches taken by instructors to qualify and engage future educators.

Educational technologies are vastly becoming a common-place entity in classrooms as they provide more options and support for teachers and students. However, many teachers are finding these technologies difficult to use as they were never fully trained on how to utilize it or have received little instruction on how to effectively apply it in the classroom. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Framework for K-12 Teacher Preparation: Emerging Research and Opportunities features contemporary insights into a multi-year research effort that concluded with the design and development of an online TPACK learning trajectory. Highlighting how this development impacts the design of professional development coursework for educators, this publication is a critical work for in-service teachers, researchers, and online course developers.

Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has greatly enhanced the realm of online social interaction and behavior. In language classrooms, it allows the opportunity for students to enhance their learning experiences. Exploration of Textual Interactions in CALL Learning Communities: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an ideal source of academic research on the pedagogical implications of online communication in language learning environments. Highlighting perspectives on topics such as reduced forms, ellipsis, and learner autonomy, this book is ideally designed for educators, researchers, graduate students, and professionals interested in the role of computer-mediated communication in language learning.

The ability to effective learn, process, and retain new information is critical to the success of any student. Since mathematics are becoming increasingly more important in our educational systems, it is imperative that we devise an efficient system to measure these types of information recall. Assessing and Measuring Statistics Cognition in Higher Education Online Environments: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a critical reference source that overviews the current state of higher education learning assessment systems. Featuring extensive coverage on relevant topics such as statistical cognitions, online learning implications, cognitive development, and curricular mismatches, this publication is ideally designed for academics, students, educators, professionals, and researchers seeking innovative perspectives on current assessment and measurement systems within our educational facilities.