Chapter 2
Online Learning in the k-12 Setting
For many years the number of undergraduate and graduate college students
enrolled in online courses has grown. Online learning originally started in the mid-
1990’s at the start of the pandemic, when many students were experiencing online
learning for the first time, only 2% of U.S students had any experience being enrolled in
a virtual school (Jackson, 2021). Many parents of K-12 students chose to enroll their
students in online options instead of attending in person school. One reason for this was
that many public school districts faced various challenges during the COVID-19
pandemic. Some families decided to enroll their students in a corporate online school
like K12. It is important that parents understand what their role is when their students
enrolls in a virtual school. An elementary students enrolled in a virtual school will still
require some parental supervision and facilitation to successfully complete tasks and
attend classes online. Middle and high school students often have the ability to navigate
their online.
ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORMS
Classes and communicate with their teachers independently. However, it is still
necessary for parents in intervene if students do not meet certain expectations. Some
instances where parental support is needed would be when an online student struggling
with work completion or displays a lack of engagement (Jackson, 2021). There are
three different types of online courses. The first online, which is where most or all of the
content is delivered online. To be considered an online course, at least 80% of a
student’s time must be spent doing online activities. The second type of online course is
blended/hybrid. This method blends online and face-to-face delivery, where 30% to 79%
of the material is delivered online. Lastly is Web-Facilitated, which uses web-based
technology to facilitate a face-to-face class. In this method 1% To 29% of the content
must be delivered online (Picciano, 2007). Through the research included, it was found
that many articles explored different factors of online learning platforms. These articles
looked at several areas of concern with how students were impacted by online learning.
Several articles discussed a lack of engagement among online learners. Another area
of concern was students’ academic achievement in an online class. Finally, the last area
of concern was student satisfaction in an online class and what factors contribute to
that. As more of our curriculum and classes shift to online platforms, it should be
understood how these areas of concern are connected and how teachers can address
these factors in their classes.
Student Engagement
When it comes to online learning platforms, lack of proficiency among educators can
lead to a lack of students engagement. Corporate virtual schools have curriculums that
are specifically designed to support online learning. In contrast, when public schools
were forced to shift to online learning during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many
public K-12 teachers.
ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORMS
Did not have adequate online resources and curriculum to support their students in a
virtual environment (Jackson, 2021). A study completed by Norah Mansour Almusharraf
(2020) considered how collaborative learning promotes students engagement online.
The study looked at technological tools such as the Learning Management System
(LMS), Google Classroom, and Google hangouts. In the article, “A multimedia-rich
Platform to Enhance Student Engagement and Learning in an Online Environment,’’
they considered how multimedia tools used in online learning impacted student
engagement (Scott, 2014). In the study, online college students taking a psychology
course were provided a virtual counseling office and classroom where it was clearly
marked how to find the syllabus, class calendar, activities, research assignments, etc.
At the end of the course, students were surveyed about how they like the virtual
counseling office and 91% said they liked the virtual classroom (Scott, 2014). Many
studies found that engagement played an important factor in contributing to academic
achievement in an online course. One study found that continuous learning activities
had a stronger impact on academic achievement than a final learning activity or
assessment (Rajabalee, 2020). In summary, the sources and online learning platforms
teachers use during online learning can have a major impact on student engagement in
an online class.