Ferdig, R., Litz, T. Niess, M., Davis, A., Marcovitz, D., Archambault, L., Rice, K., Barbour, M. K., Garrett-Dikkers, A., & Whiteside, A. (2017, March). SITE Joint SIG Symposia: A collaboration between the K-12 Online Learning SIG and Distance Learning SIG: How higher education and K-12 online learning research can impact each other. A panel presentation at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education conference, Austin, TX.

1. What Can K-12 Online
Learning Learn From the
Higher Education Literature?
Michael K. Barbour
Associate Professor, Instructional Design
Touro University, California

2. Background
• a MVLRI report (soon to be released)
• asked to examine 6-8 studies from higher education
that could be used to provide lessons for the
practice and research in K-12 online and blended
learning
• soliciting suggestions from a snowball sample of K-
12 online and blended learning educators
• examined highly cited articles from prominent
educational technology and distance education
journals

3. Current State of the Field
• 4 main reviews summarizing the state of literature
o Rice (2006)
o Barbour & Reeves (2009)
o Cavanaugh, Barbour & Clark (2009)
o Hasler Waters, Barbour, & Menchaca (2014)
1. Effectiveness of K-12 online learning
2. Examinations of the qualities and characteristics of
the online teaching and learning experience

4. Current State of the Field
• “a paucity of research exists when examining
high school students enrolled in virtual schools,
and the research base is smaller still when the
population of students is further narrowed to
the elementary grades” (Rice, 2006)
• a number of scholars have documented the
absence of rigorous reviews of virtual schools
(Barbour & Reeves, 2009)

5. Current State of the Field
• “based upon the personal experiences of those
involved in the practice of virtual schooling”
(Cavanaugh et al., 2009)
• “in many ways, this [was] indicative of the
foundational descriptive work that often
precedes experimentation in any scientific field”
(Cavanaugh et al., 2009)

6. Maturing As a Field
• K-12 online and blended learning isn’t going
away and, likely, isn’t decreasing in usage
• Researchers need to stop asking it is as effective
as brick-and-mortar instruction
• The literature documents teachers inability to
adequately judge their pedagogical actions
• Students do not have the expertise to know
what is best from an educational perspective
• Researchers need to stop conducting studies
focused primarily on perception data in isolation

7. Maturing As a Field
• There are almost no models, conceptual
frameworks or theories focused on K-12 online and
blended learning
• Most K-12 online and blended learning research is
theoretical
• Researchers need to begin to develop or adopt
models, conceptual frameworks or theoretical
foundations to guide their research
• Given this reality, there are few recognized tools
• Researchers need to created and/or use validated
instruments to test models, conceptual frameworks
and theoretical foundations

8. Maturing As a Field
• At various times and by various authors, we have
distance, virtual or K-12 online learning; virtual,
cyber or electronic schools; blended or hybrid
learning; etc.
• Researchers need to defining the characteristics of
what is being researched and be consistent in their
use of terms
• The spectrum of K-12 online and blended learning
is varied on numerous fronts.
• Researchers need to focus their efforts on
addressing the challenges of individual programs

9. Associate Professor, Instructional Design
Touro University, California
mkbarbour@gmail.com
http://www.michaelbarbour.com
http://virtualschooling.wordpress.com