Monthly Archives: March 2009

Cavanaugh, Barbour and Clark have recently published a literature review on open access in the most recent issue of IRRODL. Surprisingly, the literature review focuses on distance education in K-12, rather than higher education. From the article:

To date, the literature on virtual schooling has concentrated upon first defining and then describing the benefits and the challenges of K-12 online learning. The research in the field in the earlier years (i.e., 1990s) focused on the effectiveness of virtual schooling by comparing it to traditional schooling and issues surrounding student readiness for and retention in virtual schooling. In recent years (i.e., post-2000), the growing body of literature shifted to a refined description of practice and outcomes in virtual schools. Our analysis of the open access literature indicated that a majority of that literature focused on statewide and consortium/multi-district virtual schools, the roles of teachers and administrators, the promise of virtual schooling and its initial rationale for implementation, administrative challenges, the technology utilized, and interaction with students.