As the number of students who are taking online or virtual courses have increased, RELs work in partnership with states and districts to 1) conduct original high quality research, 2) provide training, coaching, and technical support, and 3) disseminate high quality research findings about how to support this type of learning. A selected list of resources developed by the REL Program appears below.

Partnerships

• Iowa Learning and Technology Networked Improvement Community (REL Midwest)
• Florida Virtual School Partnership on Student Success in Online Learning (REL Southeast)
• VirtualSC Partnership on Student Success in Online Learning (REL Southeast)

Publications

• Academic Outcomes for North Carolina Virtual Public School Credit Recovery Students (REL Southeast, October 2016). The North Carolina Virtual Public School offers an online credit recovery program comprised of twelve core subject courses for students who do not pass high school courses required for graduation. To begin to evaluate the success of this program, and to expand our understanding of the degree to which virtual learning can be applied in situations typically addressed through more traditional routes, the REL Southeast is conducting a study of a) the demographics and academic outcomes of students enrolled in the credit recovery program, and b) comparisons of those outcomes to outcomes for students who participate in other credit recovery options available to North Carolina students.
• An Analysis of Student Engagement Patterns and Online Course Outcomes in Wisconsin (REL Midwest, July 2016). The purpose of the study was to identify distinct patterns—or trajectories—of students' engagement within their online courses over time and examine whether these patterns were associated with their academic outcomes in the online course. The study used data collected by Wisconsin Virtual School's learning management system and student information system.
• Online Credit Recovery: Enrollment and Passing Patterns in Montana Digital Academy Courses (REL Northwest, June 2016). This REL Northwest report addresses that gap by examining 2013/14 data from the Montana Digital Academy, the only statewide funded program offering online credit recovery courses in Montana. The report provides a descriptive analysis of course-enrollment and course-completion patterns and also draws on interviews with education leaders across Montana to provide context and to describe other credit recovery strategies in the state.
• Professional Experiences of Online Teachers in Wisconsin: Results from a Survey About Training and Challenges (November 2015, REL Midwest). This study analyzed the results of a survey administered to Wisconsin Virtual School teachers about the training in which they participated related to online instruction, the challenges they encounter while teaching online, and the type of training they thought would help them address those challenges.
• Comparing Success Rates for General and Credit Recovery Courses Online and Face to Face: Results for Florida High School Courses (REL Southeast, September 2015). This report describes the results of a REL Southeast study comparing student success in online credit recovery and general courses taken online compared to traditional face-to-face courses. This research question was motivated by the high use of online learning in the Southeast, particularly as a method to help students engage in credit recovery.
• Online Course Use in New York High Schools: Results from a Survey in the Greater Capital Region (REL Northeast and Islands, March 2015). As in most states, New York does not currently have a state-level protocol for collecting data about schools' objectives or methods for offering online courses. The goals of the study conducted by the REL Northeast & Islands' Northeast Rural Districts Research Alliance were (1) to create a survey tool capable of collecting information about how and why schools in New York are using online learning, as well as the factors that hinder the use of online courses; and (2) to provide information about how and why high schools in the Greater Capital Region of the state used online courses for their students.
• Online Course Use in Iowa and Wisconsin Public High Schools: The Results of Two Statewide Surveys (REL Midwest, January 2015). The purpose of the study conducted by REL Midwest in partnership with the Midwest Virtual Education Research Alliance was to develop and administer a survey to describe online course use in Iowa and Wisconsin brick-and-mortar public high schools during the 2012–13 school years.

Videos

• Collaborative Research and the Virtual Education Research Alliance (REL Midwest). Researchers Erin Stafford and Jackie Zweig discuss how REL Midwest's Virtual Education Research Alliance practices collaborative research with alliance members. Alliance members Mary Herring and Dawn Nordine share their thoughts.
• Virtual Education Research Alliance: Introduction and Value (REL Midwest). Lead researcher Peggy Clements and alliance lead Pam Jacobs introduce REL Midwest's Virtual Education Research Alliance.
• Virtual Education Research Alliance: Research Agenda and Findings (REL Midwest). Researcher Jackie Zweig discusses the research agenda of REL Midwest's Virtual Education Research Alliance. Alliance members Michelle Nickels and Dawn Nordine discuss the alliance's research findings.

Archived Webinars

• Is this Online Learning Program Affordable? A Toolkit to Analyze the Cost Feasibility of Supplemental Online Learning Programs (REL Appalachia, October 5, 2021). This session provided information about how cost-feasibility analysis can inform the decision-making process around piloting, initiating, scaling up, or sustaining supplemental online learning programs. Through hands-on activities, participants learn how to use the Cost-Feasibility Analysis Toolkit to facilitate their own analysis.
• Ideas Worth Keeping: Research-Based Strategies for Remote and Hybrid Instruction (REL Appalachia, August 5, 2021) This webinar supports educators in applying tried-and-true, evidence-based practices in remote and hybrid instruction to post-pandemic contexts. Based on partnership work in Tennessee, REL Appalachia staff introduce educators to resources and model strategies to support the delivery of high-quality remote or hybrid instruction, focused on promoting student engagement, monitoring student progress, and providing feedback to students.
• Research-Based Strategies for Effective Remote Learning: Designing Instruction for a Hybrid Model (March 24, 2021). This is the final of three workshops on effective methods for delivering online instruction to students in grades K-12. REL AP staff present ways to design instruction for a hybrid model. They identify key features of two types of hybrid instruction: (1) when students spend part of the week attending class in person and part attending remotely and (2) when teachers are simultaneously instructing a group of in-person students and a group of remote students.
• Research-Based Strategies for Effective Remote Learning: Student Engagement (REL Appalachia, December 8, 2020). This is the first of three webinars in a train-the-trainer series on research-based strategies for effective remote learning. During this webinar, REL Appalachia staff shared how educators can support students' physical, emotional, and mental engagement in a virtual setting.
• Learning Remotely in the Age of COVID-19: Lessons from Evidence and Concerns for Equity (REL Mid-Atlantic, April 14, 2020). The spread of COVID-19 has caused schools and districts across the country to shutter their doors. States, districts, and schools must suddenly and unexpectedly grapple with the new reality of providing a quality education to every student remotely. This webinar will: disseminate information about evidence-based practices and approaches in supporting effective remote learning, share a high-level framework to help inform decision making by states, districts, and schools in responding to remote learning, and highlight approaches to addressing equity concerns that arise from school closures.
• Blended learning in practice: Understanding the potential of using technology in the classroom (REL Mid-Atlantic, February 5, 2018). This recording of the webinar provides an overview of blended learning, research evidence on its effectiveness at improving student outcomes, and experiences implementing it in schools. The webinar drew content from an infographic that the Mid-Atlantic's Regional Educational Laboratory recently prepared on the effectiveness and implementation of blended learning. The webinar included experiences from district leaders in Delaware who shared their motivation to introduce blended learning and early implementation results.
• Meeting the Needs of Online Teachers (REL Midwest, February 8, 2016). REL Midwest and its Virtual Education Research Alliance hosted a webinar to explore the alignment of virtual education professional development with the challenges and preferences expressed by teachers.
• Professional Development for Online Teachers: How the Current Practice Reflects Existing Standards (REL Midwest, November 18, 2015). REL Midwest and its Virtual Education Research Alliance hosted a webinar designed to explore the teaching standards established by the Council of Chief State School Officers' Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) and the International Association for K–12 Online Learning (iNACOL).
• Using Online Courses to Expand Access to Algebra I (REL Northeast and Islands, May 17, 2012). Two new studies funded by the Institute for Education Sciences explore the impact of an online Algebra I course on student achievement. While the studies tested different interventions with different populations of students, both found that an online course could be effective at helping students learn Algebra.

Infographics

• Beyond the Virtual Classroom: Extending the Social Presence Model to Extracurricular Activities in Online Schools (REL Southeast)
• Effective Strategies Invented by Online Teachers (REL Southeast)
• Leveraging Technology to Provide Feedback on Student Work (REL Appalachia)
• What is Blended Learning? (REL Mid-Atlantic)
• Locating the latest research on K-12 online and blended learning (REL Southeast)
• Online Course Use in Iowa Public High Schools: Statewide Survey Results (REL Midwest)
• Online Course Use in Wisconsin Public High Schools: Statewide Survey Results (REL Midwest)
• Students with at Least Two Hours of Online Course Engagement per Week have Better Course Outcomes (REL Midwest)
• Online Course Use in New York High Schools (REL Northeast and Islands)

For more resources in ERIC on the topic of Online Courses, click here.