Online and Blended Learning: A Survey of Policy and Practice from K-12 Schools around the World

In 2006, the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) conducted its first international survey, researching how other countries were implementing online and blended learning opportunities for their primary and secondary (K-12) students. As the pace of growth of online and blended learning has grown at an average of over 30% each year for the past 10 years across the United States, there have been several requests to update the research done from "An International Perspective of K-12 Online Learning: A Summary of the 2006 NACOL International E-Learning Survey." As a result, iNACOL undertook the project to produce a new report on the international state of K-12 online learning with the assistance of several members of the iNACOL Research Committee. This international survey of policy and practice of schools around the world aims at adding to the body of knowledge about online and blended education policy and practice for policymakers and practitioners around the world. The report also serves as a reference source for information about programs and policies for those who are new to online and blended learning and for those who have extensive experience in the field. After the introduction, which includes the methodology of the report, a summary of online and blended learning is shared. It provides definitions of the terms used in this report as well as the state of K-12 online and blended learning for those new to the field. Key trends, issues, and challenges found from the data reported in the survey are discussed in the next section of the report. It begins with the current trends, followed by the issues of those countries that are currently providing online and blended learning opportunities for students in their primary and secondary schools. The challenges facing the countries that have not yet started implementing these opportunities are also discussed in this section. The next section of the report provides summaries of the nine countries that provided a case study for the book published by iNACOL, "Online and Blended Learning: Case Studies of K-12 Schools Around the World." These summaries will serve as an introduction to the activities happening in these countries, which have an established history of offering K-12 online and blended learning. The conclusion gives a summary of what is happening in each major grouping of countries, as well as a brief comparison of the state of online learning in the United States of America as reported from