Virtual Schools: A Global Perspective

Abstract

Each year, millions of K-12 students study one or more courses at a distance. Although the highest participation has been from learners in the USA, online flexible and distance K-12 schooling has become available to students from many countries around the globe. Its implementation and evolution is due, in part, to the varied ecosystems in which it appears. It began as a sharing economy; it now includes for-profit, nonprofit, and mixed business models that impact whole education systems and may continue to spread globally. Virtual schooling (VS) research overlaps in some ways with research in both traditional K-12 schooling and postsecondary online education. However, given its unique nature, research also specifically addresses virtual schooling's benefits, challenges, strategies, services, and varied impacts on educational systems. This chapter provides an organizational perspective on K-12 online distance education. It includes a synthesis of the research and a discussion of the misconceptions of roles and responsibilities. The chapter concludes with a detailed illustration of a nonprofit service, depicted within (Davis 2018, pp. 99-127) Global Arena Framework to clarify its complexity and potential.