ABSTRACT
Distance education at the K-12 or primary and secondary level has a history that is almost as long as distance education within higher education (see Chapter 35 in this volume for a fuller history). K-12 online learning is a more recent phenomenon. In the United States the fi rst K-12 online learning program was developed by the private school Laurel Springs School’s online program around 1991, followed in 1994 by the Utah Electronic High School and the fi rst cyber charter school, Choice 2000 in California (Clark, 2003; Darrow, 2010). Th e fi rst entirely online schools were the Virtual High School Global Consortium (VHS) and the Florida Virtual School (FLVS), both created in 1997 (Friend & Johnston, 2005; Pape, Adams, & Ribeiro, 2005). Th ree years later Clark (2000) reported statewide virtual schools in Florida, New Mexico, and Utah, and three more in the planning stages (i.e., Illinois, Kentucky, and Michigan). Th e following year Clark (2001) indicated there were at least 14 states with existing or planned virtual schools. Th e growth in students participating in K-12 online learning increased in a similar fashion. Clark (2001) estimated that there were approximately 40,000 and 50,000 students-representing less than 0.001% of the K-12 student population-enrolled in one or more K-12 online learning courses during the 2000-2001 school year. Ten years later Watson, Murin, Vashaw, Gemin, and Rapp (2011) reported K-12 online learning activity in almost all 50 states, while Ambient Insights (2011) indicated that there were approximately 4 million students-representing approximately 6% of the K-12 student population-enrolled in K-12 online learning courses during the 2010-11 school year.
