ABSTRACT
This chapter considers some of the challenges that the potential automation of K-12 schooling is posing for educational systems worldwide, particularly in the United States. The conceptions that adults have of K-12 online teaching are strongly influenced by their years of experiences and exposure to different teaching and learning situations and contexts. The chapter presents a global perspective on the phenomenon of online teaching that has become known as virtual schooling. A contrast between the evolution of online teaching in Aotearoa New Zealand and in the United States provides very strong evidence of the need to take a global view of changes with digital technologies in education. While there is no doubt that the visionary leadership of Gail Wortmann and Pam Pfitzenmaier was influential on the evolutionary processes, all the ecosystems in the Arena are in reality self-organizing. The chapter considers this point by considering the surrounding sectors of the Arena in this order: community, professional, resources, political, and bureaucratic.
