Online learning options provide the opportunity to engage, individualize instruction, and provide greater flexibility in academic offerings and learning environments, in a way that our traditional education system has often been challenged to do. For over two decades, online learning environments have redefined what it means “to go to school"; for hundreds of thousands of K-12 students; and over the past two months, millions of students and teachers have been thrust into teaching and learning online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This session provides insights regarding the history and growth of online learning in K-12 education in the U.S., provides a discussion on the benefits and challenges of online teaching and learning, and shares best practices for ensuring high-quality online learning implementations.

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Part of the CAST Professional Learning Free Webinar Series, Katie Novak gives a brief overview on the importance of instructor presence in online learning.

This study investigated online faculty familiarity, course design use, and professional development interest regarding universal design for learning (UDL) guidelines. The researchers surveyed all 2017 to 2018 online faculty at a large university in the southeastern United States. Findings included 71.6% of faculty reporting familiarity with at least one UDL guideline, with most respondents indicating familiarity with guidelines relating to perception, expression, and communication. Faculty reported the highest implementation of UDL guidelines was for those suggesting options for comprehension as well as expression and communication; the lowest implementation was for those suggesting options for physical action as well as language and support. Survey results also indicated high to moderate interest in learning more about all UDL guidelines, with emphasis on comprehension, persistence, and expression. This study suggests that faculty members desire UDL training and offers possibilities for planning and implementing such professional development in areas targeted to best meet the needs of online faculty.

Familiarity, Current Use, and Interest in Universal Design for Learning Among Online University Instructors by Carl D. Westine, Ph.D., Beth Oyarzun, Ph.D., Lynn Ahlgrim-Delzell, Ph.D., Amanda Casto, Cornelia Okraski, Gwitaek Park, Julie Person, and Lucy Steele is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.