A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning.

and was written by John Watson of the Evergreen Education Group. Given the fast pace of change in the K-12 online learning field, it is a testament to the foresight of the first report's authors and reviewers that the concepts and issues presented in the initial edition are still quite applicable for today's online learning landscape. Of course that same fast pace of change has resulted in many of the details in the 3+ year old report no longer being accurate. This second edition of the National Primer continues to maintain a focus on presenting the basics of K-12 online learning useful for policy makers and practitioners alike, while presenting the most current information available. In addition to providing financial support, each of these companies provided knowledgeable online learning professionals to guide and review the development of this report: Gregg Levin and Hanne Rousing of Aventa Learning, In addition to the first edition of the National Primer, this report also takes some information from The Michigan Online Learning Report. The Michigan report, commissioned by the Michigan Virtual University, was published in January, 2008 and was adapted from the National Primer while providing a focus on Michigan-specific issues. This report also benefits from many other researchers and practitioners in online learning, many of whom are cited throughout the report. In particular the work of iNACOL as well as the guidance provided by Susan Patrick and Allison Powell has been very helpful. Finally, while the influence of John Watson on this report should already be clearly evident, his ongoing mentoring and guidance is very much appreciated.