File:Deliverable VISCED D3.8 Innovative Good Practice Final v1.0.pdf

This report is based on the results of a literature review on the topic of innovative good practice for teachers.

Most of the literature to date on virtual schooling has concentrated upon first defining and then describing the benefits and the challenges of online learning at the primary and secondary (K-12) level (Cavanaugh et al. 2009). It is only in recent years that researchers have set their sights on specifically identifying good practice in virtual teaching and learning – and indeed, what it takes to deploy a new online programme in the first place. The research base in K-12 distance education continues to expand, and includes both comparative studies and studies that attempt to identify the factors associated with instructional quality and effectiveness (Rice 2006). This is a complex topic, in which the complementary strands of pedagogy and teaching methodologies must be considered in the context of both technological use and administrative realities.

Based on a survey of the literature on innovation and good practice in virtual schools (undertaken in 2011 and then updated in 2012), this report seeks to provide general analysis and preliminary recommendations for innovative good practice in creating and developing virtual schools.