About JOLR
ISSN# 2374-1473
The Journal of Online Learning Research (JOLR) is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the theoretical, empirical, and pragmatic understanding of technologies and their impact on pedagogy and policy in primary and secondary (K-12) online and blended environments.
Three issues are published annually. Each submitted manuscript goes through a rigorous blind peer review process. If accepted, article is then published in either the general research or international section. Additional information for each section is found below.
JOLR is Open Access, free-of-charge and distributed by LearnTechLib-The Learning and Technology Library. It is the official journal of the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). All have free, online access to all back issues via LearnTechLib–The Learning & Technology Library.
- Contents: Current Issue Contents & Abstracts or browse previous issues
- Subscribe: Individual or Library/Institution
- Submit: Author Guidelines
- Review: Review Policies, Reviewer Application, Review Board
- Editors: Mary Rice, Editor-in-chief, Michael Barbour, Associate Editor
- Alert: Sign-up for New Issue Alerts
Types of Articles
Research Section
Articles focus on research related to K-12 online and blended learning. Research articles can:
- Address online learning, catering particularly to the educators who research, practice, design, and/or administer in primary and secondary schooling in online settings. However, the journal also serves those educators who have chosen to blend online learning tools and strategies in their face-to-face classroom.
- Include qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research from multiple fields and disciplines that have a shared goal of improving primary and secondary education worldwide.
Research should be both theoretical and practical with implications for research, policy, and practice. Each research article is critically-reviewed by the editors and then undergoes a double blind-peer review process to ensure publication of rigorous and thoughtful research.
International Section
Articles focus on research related to online and blended learning with primary and secondary students in international contexts. Articles can include:
- State-of-a-nation reports that shares trends related to policy, growth, pedagogy, promises, and challenges in areas related to primary and secondary (K-12) distance, online and blended environments.
- Original, empirical research using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research that features participants from outside the United States.
Research should focus discussion on cross cultural connections and that may have implications for global educational settings. Each article is critically reviewed by the editors. It then undergoes a double blind-peer review process with reviewers who have international experience or background to ensure publication of rigorous and thoughtful research.
Practitioner Corner
Practitioner’s personal experiences with teaching and learning can provide valuable information about the contexts to which some researchers expect their findings to apply. Articles in the Practitioner Corner section should present detailed explanations and reflections on educational innovations. Ideally, these articles document problems posed in specific contexts, strategies tried, outcomes, and reflections on learning. Taken together, these articles should reveal trends in educational needs and everyday factors that influence K-12 distance, online, and blended learning. Articles in the Practitioner Corner section should go beyond “Did it work?” to explore how interventions function and the boundaries of their scalability (i.e., how could it be or what is stopping it from being implemented elsewhere?).
Articles in the Practitioner Corner section should contain a structured abstract using the format presented below. The body of the manuscript need not conform to the structure of the abstract.
- Context. Briefly summarize the context in which the intervention was implemented.
- Problem. Briefly state the practical learning or performance gap addressed by the intervention or other strategy and how the present intervention addresses the problem in a novel way
- Intervention. Briefly describe the strategy or intervention, specifying why it addresses the practical problem and was thought to improve upon previous approaches
- Outcomes. Briefly describe what happened to BOTH educational process AND outcomes when the intervention was implemented
- Lessons Learned. Briefly summarize lessons learned that other educators could use when attempting to address a similar practical problem – note this is not a summary of impact, but a reflection on what was learned about implementing the strategy
Articles in the Practitioner Corner section must be at least 1000 words but should be no more than 3500 words. Articles submitted to the Practitioner Corner section will not be sent through a traditional blind review process but will undergo an editorial review or a review by a topical expert.
Inquiries should be sent to Mary Rice.
Book Reviews
JOLR reserves a section for the scholarly review of current books that contribute to the literature related to K-12 online and blended learning. The aim of our Book Reviews is to engage distance educators in sharing their perspectives about new publications that contribute to the field. Book reviews should be composed in the following manner:
- Heading and Signature – Book title, author name, location, publisher, date of publication, book edition, number of pages, and ISBN. Ensure that the name of reviewer and their institutional affiliation is included.
- Introduction – The review should begin with an introduction to the topic and an overview of the content of the book. Describe the background and qualifications of the author. Who is the author’s intended audience? What is the author’s purpose and/or main thesis?
- Organization/Structure – What is the organization/structure of the book? How accurate and current is the information presented? Does the evidence support the conclusions?
- Significance to the Field and Overall Impression – How current is the information presented? How effective is the author’s method of developing the information? What is your assessment of the book’s major strengths and weaknesses? How does it compare with other works on the same subject? Does the book make a meaningful contribution to the literature? What are your overall comments and conclusions about the book?
Authors should aim for 1000-1500 words.
Indexed in leading indices including: ERIC, LearnTechLib-The Learning and Technology Library, Index Copernicus, GetCited, Google Scholar, and several others.
Call for Special Issue: Exploring (Dis)Engagement in K-12 Online and Blended Learning
Open access, no APC
Special Issue Editors
Dr Melissa Bond, University of South Australia
Dr Nina Bergdahl , Stockholm University
On behalf of the Journal of Online Learning Research editorial board, we are privileged to invite you to submit a paper for the upcoming special issue, entitled ‘Exploring (dis-)engagement in K-12 online and blended learning’, to be published in December 2022.
We are looking to attract approximately 4-6 high quality studies, which could be empirical, methodological or conceptual in nature. Please find the call for papers below, which outlines the issue, including possible topics and estimated timelines for publication.
We welcome you to submit your abstract (100-200 words) via winteredition.jolr@gmail.com by 1st April 2022.
Call for papers
Engaging students in learning is vital, and this multifaceted concept continues to be the subject of increasing interest across disciplines. The purpose of this special issue is to showcase studies that further contribute to insights into student (dis-)engagement in K-12 online and blended learning environments.
The editors are seeking contributions that approach (dis-)engagement from a variety of different methodologies and perspectives, underpinned by theoretical frameworks. While we will not be publishing literature reviews, we will strongly consider theoretical and methodological papers, and we would particularly welcome international research from a range of contexts.
We welcome research in online or blended learning environments. The topics may include, but are not excluded to:
- The behavioural, cognitive, affective/emotional and/or social dimensions of student engagement and/or disengagement
- Micro, meso, exo and macro levels of student engagement and/or disengagement
- The relationship between engagement and disengagement
- The role of parent engagement and/or disengagement in student learning
- The role that teachers and school leaders play in impacting student engagement
- Cross-cultural comparative studies that explore student engagement and/or disengagement in different contexts
- Using (dis-)engagement frameworks for evaluation in areas like quality, assessment and interventions
- Designing for engagement
- Ethical aspects of research on engagement and/or disengagement
- Engagement and/or disengagement in learning analytics and data-driven applications
Article length to be no longer than 10,000 words, including tables and references.
Estimated Timeline
1 April, 2022 – Abstracts submitted to editors up to 200 words
20 April, 2022 – Authors invited to submit a full paper
1 July 2022 – Full manuscripts submitted (http://publish.aace.org/begin/)
1 September, 2022 – Author notifications
1 October, 2022 – Final Revisions due
10 November, 2022 – Final Acceptances and send to copyediting
15 December, 2022 – Issue published
Queries can be directed to the editors via winteredition.jolr@gmail.com.
