The First International School Choice/Reform Conference brought together some of the leading researchers in school choice and reform issues along with a number of other individuals who are involved with the struggle to improve schools across the country.

I presented a paper about pitfalls to interpreting the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which was very well received, even by one researcher who had raised a number of challenges to other talks (while my paper is now in press for publication in the new Journal of Education Choice, you can get an idea of the problems I discussed here).

I was especially glad to learn that one of the co-panelists in my breakout session at the conference was Allison Powell. She is from iNACOL, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning. Allison presented a new report from iNACOL about “Online and Blended Learning: A Survey of Policy and Practice of K-12 Schools Around the World.”

This document is going to be a valuable reference for me and others working with ideas for improving on line learning options for our kids. There are summaries of digital learning efforts in many countries from all around the world plus an interesting overall analysis of common trends, issues and challenges found in many of the listed countries.

There is a heads up for us in the US buried behind the scenes in this new iNACOL report – we are not alone in pursuing digital learning. Many other countries are picking up this powerful tool, as well.

You can see some of my quick notes from the report about international trends by clicking the “Read more” link.

A few notes on international trends:

• On line and blended learning (where traditional classroom teachers use on line support for part of their presentations) are now found in countries around the world, thought the best opportunities, not surprisingly, are found in more developed regions.

• Growth in digital learning works best when there is cooperation between local and national governmental structures.

• China now has over 200 on line schools with 600,000+ enrollment.

• Thailand now has hundreds of e-learning schools.

• Indonesia has a web site dedicated to sharing materials like lessons, test banks and interactive multimedia for many academic subjects.

• Teacher training to interface with digital learning is still evolving, and most countries do not currently have special certification requirements. However 72 percent of the countries iNACOL surveyed are conducting professional development for teachers using blended learning or working in a totally on line environment.

• At present, there is much more blended learning than totally on line learning around the world.

• Full on line learning is most prevalent for students with special needs that prevent their attendance in a regular classroom. However, New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, China and British Columbia do have widespread on line learning programs now. For example, about 12 percent of the entire student enrollment in British Columbia get either all or a portion of their education from on line courses.