K-12 online learning journal articles: trends from two decades of scholarship
I this study, we examined the research literature in the field of K- 12 online learning to identify the leading scholars, journals, top cited articles, research methods, and topics in this field of inquiry. Our research process involved collecting a corpus of journal arti- cles focused on K-12 online and distance learning; categorizing these articles according to their research methodologies; analyzing trends not only in methodologies employed but also in author- ship, citations, journals, and topics addressed. We found the field of K-12 online learning to be growing rapidly in recent years with acceleration not only of new articles but especially of new authors. We also found the field began primarily with emphasizing theore- tical articles but is now maturing and emphasizing increasingly more data-based articles. We found K-12 online learning scholar- ship is scattered among many journals, providing rich opportu- nities for scholars while also making it more difficult to discern trends across the discipline.
