Purpose The study aims to systematically review and synthesize findings from peer-reviewed empirical and conceptual studies published between 2020 and 2025 to examine how AI is presently conceptualized, designed and enacted within distance education learning environments. Design/methodology/approach This review employed a systematic synthesis approach to examine how AI is conceptualized, implemented and studied within distance education contexts. In total, 56 peer reviewed articles were included in the systematic review. The process proceeded in iterative phases. Each article was read in full, with analytic notes created to capture research purposes, AI functions, learning contexts, methodological approaches, findings and implications. Particular attention was given to how the studies conceptualized the role of AI, whether as a tutor, tool, assessor, collaborator, facilitator of self-regulation or institutional mechanism, and how these conceptualizations aligned with distance education delivery. Four interconnected themes that structure discourse on AI in distance education emerged from the review. Findings The review identifies four interrelated themes that capture the evolving role of AI in distance education: (1) AI-driven personalization, learner modeling and adaptative support; (2) AI-mediated assessment, feedback and learning facilitation; (3) human–AI interaction, learning processes and pedagogical transformation and (4) AI governance, fairness, integrity and equity. Research limitations/implications A primary limitation concerns the limited number of studies included in this synthesis. Because the 56 articles included in this review were preselected and provided in full text, the analysis does not claim to represent the entirety of global research on AI in distance education during the period under study. While this approach enabled deep examination in education, it may omit relevant studies published in adjacent fields or disciplinary contexts. Future research would benefit from systematic searches across broader databases and inclusion criteria that capture emerging work in related domains such as computational education research, human–computer interaction and learning sciences. A second limitation is the lack of longitudinal evidence. Most studies reviewed relied on short-term interventions or cross-sectional data, making it difficult to assess the sustained effects of AI on learning, motivation or institutional practices. Longitudinal research is needed to understand how learner's relationships with AI evolve over time, how instructors adapt their pedagogical strategies in response to AI integration, and how institutional policies shift as AI becomes more entrenched in distance education environments. Practical implications In addition to the four themes used to guide discourse involving AI and distance education, what emerges from this systematic review is an understanding that the impacts of AI in distance education extend far beyond technological features. AI reorganizes relationships among learners, teachers and institutions, requiring new pedagogical competencies, new forms of collaboration and new frameworks for accountability. For distance education, long committed to principles of access, flexibility and learner empowerment, the challenge is to integrate AI in ways that uphold these values while leveraging the technology's potential to support high-quality learning. Social implications Educators and institutions must adopt intentional, theory-informed and ethically grounded approaches to AI design and implementation. They must cultivate AI literacies among learners and instructors, develop governance structures that focus on fairness and transparency and invest in research that examines AI's long-term effects on learning and teaching. Through such efforts, the field can move toward forms of AI integration that enhance rather than compromise the core mission of distance education. Originality/value The rapid expansion of AI in distance education presents both transformational opportunities and profound responsibilities. By synthesizing evidence across diverse contexts and methodological traditions, this review provides a foundation for navigating these complexities and for shaping the future of AI-enabled distance education in ways that are pedagogically sound, ethically responsible and attuned to the needs and agency of learners.

PurposeA literature review of 28 data literacy, education articles from 2010 to 2018 was conducted to gain a better understanding of the current state of data literacy research.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review of ERIC, Education Source, and JSTOR was conducted. Articles were included in this literature review if they focused on “data literacy” forK-12 teachers or leaders.FindingsResults demonstrated that the concept of data literacy has become more concrete, but there is still disagreement about the parameters of the construct. While data literacy was shown to be gaining in importance, training from schools of education were focused heavily on assessment literacy. Four recommendations are made as follows: (1) create skill-focused educator prep programs, (2) encourage opportunities for collaboration, (3) model data use from both quantitative and qualitative sources and (4) investigate the role of technology and big data on data literacy.Research limitationsThe scope of this literature review was very narrow and, as such, does not fully encapsulate data-driven decision-making inK-12 education overall.Originality/valueData literacy is important for both teachers and leaders, as educational environments strive to better understand individual learners and improve learning outcomes. This literature review looks to pull together the current status of data literacy research with hopes of inspiring more targeted research that influences training practices for both teachers and leaders.

Research suggests that teacher self-efficacy shares a relationship with student achievement. This relationship has mostly been examined in face-to-face contexts and it remains to be seen how that relationship translates to online settings. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the methods and instruments used to measure teacher self-efficacy in face-to-face formats are applicable to online settings. The current study explores teacher selfefficacy for K-12 online instructors with data collected using a modified version of a widely used face-to-face Teacher’s Self-efficacy Scale (TSES). This new instrument was modified for use in online teaching environments and was used to collect data from K-12 online teachers over 4 time points covering a 6-month span. These data were used to explore the psychometric properties of the new measure. Results suggest that the adapted components of the TSES were valid for use with samples of online teachers with the exception of a new component added to the measure as part of the current study. Continued refinement and use of a modified instrument offers opportunities for further research and will assist online K-12 teachers and administrators and help improve student success.

Teachers are faced with fast-paced changes in educational practice and expectations as technology innovation continues over time. This rate of change may contribute to an increase in anxiety that impacts effective technology integration in the classroom. The authors examined peer-reviewed literature from 2008 to 2018 on teacher anxiety from technological change to gain a deeper understanding of the current status and direction of this topic from academic research communities. An in-depth analysis was conducted of 45 articles that focused on these variables in K-12 and higher education teacher populations. Articles were coded for logistical and thematic differences. Four themes emerged: (a) teacher conceptual change; (b) anxiety's connection with other variables found to influence technology adoption; (c) emotion's place within existing theoretical models; and (d) emotion's influence on teacher adaptability.

Although empirical validation of teacher self-efficacy in face-to-face environments continues, it remains a relatively new construct in online education. This literature review, which was conducted over academic databases and which examined work published in the past 15 years, explores three areas of research about teacher self-efficacy in online education: (1) ease of adopting online teaching, (2) online teaching self-efficacy in comparison to demographic and experience variables and (3) changes in teacher self-efficacy in professional development scenarios where self-efficacy was measured before and after treatment. Research studies demonstrate agreement (or no discernible disagreement) in the importance of system/curriculum quality in the implementation of online learning and the recognition that a measure of self-efficacy in online pedagogy has not yet been empirically derived. Researchers continue to examine the balance of technological and pedagogical knowledge that supports the development of teacher self-efficacy, the role of learner self-efficacy in teacher self-efficacy and whether teacher self-efficacy differs fundamentally in online education. In addition, it seems clear that empirical validation of the association of teacher self-efficacy and student success has yet to occur in online education with the rigour seen in face-to-face modes of delivery.

A capability approach was used to identify and synthesise research studies about online students with disabilities in primary and secondary school (aged five to 18 years) in an attempt to describe the experience from an empirical perspective. A capability approach is intended to maximise agency and can be used to describe the extent to which individuals are able to use limited resources to build a satisfying and enjoyable life. In this analysis, a derived capability set was used to narrow the larger body of research about primary and secondary students in online education in order to consider only studies that described ways in which students successfully used online education to maximise agency. The derived capability set was: autonomy, judgement, practical reason, affiliation, high school graduation and a desire to help others. A method for deriving the capability set and ways in which a capability approach fails to describe this experience are discussed.

As the number of online K-12 educational offerings continues to grow it is important to better understand key indicators of success for students enrolled in these classes. One of those indicators is student dropout rates. This is particularly important for Hispanic or Latino students who traditionally have high dropout rates. The purpose of this study was to better understand dropout rates for K-12 Hispanic or Latino students enrolled in online schools in Arizona. This was accomplished by examining the effects that the independent variables of time, school type (charter vs non-charter) and delivery type (blended vs fully online) have on dropout rates. A quantitative analysis of data from 32 online schools was performed. The results of this study show that dropout rates are indeed declining for the period of 2013–2015. This decline is mirrored by national dropout rates for all students and specifically for Hispanic or Latino students. While the declines are positive news, the dropout rates for Hispanic or Latino students are still among the highest measured. The dropout rate gap between other demographic groups and Hispanics or Latinos is still substantial and worth continued research along with efforts to reduce these dropout rates and foster increased student success.

This analysis argues for an interwoven perspective of motivation, engagement, agency, and action in Online Writing Instruction (OWI) compiled from shared elements of empirical research in online education, writing instruction, and especially student academic engagement in traditional classrooms, where the research domain is comparatively mature. Engagement is the common element shared by these domains. In online education research, engagement is sometimes understood through intentional student actions. In writing instruction, engagement is commonly understood through human agency. In academic settings, engagement can be seen as a foundational part of Self-Determination Theory, which is comprised of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional engagement (Deci and Ryan, 1985). Educators often find measures of engagement valuable because they are reliable predictors of student outcomes, and they suggest a reasonable point of intervention for struggling students. A measure of agentic engagement, which describes the extent to which a student exerts agency to personalize a learning experience, could add value to measures of engagement, especially in OWI where actions and agency are integral to student success. In addition, a focus on engagement and intervention/remediation may offer an opportunity for students to succeed in learning online, not just in OWI, which is a valued skill in the workplace.

The purpose of this study is to examine graduation and dropout rates for Hispanic or Latino K–12 students enrolled in fully online and blended public school settings in Arizona. The independent variables of school type (charter vs. non-charter) and delivery method (fully online vs. blended) were examined using multivariate and univariate methods on the dependent variable’s graduation and dropout rates for Hispanic or Latino students. The results of this research study found a statistically significant difference when using multivariate analysis to examine school type (charter vs. non-charter) and delivery method (fully online vs. blended) on graduation and dropout rates. This finding warranted further univariate examination which found a statistically significant difference when examining delivery method on dropout rates. A comparison of mean dropout rates shows that Hispanic or Latino students involved in K–12 online learning in Arizona are less likely to drop out of school if they are in a fully online learning environment versus a blended learning environment. Students, parents, teachers, administrators, instructional designers, and policy makers can all use this and related research to form a basis upon which sound decisions can be grounded. The end result will be increased success for Hispanic or Latino online K–12 students not only in Arizona schools, but in many other important areas of life.

Do online students take notes when reading lecture content or watching video lectures? Can they benefit from note-taking supports, such as graphic organizers, to improve their study skills? These are among the questions explored in a pilot study with student participants enrolled in a 100% online graduate program. Students were provided academic content in video or text lecture format, and some students were also provided a graphic organizer on which they could take notes. All participants were then assessed for recall of the content immediately after the lecture. Results suggested online students will use a graphic organizer when provided one, and that self-assessed learning preference might play a role in the use of note-taking as a study strategy. Recommendations for further research based on this pilot study are offered.

The purpose of this study was to examine brick-and-mortar and online teacher best practice themes using thematic analysis and a newly developed theory-based analytic process entitled Synthesized Thematic Analysis Criteria (STAC). The STAC was developed to facilitate the meaningful thematic analysis of research based best practices of K-12 education delivery options. In the study, data for the thematic analysis consisted of published research about best practices in both brick-and-mortar and online education. The use of both brick-and-mortar as well as online teacher best practices provided an opportunity to identify commonalities among these modes of delivery. Based on these commonalities, the thematic analysis detected emergent themes, which could be used as a foundation upon which online teachers might build specialized practice. As well, research-validated teacher best practice themes generated from this study may be considered a starting point for defining teacher best practices in online education and for their development. Emergent themes were discussed in the context of the data and the environment of online education. The STAC analytic process provides a foundation for analysis and may be used by researchers for other thematic analyses in the future.

This review of the literature examines online learning as a core strategy for bold, dramatic curricular reform within transformational or turnaround models in improving low-performing K-12 schools. The analysis of the literature in this area found benefits of online learning in transforming and turning around low-performing schools to include: (a) broadening access for all students and providing opportunities for students to recover course credit, (b) the potential to motivate and engage students due to the flexible and self-paced nature of online learning, and (c) providing highly individualized and differentiated environments allowing for personalized learning. As a number of schools and school districts move to online learning, it can be used not only as a curricular reform, but also as a tool to improve student achievement and turning around low-performing schools.

An intervention is a counseling action an instructor may use to support a student who struggles to work productively in an online writing instruction (OWI) course. Interventions may increase retention and graduation rates at institutions as well as increase student and teacher satisfaction (Allen, Bourhis, Burrell, and Mabry, 2002; Archambault and Crippen, 2009; McCombs, Ufnar, and Shepherd, 2007; O'Dwyer, Carey, and Kleiman, 2007; Stein, Wanstreet, Calvin, Overtoom, and Wheaton, 2005; Sun, Tsai, Finger, Chen, and Yeh, 2008). In Moore's (1993) Theory of Transaction Distance, interventions are called advice and counsel, and they are a crucial component of the program structure element in the theory. Many researchers recommend early identification and intervention for struggling students (Archambault et al., 2010; Simpson, 2004). For example, Simpson (2004) found that early interventions following Keller's (1987) ARCS model (Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction) were effective in helping students complete a course. In addition, Simpson found that such interventions could be cost effective; however, there are many open variables when calculating cost. As researchers and online instructors, the authors recommend early intervention activities performed by email and text messaging at many opportunistic intervention points during the course of the instruction. As well, developing an intervention strategy prior to course beginning to assist in planning and preparation is advocated and recommended.

This text serves as a resource and quick-reference guide for any course that demands online technology skills. The E-Learning Companion shows students how to adapt previously mastered skillssuch as time management, note taking, or critical thinkingto the online environment. Students expand their knowledge of troubleshooting and technical terminology and become more flexible learners. The book provides skills students will use throughout college and as they begin future careers.A spiral-bound format and smaller size make for convenient use in a campus computer lab or at home. Student-to-Student Tips are recommendations based on the experiences of students from around the world who have completed online course assignments and activities.The Glossary features new words and phrases, including essential technical lingo.