Indianapolis and the Virtual School Symposium

This week, my iNACOL colleagues and I – along with nearly 2,000 educators, school administrators and education policy leaders – are taking to Indianapolis, Indiana, where iNACOL’s 2011 Virtual School Symposium (VSS) is set to begin tomorrow.

With online learning seen as the fastest innovation in education, VSS serves as a great resource for our field to come together to discuss the latest trends, swap best practices and discuss the most up to date research to help K-12 online and blended learning programs across the US and internationally continue to grow and benefit students worldwide.

This year, the VSS agenda is packed with sessions and workshops highlighting cutting-edge work in K-12 online education across the country. Our keynote speakers will include renowned national experts Steve Midgley of the U.S. Department of Education; Gene Wilhoit, Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School Officers; Paul Peterson from Harvard University; and Michael Horn, author of Disrupting Class.

During VSS, we’ll also be releasing a new study on the international growth of K-12 online and blended learning programs, along with our annual report on online learning in Canada, and a book highlighting international case studies on K-12 online education in Australia, China, Finland, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

With more than 4 million K-12 students enrolled in online and blended learning programs in the US, we’ve gained a lot of ground in helping to transform education, and I hope that this year’s VSS will provide as another opportunity for the field to expand our understanding of bringing high-quality online learning to scale for all students.

And stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook pages for live updates from VSS.