Allan Jordan, a developer of the institution which eventually morphed into the North Carolina Virtual Public School, was honored Sunday by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) with its award for outstanding individual contribution to K-12 virtual learning.
Jordan, who was also a founding member and first chairman of the North American Council for Online Learning, or NACOL, helped start what was then the Web Academy in Cumberland County schools in Fayetteville, N.C. He received the award—along with winners of the second annual iNACOL Online Innovator Awards in four other categories—at the first day of the group’s three-day virtual school conference in Glendale, Ariz.
Other Award Winners:
• Outstanding/Innovative Online Learning Practice for an Individual/Team/Program for a Practitioner: Broward Virtual School, Broward County, Fla.
The school developed a remedial reading course for high school students to extend the school day via distance learning.
• Outstanding/Innovative Online Learning Practice for a Non-Profit or For-Profit Individual or Team: Ed Tech Leaders Online
The group, a division of the Education Development Center, has used its e-Learning for Educators program to help states and stations collaboratively build capacity for online K-12 teacher professional development.
• Important Research by an Individual, Team or Organization: The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Arizona State University
The two institutions partnered on a study called “Examining the Use of Laboratory Activities in Teaching Science in an Online Environment.”
• Important Research by a Student, Team, or Educational Institution: Kathryn Kennedy
She wrote “The Essence of the Virtual School Practicum: A phenomenological study of preservice teachers’ experiences in a virtual school” as her dissertation.