Call for Articles from AERA SIG Online Teaching and Learning – Special Issue of Online Learning
The Editors of Online Learning invite accepted presenters from the 2026 AERA annual meeting who are members of the Online Teaching and Learning Special Interest Group (OTL SIG) to publish in a special issue devoted to OTL SIG. This issue complements OLC’s partnership with the OTL SIG to share a presentation and publication opportunity.
Online Learning (OLJ) is the Online Learning Consortium’s (OLC) scholarly journal providing readers with rigorous peer-reviewed research in a variety of educational contexts from K-12 to higher education in the United States and internationally. By Google Scholar metrics, OLJ is now the top-ranked publication in the field of online learning and is ranked in the top 5% of all open access journals in the field of education. The OLC is the leading professional organization devoted to advancing quality online learning by providing professional development, instruction, best practice publications, and guidance to educators, online learning professionals, and organizations around the world.
Topics for the special issue include, but are not limited to, research on:
- Strategies for learner engagement and motivation
- Instructional innovations in online environments
- Community of Inquiry (including social, teaching, and cognitive presence)
- MOOC design, pedagogies, and perspectives
- Strategies for learner interactions and collaboration
- Blended/hybrid learning and flipped classrooms
- Technology integration in online learning environments
- Learner achievement, satisfaction, and retention
- Designing for the online environment
- Assessment strategies and issues
- Accessibility and UDL
- AI and data analytics in online environments
- Designing for culturally-diverse learners
Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research articles (including systematic reviews) are welcome.
Submission GuidelinesTo notify us of your intent to submit, please complete the following form:
https://forms.gle/2ZX3mz9HeoTMWjat7
Invited authors will submit full manuscripts through the Open Journal System (OJS), the OLC journal system. When submitting, be sure you select the Special Conference Issue: AERA Online Teaching and Learning SIG within the OJS submission process.
Author Guidelines include general APA Style 7th edition, except for the single-spacing requirement. Papers for the special issue should be about 6,000-8,000 words (including references). The Guide for Authors can be found here: http://onlinelearningconsortium.org/read/guide-authors/
For detailed assistance with APA style, refer to Purdue Online Writing Lab: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html
Please note that contributors will also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.
Preliminary Timeline- Monday, April 27th: Intention to submit to Special Issue using the Google form.
- Monday, May 4th: Invited authors are notified;
- Monday, June 1st: Full manuscript submitted through the OLJ journal system;
- Monday, June 8th-28th: Manuscripts peer reviewed
- Monday, July 6th: Results of the reviews sent to authors;
- Monday, July 27th: Revised manuscripts submitted to the OLJ journal system;
- Monday, August 10th: Additional revisions as needed;
- Monday, August 31st: Manuscript sent for copyediting*
*Prior to final acceptance and before manuscripts are sent for copyediting, all manuscripts must be unblinded and use the OLJ 2024 Template”
Special Issue EditorsDr. Patrick Lowenthal patricklowenthal@boisestate.edu
Dr. Rob Moore, robmoore@coe.ufl.edu
Dr. Eric Belt, eric.belt@umaryland.edu
Dr. Mary Rice, maryrice@unm.edu
