Glendale, AZ, November 14, 2010 – The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) today unveiled a new website, “How to Start an Online Program” as a guide for practitioners and policy makers interested in starting new online and blended learning programs.

The collaborative website provides information and resources for starting online and blended learning programs in K-12 education. It was born out of iNACOL’s advocacy efforts with schools, districts and state leaders expressing interest in starting innovative and high-quality online learning programs. This site is intended to be a comprehensive resource for the educators who want to start online programs and policy-makers who want to know how they can be supportive of such efforts.

According to Matthew Wicks, iNACOL Vice President of Strategy and Organizational Development, “iNACOL publishes many resources about online learning and this website organizes the information with newcomers and innovators in mind. The information is a checklist with a series of questions and provides a range of resources for each topic, making the site flexible for a creating a diverse range of innovative, online and blended learning programs to meet a wide range of student learning needs.”

Aimed at furthering the organization’s advocacy mission to ensure all students have access to a world-class education and quality online learning opportunities that prepare them for a lifetime of success, the ”How to Start an Online Program” website was announced during the first day of the Virtual School Symposium (VSS), iNACOL’s annual conference with more than 1700 experts attending.

The website is located at www.onlineprogramhowto.org and is now live.

# # #

About iNACOL
iNACOL is the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, a non-profit 501(c)(3) membership association based in the Washington, DC area with more than 3,700 members. ). iNACOL’s mission is to ensure all students have access to world-class education and quality online learning opportunities that prepare them for a lifetime of success. iNACOL is unique in that its members represent a diverse cross-section of K-12 education from school districts, charter schools, state education agencies, non-profit organizations, colleges, universities and research institutions, corporate entities and other content and technology providers (www.inacol.org). iNACOL hosts the annual Virtual School Symposium (VSS). VSS 2010 is being held Nov. 14 – 16, 2010 in Glendale, AZ (www.virtualschoolsymposium.org).