Education Commons^™

Real-Time Virtual Teaching: Lessons Learned From A Case Study In A Rural School, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

Due to the challenges facing rural schools, many jurisdictions have resorted to the use of virtual school programs to provide curricular opportunities to their students. While the number of virtual schools that rely on synchronous instruction as a primary or significant method of delivery is quite small, there are some programs that do (and a growing number of virtual schools that use it with small groups or individuals). This case study examined the use of synchronous online instruction by one virtual school with students in a single rural school in Newfoundland and Labrador. The data from a variety of collection …

Introduction (Online Learning December 2015 Special Issue), Anissa Lokey-Vega, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

While at an admittedly slower rate than the growth in enrollments, research in K-12 online learning has been picking up pace in the past decade and a foundation in best practice is now being laid.

A special K-12 issue of Online Learning is an ideal avenue for an academic dialogue. The focus of this special issue of Online Learning is to present rigorous research specific to the context of K-12 education including systematic inquiry into promising practices, various schooling models, measures of quality, and parent and teacher experience. All authors have provided explanations of K-12-specific terminology to support readers new …

State Of The Nation: K-12 E-Learning In Canada, Michael K. Barbour, Randy Labonte

Education Faculty Publications

Current research in K-12 online learning in Canada has focused on defining distance learning and its current strengths and weaknesses. Yet, the proliferation of technologies and digital learning spaces has led to the emergence of new instructional strategies and digital learning practices for teachers in many K-12 classrooms, both online and onsite. Traditional school-based classrooms are incorporating technology-supported open learning options, creating “blended learning” opportunities where at least part of instruction occurs in a classroom, part online at a distance to the teacher, both combined with some element of choice in learning for students. For these emerging practices little is …

O Collegio De Pedro Ii E A Formação Da Mocidade Brasileira (1838-1889), Ariclê Vechia, Karl M. Lorenz

Education Faculty Publications

A organização do ensino secundário brasileiro, mantido pelo Estado, se inscreve no contexto dos debates sobre as finalidades do ensino secundário verificados na Europa, no século XIX. A criação do Imperial Collegio de Pedro II tinha entre outras, a meta de formar uma elite dirigente capaz de exercer as mais elevadas funções do Estado dignificando-o entre as nações mais ilustres e de assegurar o desenvolvimento do país. Os conhecimentos contemplados nos planos de estudos do colégio e a ênfase a eles atribuída, no período imperial, refletem o debate sobre a definição das finalidades do ensino secundário e a importância dos …

Teaching Models: Designing Instruction For 21st Century Learners (Book Review), Joshua C. Elliott

Education Faculty Publications

Book review by Joshua C. Elliott.

Milman, N. B., & Kilbane, C.R. (2013). Teaching models: Designing instruction for 21st century learners. New York, NY: Pearson.

ISBN: 9780205609970

Innovative Public Education Or Glorified Homeschooling: Funding Full-Time K-12 Online Learning, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

While there has been some improvement in what is known about supplemental K-12 online learning, there continues to be a lack of evidence to guide the practice of full-time K-12 online learning. This paper examines the literature and research into the funding of full-time K-12 online learning programs. As one of the few areas where a reasonable body of literature exists, and where both progress and neo-liberal groups have reach relative agreement. It concludes that full-time K-12 online learning costs less than traditional brick-and-mortar, and that policymakers should consider the nature of instruction when determining funding for full-time K-12 online …

Schools In The U.S. 2015: Politics, Performance, Policy, And Research Evidence, Alex Molnar Ed., Luis Huerta, Sheryl Rankin Shafer, Michael K. Barbour, Gary Miron, Charisse Gulosino

Education Faculty Publications

This report is the third of a series of annual reports by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) on virtual education in the U.S. The NEPC reports contribute to the existing evidence and discourse on virtual education by providing an objective analysis of the evolution and performance of full-time, publicly funded K-12 virtual schools. Specifically, the NEPC reports: analyze the universe of proposed state bills related to virtual education; assess the research evidence that bears on K-12 virtual teaching and learning; describe the policy issues raised by available evidence; analyze the growth and performance of full-time virtual schools; and, offer …

The Disconnect Between Policy And Research: Examining The Research Into Full-Time K-12 Online Learning, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

While there has been some improvement in what is known about supplemental K-12 online learning, there continues to be a lack of evidence to guide the practice of full-time K-12 online learning. This paper concludes that despite considerable enthusiasm for full-time virtual education in some quarters, there is little high quality research to support the practice or call for expanding this form of virtual schools.

Scholars Of Distinction And The Development Of Educational History In The United States, Karl M. Lorenz

Education Faculty Publications

The paper describes the accomplishments of a select number of distinguished scholars who advanced the cause of the history of education. The evolution of this field of study and inquiry followed its own unique path in the United States, and that at certain moments its trajectory was influenced by the thoughts and actions of celebrated professionals. Each individual contributed in a distinctive way, by either deepening or broadening the study of educational history in educator preparation programs, or by encouraging disciplined research and research-related activities in the area. In this latter endeavor, scholarship was often enhanced by making resources available …

Comte’S Positivist Doctrine And Reform Of Secondary Science Education In Nineteenth-Century Brazil, Karl M. Lorenz

Education Faculty Publications

This paper discusses the influence of the Positivist Philosophy on the teaching of science in the National Gymnasium, formerly the College Pedro II, in Brazil. With the proclamation of the Republic in 1889 and the subsequent educational reform of Minister Benjamin Constant in 1890, the curriculum of the college, and in particular the teaching of the sciences, was profoundly affected by the positivist ideas of Comte. An analysis of the programs of scientific studies adopted in the Gymnasium from 1890 to 1900 demonstrates that these were organized in accordance with the hierarchy of abstraction of human knowledge proposed by Comtean …