Education Commons^™

Principles Of Effective Web-Based Content For Secondary School Students: Teacher And Developer Perceptions, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

In this article, I describe findings from a study of the perceptions of course developers and electronic teachers on the principles of effective asynchronous web-based content design for secondary school students. Through interviews, participants' perceptions of various web-based components and instructional strategies, and the effectiveness of both based upon the experiences of the participants were investigated in a virtual high school context for the purpose of generating a list of guidelines that future course developers might utilize.

Learning Styles: A Focus Upon E-Learning Practices And Their Implications For Successful Instructional Design, Morris Cooze, Michael Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

With the proliferation of online learning into the K-12 learning environment, the focus of investigation needs to shift specific studies that pertain to this environment. One such area of investigation surrounds the development of specific online course content and the individualized learning styles of the students in these online learning environments. This review focuses upon the vast body of literature for the post-secondary online learner and argues the case for additional research in K-12 education. While recent studies have started the process of changing this focus, as online learning becomes more prevalent and accepted as a means of learning at …

Portrait Of Rural Virtual Schooling, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

Over the past two decades, distance education has become a reality of rural schooling in Newfoundland and Labrador. In this article, I provide historical background into the challenges facing rural schools in the province and how distance education was introduced to address that challenge. I also describe how that system of distance education evolved from a system that used the telephone lines and bridging technology to one that uses a combination synchronous and asynchronous system delivered over the Internet. Finally, I examine recent literature concerning the nature of today’s secondary students that would need to avail of this system and …

Who’S Researching Virtual Schools?: A Case For Instructional Technologists, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

Over the past 11 years, virtual schooling has gone from isolated experiments to a reliable alternative to a brick and mortar education. However, during this time, little research has been conducted into how these learning opportunities are and should be provided to their adolescent audiences. Even more troubling is that very few of these researchers are from the field of instructional technology. In this article, I discuss those who have been involved in this early research and then make a case for the value that instructional technologists can bring to this emerging field.

Social Constructivist E-Learning: A Case Study, Michael K. Barbour, Peter Rich

Education Faculty Publications

This paper considers the use of Knowledge Forum to complete a curriculum-based project with students enrolled in asynchronous, web-based Advanced Placement courses in Canada and the United States. Knowledge Forum is an online database that promotes written interaction in a social constructivist environment. The paper looks at how students utilized the system to enhance learning, more so than traditional environments, at both lower-order and higher-order levels.

Critical Thinking And Evidence-Based Practice In Problem-Based Learning Tutorial Groups: A Critical Case Study, Joanne M. Bortone

Occupational Therapy Faculty Publications

Little research has investigated how problembased learning (PBL) instruction influences students' critical thinking and evidence-based practice. This research sought to ascertain if PBL instructional practices facilitated critical thinking and EBP; identify those practices; and, identify changes students made in tutorials.

A qualitative, twocase, critical case study design used pretest and posttests of the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) (Facione, 1990) and Self-Evaluation of EBP adapted from Straus et al. (2005) to select the critical case sample. Students who made the greatest gains from pre to posttest scores met selection criteria for the critical case sample and were invited to …