Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Education
Innovative Public Education Or Glorified Homeschooling: Funding Full-Time K-12 Online Learning, Michael K. Barbour
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 …
Strategies For Overcoming Common Obstacles In The Online Environment: Issues In Virtual School Teaching, Michael K. Barbour, Kelly L. Unger
Strategies For Overcoming Common Obstacles In The Online Environment: Issues In Virtual School Teaching, Michael K. Barbour, Kelly L. Unger
Education Faculty Publications
K-12 online learning or virtual schooling has seen substantial growth in the United States over the past two decades. While the practice of virtual schooling has exploded, the availability of research-based best practices to guide teachers working in these environments is lacking. This chapter presents four cases from Michigan Virtual School (MVS) teachers that examine a variety of issues that virtual school teachers face when facilitating K-12 student learning in the online environment, including strategies to provide substantive feedback in English Language Arts, methods for addressing the demonstration of mathematical computations, using Web 2.0 tools to increase interaction in an …
Virtual Learning As An Impetus For Educational Change: Charting A Way Forward For Learning In New Zealand, Michael K. Barbour, Derek Wenmoth
Virtual Learning As An Impetus For Educational Change: Charting A Way Forward For Learning In New Zealand, Michael K. Barbour, Derek Wenmoth
Education Faculty Publications
New Zealand has a long history [of] distance education in the schools sector, beginning with The Correspondence School over 90 years ago. Similar to many jurisdictions, as technology has evolved the schools sector has also evolved in how it has used that technology to provide learning opportunities at a distance. Each technology – from the print-based correspondence model to the current Internet-based virtual learning model – has forced educators to re-think how these educational opportunities are structured and delivered. Over the past two years, there have been significant events within the virtual learning community in New Zealand that place it …
“Opening” A New Kind Of High School: The Story Of The Open High School Of Utah, Delaina Tonks, Sarah Weston, David Wiley, Michael Barbour
“Opening” A New Kind Of High School: The Story Of The Open High School Of Utah, Delaina Tonks, Sarah Weston, David Wiley, Michael Barbour
Education Faculty Publications
The use of online learning at the primary and secondary school level is growing exponentially in the United States. Much of this growth is with full-time online schools, most of which are operated by for-profit companies that use proprietary online course content. In this article we trace the development of, and philosophy behind, a full-time online school that uses open access software and open educational resources for course content. As more nations begin to put in place plans for primary and secondary education in the event of natural disasters (e.g., the Christchurch earthquakes) or pandemics (e.g., avian flu or H1N1), …
Are Virtual Schools More Cost-Effective Compared To Traditional, Brick-And-Mortar Schools?, Michael Barbour
Are Virtual Schools More Cost-Effective Compared To Traditional, Brick-And-Mortar Schools?, Michael Barbour
Education Faculty Publications
Over the past two decades, the growth of virtual schooling has been extensive. Virtual schooling is often described in terms of being either a supplemental or full-time program. Supplemental programs, generally associated with virtual schools, are those where a student is enrolled in a brick-and-mortar or traditional school with a physical location and the school allows the student to enroll in one or more online courses as a way to supplement their curricular offerings. This is common in schools with smaller student populations or in schools where the student demand does not warrant a wide range of elective courses. In …
Asynchronous And Synchronous Teaching And Learning In High-School Distance Education, Elizabeth Murphy, Maria A. Rodríguez-Manzanares, Michael K. Barbour
Asynchronous And Synchronous Teaching And Learning In High-School Distance Education, Elizabeth Murphy, Maria A. Rodríguez-Manzanares, Michael K. Barbour
Education Faculty Publications
This paper presents the results of an inductive, interpretive analysis of the perspectives of 42 Canadian high school distance education (DE) teachers on asynchronous and synchronous online teaching. The paper includes a conceptual overview of the affordances and constraints of each form of teaching. Findings provided insight into the following aspects of asynchronous and synchronous online teaching: degree of use; the tools used; the contexts in which each occur; students’ preferences; and limitations. Pedagogy emerged as more important than media for both asynchronous and synchronous online teaching. Synchronous online teaching relied on teacher- rather than student-centred approaches. Asynchronous online teaching …
Research And Practice In K-12 Online Learning: A Review Of Open Access Literature, Cathy S. Cavanaugh, Michael K. Barbour, Tom Clark
Research And Practice In K-12 Online Learning: A Review Of Open Access Literature, Cathy S. Cavanaugh, Michael K. Barbour, Tom Clark
Education Faculty Publications
The literature related to online learning programs for K-12 students dates to the mid-1990s and builds upon a century of research and practice from K-12 distance education. While K-12 online learning programs have evolved and grown over the past decade, the amount of published research on virtual schooling practice and policy is limited. The current literature includes practitioner reports and experimental and quasi-experimental studies, both published and unpublished. This paper reviews open access literature in K-12 online learning and reports on a structured content analysis of the documents. Themes in the literature include steady growth and a focus on the …
Who’S Researching Virtual Schools?: A Case For Instructional Technologists, Michael K. Barbour
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.