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Full-Text Articles in Education
Primary And Secondary Virtual Learning In New Zealand: Examining Barriers To Achieving Maturity, Michael K. Barbour, Niki Davis, Derek Wenmoth
Primary And Secondary Virtual Learning In New Zealand: Examining Barriers To Achieving Maturity, Michael K. Barbour, Niki Davis, Derek Wenmoth
Education Faculty Publications
This paper describes the organisational development of virtual learning in networked rural schools in New Zealand, specifically the obstacles that e-learning clusters of rural schools face in their journey to sustainability and maturity through the lens of the Ministry’s Learning Communities Online Handbook. Analysis of a nationwide purposeful sample identified three common barriers: a lack of a coherent vision; difficulty in sustaining necessary funding and resources; and of the need for more collaboration within and between clusters. Based on these findings, it is recommended that VLN e-learning clusters develop specific strategies to encourage greater collaboration between schools and work towards …
The Promise And The Reality: Exploring Virtual Schooling In Rural Jurisdictions, Michael Barbour
The Promise And The Reality: Exploring Virtual Schooling In Rural Jurisdictions, Michael Barbour
Education Faculty Publications
The history of online learning at the K-12 level is almost as long as its history at the post-secondary level, with the first virtual school programs beginning in the early 1990s. While these opportunities were designed as a way to provide rural students with access to more specialized courses, as opportunities have become organized into virtual or cyber schools the nature of students served by these institutions have broadened. Unlike online learning in general, much less is known about virtual schooling – even less of which is based on systematic research. Regardless, the growth and practice of virtual schooling has …
Beyond Volunteerism And Good Will: Examining The Commitment Of Schoolbased Teachers To Distance Education, Michael K. Barbour, Dennis Mulcahy
Beyond Volunteerism And Good Will: Examining The Commitment Of Schoolbased Teachers To Distance Education, Michael K. Barbour, Dennis Mulcahy
Education Faculty Publications
Two decades ago Newfoundland and Labrador introduced distance education in the K-12 environment. The program focused upon providing advanced-level courses to rural school students, and worked largely due to the widely known, but rarely documented significant amounts of content-based assistance from school based personnel. In the past seven years the province has moved to a virtual school model of distance education and more rural schools find that they must rely upon this virtual school to offer academic-level courses to students with a wide range of abilities. This has created many new responsibilities for teachers that have also gone undocumented. Studies …
How Are They Doing?: Examining Student Achievement In Virtual Schooling, Michael K. Barbour, Dennis Mulcahy
How Are They Doing?: Examining Student Achievement In Virtual Schooling, Michael K. Barbour, Dennis Mulcahy
Education Faculty Publications
Six years ago the Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation began a virtual high school within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Designed primarily to provide courses in specialized areas to students in rural areas, where schools have difficulty in attracting second language, mathematics and science teachers. However, there has been some concern that the opportunities provided by this virtual high school are "second rate" or only able to cater to independent, self-motivated students. The purpose of the study is to examine the student achievement in standardized public exams and final course scores in the province between different delivery …
Portrait Of Rural Virtual Schooling, Michael K. Barbour
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 …