Education Commons^™

Student Perceptions And Preferences For Tertiary Online Courses: Does Prior High School Distance Learning Make A Difference?, Dale Kirby, Michael K. Barbour, Dennis B. Sharpe

Education Faculty Publications

University students who had completed at least one distance education course were surveyed during their first and fourth year of postsecondary studies. When controlled for those who had previous distance education experience in high school, it was found that self-regulatory learning behaviors, which are frequently linked to positive experiences and outcomes in online and distance education courses, were equally apparent in all of the participating students regardless of whether they had previously studied online. These findings suggest that high school students do not gain independent learning skills and attitudes in an online environment regardless of what stakeholders, administrators, teachers, parents, …

Virtual Schooling Through The Eyes Of An At-Risk Student: A Case Study, Michael Barbour, Jason Paul Siko

Education Faculty Publications

While much of the growth in the popularity of virtual schooling has involved at-risk students, little research exists on the experiences of these students in this largely independent setting. This paper describes a case study of an at-risk student in a rural school in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador who was enrolled in an online course as a means to graduate on time. Data from interviews and video observations were analyzed to reveal several themes. The student was good at prioritizing and understood what students needed to do to succeed in an online environment, yet he often did only …

State Of The Nation: K–12 Online Learning In Canada, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

A variety of initiatives are driving online and blended learning in each of Canada’s provinces and territories. From teachers’ unions in Nova Scotia fighting to ensure online learning is an accepted method of educational delivery, to Ontario’s College of Teachers creating an e-learning endorsement for teachers or the British Columbia government creating policies to expand the growth and opportunities online learning provides, there are multiple, isolated initiatives happening across the country.

State of the Nation: K-12 Online Learning in Canada is now in its fourth year of publication and can be seen as a national guide for understanding the field …

Secondary Students, Laptops And Game Design: Examining The Potential Of Homemade Powerpoint Games In A Blended Learning Environment, Michael Barbour, Jim Kinsella, Lloyd P. Rieber

Education Faculty Publications

The integration of technology into K-12 classrooms has long been hampered by the problem of scalability. Familiar software programs, such as MS PowerPoint, can be used as a tool for students to create educational games to deepen their understanding of content. In this article, the authors examine students in two secondary social studies classes that created homemade PowerPoint games as a way to review for their mid-term and final examinations. The authors compared student performance on these exams based upon the topics covered by their game design. While no significant differences in student outcomes were found, qualitative analyses indicate that …

Beyond Jeopardy And Lectures: Using Microsoft Powerpoint As A Game Tool To Teach Science, Jason Paul Siko, Michael K. Barbour, Sacip Toker

Education Faculty Publications

To date, research involving homemade PowerPoint games as an instructional tool has not shown statistically significant gains in student performance. This paper examines the results of a study comparing the performance of students in a high school chemistry course who created homemade PowerPoint games as a test review with the students who used a traditional study guide on two separate unit tests. Students scored significantly higher on one of the two unit tests; however, there was no difference in performance between students who created games multiple times. This was the first time a significant difference has been reported when using …

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 …

Strictly Business: Teacher Perceptions Of Interaction In Virtual Schooling, Abigail Hawkins, Michael K. Barbour, Charles R. Graham

Education Faculty Publications

This study explored the nature of teacher-student interaction from the perspective of eight virtual school teachers in an asynchronous, self-paced, statewide, supplemental virtual high school. Teacher interviews revealed the majority of interactions were student-initiated and instructional in nature. The main procedural interactions focused on notifications sent to inactive students. Social interactions were minimal and viewed as having little pedagogical value. Institutional barriers such as class size and an absence of effective tracking mechanisms limited the amount and types of interaction teachers engaged in. Study implications and future research are discussed.

A Historiografia Da Educação Nos Estados Unidos: 1950-2000 [Educational Historiography In The United States: 1950-2000], Karl M. Lorenz

Education Faculty Publications

Esse estudo examina a historiografia educacional nos Estados Unidos de 1950 a 2000, com o objetivo de apresentar um perfil da produção científica realizada nesse período. Foram identificados quatro sistemas para classificar as pesquisas da área. Cada tipologia foi desenvolvida em relação a uma determinada década que organiza a historiografia educacional em uma perspectiva singular. Os quatro sistemas classificam as pesquisas dos pontos de vista temático, bibliográfico, especulativo e empírico. A descrição das tipologias é precedida por uma discussão do desenvolvimento da tradição de pesquisa histórico-educacional norte-americano.

This study examines the educational historiography originating in the United States from 1950 …

What Are They Doing And How Are They Doing It? Rural Student Experiences In Virtual Schooling, Michael Barbour, Janette Hill

Education Faculty Publications

This qualitative study examined a Canadian virtual school learning experience for students and the kinds of support and assistance most frequently used and valued by students learning in a virtual environment. Students were interviewed and observed during their virtual school classes. In-school teachers were also interviewed and online teachers were also observed. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Findings indicated that during their scheduled asynchronous class time students were often assigned seatwork or provided time to work on assignments, however, students rarely used this time to complete virtual schoolwork. It was during their synchronous class time that both …

A Clinical Practicum Experience To Prepare Teacher Candidates For Classroom Literacy Instruction, Karen C. Waters

Education Faculty Publications

There is a pervasive reading crisis in the United States. Critics, including policymakers, educators, literacy scholars, and professional educational organizations have openly accused university teacher preparation programs of not preparing candidates to deliver effective reading instruction. This qualitative study used narrative inquiry to explore ways in which teacher candidates' participation in a research-based university clinical practicum contributed to their pedagogical understanding of literacy instruction. Conceptually this study was based on constructivism and the ideas of Dewey, Freire, Vygotsky, and Schön. Data collection included multiple interviews and observations to determine how teacher candidates' participation in clinical practicum affects their assumptions about …

Game Design As An Educational Pedagogy, Michael K. Barbour, Kathy Clesson, Meghan Adams

Education Faculty Publications

In this paper, the researchers explored the use of homemade PowerPoint games as a pedagogy strategy. This quasi-experimental study examined whether there were performance differences between students in a class that utilized the teachers’ traditional methods of reviewing for a unit exam and students in a second class that utilized homemade PowerPoint games. The analysis of variance indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in the performance or the level of improvement between the two classes, which may have been due to the small sample size. These results are consistent with other studies of homemade PowerPoint games.

Conteúdo, Intencionalidade E Prática Docente [Content, Intentionality And Teaching Practices], Karl M. Lorenz

Education Faculty Publications

O trabalho explora a relação entre a prática docente e as fontes de conteúdos acadêmicos e pedagógicos, especificamente o livro didático. Central a essa discussão é a premissa que os compêndios escolares do passado possam oferecer-nos uma ideia da atuação do professor em sala de aula. Através da analise do seus conteúdos pode-se inferir certos comportamentos pedagógicos do professor. Características dos livro escolares, tais como a natureza e organização dos conteúdos de saber; a presença e localização de quadros, tabelas, figuras, ilustrações, problemas e exercícios na obra; o estilo narrativo do texto, as representações sociais de ideias importantes, e as …

The Promise And The Reality: Exploring The Research On Virtual Schooling, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

The first web-based distance education programs at the K-12 began in the early 1990s. Unlike distance education and online learning in general, much less is known about virtual schooling – even less of which is based on systematic research. What is known is often based solely on practitioner experiences. Regardless, the growth and practice of virtual schooling has far outpaced the production of reliable and valid research. This paper will focus upon describing the evolution of K-12 online learning in Canada and the United States, how that evolution has impacted rural schools, and what lessons can be learned from the …

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 …

An Examination Of Government Policies For E-Learning In New Zealand’S Secondary Schools, Allison Powell, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

In 2006 the North American Council for Online Learning surveyed the activity and policy relating to primary and secondary e-learning, which they defined as online learning, in a selection of countries. They found most were embracing e-learning delivery of education as a central strategy for enabling reform, modernising schools, and increasing access to high-quality education. While North American countries appeared to be using the internet as a medium to provide distance education at the secondary level longer than most countries, the lack of a guiding vision has created uneven opportunities for students depending on which state or province they live …

Using Learning Goals To Promote Self-Directedness: How Problems In Research Led To Solutions In Teaching, Jaya Kannan, Larry Lutsky, Lisa Bauer, Yasmine Alwan

CTL Publications

In promoting self-directedness, our process at MCNY’s Learning Enhancement Center begins by having the student construct learning goals. A qualitative analysis of these student learning goals was conducted based on the premise that a student’s ability to articulate a goal in a clear, specific, complex, and measurable manner will improve over time. Although our findings did not support our hypothesis, the complex exercise of creating a customized rubric to measure the goals helped us arrive at a standardized evaluation method and build a transparent self-assessment tool to foster independent learning. This attempt to quantify student learning goals created successful iterative …

Researching K-12 Online Learning: What Do We Know And What Should We Examine?, Michael Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

The article discusses the research about K-12 online education in the U.S. Research about K-12 online learning are classified into two categories. The first category involves the comparison of the performance of students enrolled in the regular classroom and those enrolled in online courses. The second category deals with research on the qualities of teaching/learning experiences in online learning.

U.S. Virtual School Trial Period And Course Completion Policy Study, Abigail Hawkins, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

Variation in policies virtual schools use to calculate course completion and retention rates impacts the comparability of these quality metrics. This study surveyed 159 U.S. virtual schools examining the variability in trial period and course completion policies--two policies that affect course completion rates. Of the 86 respondents, almost 70% had trial periods that varied from 1 day to 185 days. Course completion definitions varied from remaining in the course irrespective of the final grade to receiving an A- in the course. Such wide variation renders the completion and retention rate metrics useless. We recommend virtual schools adopt consistent measures for …

Integrating Multimedia Into Moodle: Resources, Antoinette P. Bruciati

Education Faculty Publications

Create and share multimedia learning materials in your Moodle courses. This presentation introduces methods for embedding multimedia into Moodle for instruction, discussion, and assessment. An overview of free Web 2.0 applications that enable K-12 teachers and their students to produce multimedia files is also included.

Teaching Teachers: A Study Of Teacher Educators' Perceptions Of The Effect Of Meeting Mandated Ncate Standards, Edward D. Hendricks

Education Faculty Publications

Teacher quality matters when it comes to student achievement. However, the fact that there are no nationally mandated standards as to how teachers should be prepared has led to wide variations in the quality of teacher education programs. It was in response to this situation that the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) was established. The purpose of this qualitative participant observational study was to present how teacher educators perceive the effect of complying with NCATE standards on teacher preparation programs and on their own teaching practices. Eight purposefully selected faculty members of a university-based teacher preparation …

The Human Journey: Embracing The Essential Learning Outcomes, Michelle Loris

English Faculty Publications

At the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century, a new vision for college learning is clearly in view. Through its Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) initiative, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has outlined what contemporary college students need to know and be able to do--in ever-changing economic, political, environmental, global, and cross-cultural contexts. The LEAP essential learning outcomes provide a framework to guide student learning in both general education and the major. The LEAP initiative calls upon college administrators and faculty members to give priority to these essential learning outcomes in order to …

Powerpoint Games In A Secondary Laptop Environment, Michael K. Barbour, Jim Kinsella, Lloyd P. Rieber

Education Faculty Publications

There is no denying the success and popularity of WebQuests among teachers. For those interested in technology integration, this is a significant step in the right direction. Yet, WebQuests are instructivist examples of technology integration – they are web-enhanced forms of direct instruction. We consider constructing homemade PowerPoint games as a constructionist alternative to WebQuests. PowerPoint is nearly ubiquitous software and teachers already use existing games in their classrooms. The authors contend that a better use of class time for learning is to turn over the act of game design to the children themselves. In this project, students in social …

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 …

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 …

Student Performance In Virtual Schooling: Looking Beyond The Numbers, Michael Barbour, Dennis Mulcahy

Education Faculty Publications

Seven 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 these teachers, there is concern that the opportunities provided by this virtual school are “second rate.” 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 models, geographic location and subject area to determine whether or not students are succeeding in the virtual …

Case Study Of Connected Knowing In An Online Learning Environment, Jaya Kannan, John Laurence Miller

CTL Publications

This paper reports a single-subject case study designed to investigate the role of group discussion in student learning. The group discussion took the form of contributions to a series of online discussion boards. And our analysis focuses on the contribution of one group member. We argue that this individual came to serve as a catalyst to learning for many group members because of the concomitant roles that she came to occupy.

Determining The Role Of Technology In Supporting The Professional Growth Of Administrative Leadership Candidates, Antoinette P. Bruciati, Gail Nordmoe

Education Faculty Publications

School improvement planning that is guided through data-driven decision making has been recognized as a “best practice” among educational leaders for many years. Although national standards for school administrators routinely incorporate educational and information technology components, state boards of education do not currently mandate technology training for those enrolled in programs leading to administrative certification. As a result, many school administrators may not be adequately prepared to use computer and information technologies supportive of their roles and responsibilities. This investigation examined the perceptions and current technological literacy of individuals enrolled in a university-level Administrative Leadership Program. Research focused on the …

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 …

Secondary Students' Perceptions Of Web-Based Learning, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

This article presents the results of a survey study of secondary students' perceptions of useful and challenging characteristics of Web-based learning environments. Data were collected using a modified version of a questionnaire from earlier studies. More specifically, the author focuses on what Web-based learning looks like for secondary students, along with their perceptions of the benefits, challenges, and helpful components of Web-based learning environments. As this study utilized similar instruments to earlier studies that looked at the perceptions of postsecondary students and corporate Web-based trainees, comparisons will be made between the secondary students in this study and the populations in …

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.