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Educational Methods

Sacred Heart University

Rural education

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Full-Text Articles in Education

The Farnet Journey: Effective Teaching Strategies For Engaging Māori Students On The Virtual Learning Network, Michael K. Barbour, Carolyn Bennett Jan 2013

The Farnet Journey: Effective Teaching Strategies For Engaging Māori Students On The Virtual Learning Network, Michael K. Barbour, Carolyn Bennett

Education Faculty Publications

The Virtual Learning Network (VLN) provides schools, particularly those in rural and remote areas, with the opportunity to cooperate to expand curricular offerings for their students. Each school that participates in a VLN cluster contributes at least one course delivered by an e-teacher, allowing member schools access to any course offered through the VLN that they cannot offer locally. At present, there is no formal national training for the e-teachers, although individual clusters offer a range of training opportunities. This case study focused on the e-teachers’ perceptions of the learning curve required for them to be adequately and effectively prepared …


The Promise And The Reality: Exploring Virtual Schooling In Rural Jurisdictions, Michael Barbour Jan 2011

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 …


Student Performance In Virtual Schooling: Looking Beyond The Numbers, Michael Barbour, Dennis Mulcahy Jan 2009

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 …


From Telematics To Web-Based: The Progression Of Distance Education In Newfoundland And Labrador, Michael K. Barbour Nov 2005

From Telematics To Web-Based: The Progression Of Distance Education In Newfoundland And Labrador, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications


Introduction: The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is located on the east coast of Canada. The province, which has both an island and mainland portions with a total area of 505 066 square kilometres, has a population of approximately 550 000 people. With about 60% of the population living within a 150-kilometre radius of the capital region, the remainder of the province is sparsely populated. The majority of the roughly 300 schools are located in these rural communities. Approximately one-third of which have been determined as necessarily existent (ie, when a school is located so far from another school that …


Learning Styles: A Focus Upon E-Learning Practices And Pedagogy And Their Implications For Designing E-Learning For Secondary School Students In Newfoundland And Labrador, Morris Cooze, Michael K. Barbour Apr 2005

Learning Styles: A Focus Upon E-Learning Practices And Pedagogy And Their Implications For Designing E-Learning For Secondary School Students In Newfoundland And Labrador, Morris Cooze, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

With the increase of online learning in the K-12 environment, research must turn to specific studies focused upon this level. One area of investigation surrounds the development of online course content and individualised student learning styles. This review found that although there is a vast body of research concerning online learning in the post-secondary environment, this is not true for K-12 education. Recent studies have begun the discussion for secondary school students as online learning becomes more prevalent and accepted as a means of learning. The lessons that these studies bring forward may be of particular interest to instructional designers …