Education Commons^™

The Straight Truth About Online Learning In The Straits: An Investigation Into The Nature Of Education In A Rural And Remote Region Of Newfoundland And Labrador, Dennis Mulcahy, Michael K. Barbour, Minakshi Lahiri

Education Faculty Publications

This paper reports on a naturalistic research project that was conducted in response to the educational concerns of the coastal rural communities of Labrador Straits. The research project investigated the current provision of education available to the children and the youth of these communities and found that due to declining population, changing demographics, lack of qualified teaching staff in the region and several other interrelated factors, there was an increased reliance on online learning in the small rural schools of the Straits as well as other rural regions of the province.

Academic Performance, Course Completion Rates, And Student Perception Of The Quality And Frequency Of Interaction In A Virtual High School, Abigail Hawkins, Charles R. Graham, Richard R. Sudweeks, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

This study examined the relationship between students’ perceptions of teacher–student interaction and academic performance at an asynchronous, self-paced, statewide virtual high school. Academic performance was measured by grade awarded and course completion. There were 2269 students who responded to an 18-item survey designed to measure student perceptions on the quality and frequency of teacher–student interaction. Quality of interaction was subdivided into three constructs representing feedback, procedural, and social interaction. A confirmatory factor analysis helped to establish the fit of the statistical model for teacher–student interaction. Hierarchical logistical regression indicates that an increase in the quality and frequency of interaction resulted …

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, …

Today’S Student And Virtual Schooling: The Reality, The Challenges, The Promise, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

Introduction:

In 2008 I was approached to deliver a keynote address at the biennial conference of the Distance Education Association of New Zealand (DEANZ) in Wellington on the topic of today’s student and K–12 distance education. Several months ago, Mark Nichols asked me if I would be interested in putting some of the ideas that I discussed as a part of that August 2008 presentation into a manuscript for the Journal of Distance Learning. This paper represents my best efforts to summarise and expand on those ideas.

As in my 2008 keynote, I want to discuss three main themes …

All For One And One For All: Designing Web-Based Courses For Students Based Upon Individual Learning Styles, Michael K. Barbour, Morris Cooze

Education Faculty Publications

As e-learning begins to proliferate into secondary schools and is opened up to learners of all abilities, it is important that the effects different learning styles have upon how online instruction is provided are taken into consideration. In this study, students from a secondary-level business education class completed a learning styles inventory to determine their strengths in the traditional learning styles and in Gardner’s intelligences. A variety of web-based instructional methods were utilized throughout the school year and the students’ overall performance in the course was monitored.