Online and Distance Education Commons^™

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 …

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.

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 …

Final Report And Recommendations:Ministeria E Arsimit Dhe Shkences, Tirane, Albania, Robert Mccloud

Robert McCloud

The emphasis of current policies has been on Internet connectivity, bridging the digital divide and raising awareness of ICT needs in the schools. As of January 2011, we are schedule to have dedicated Internet service of 1MB download and 256K upload per school. Every Albanian school with a headmaster will have this connectivity. The only schools that will be excluded are in those remote towns where five grades (1 through 5) are consolidated into a single class. It is unfair to exclude these students. If their schools are going to stay open, then they should also be included in the …