Repost From the AECT Blog Track - My Background in Virtual Schooling

Starting with this entry, each week I will post one entry from the recent AECT Blog Track that we had on online learning. As you'll recall, my contribution to that Blog Track dealt with virtual schooling. So, beginning with the very first post, over the next twenty or thirty weeks, I'll post one every week for your review.

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To start of my blogging journey for this AECT Blogtrack, I thought it would be useful for the readers for me to outline my own practical and research background in virtual schooling.

As an opening, might I suggest taking a look at the “About Me“ page that is linked into this blog, as it does a pretty good job of outlining my background in the practice of virtual schooling. The highlights include holding the position of online teacher, course developer, and administrator with the Centre for Advanced Placement Education, the Illinois Virtual High School, the Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation, and AventaLearning Inc..

Outside of the practice experience, I have been involved in a number of research projects that have focused upon the populations involved with virtual schooling. These projects have included:

Affects of Participation in Asynchronous Discussion Forums on Student Performance in Advanced Placement Courses - The general purpose of this study was to consider the affects of students’ participation in asynchronous discussion forums (as a form of writing) on the grades that they receive both in their individual course and on the Educational Testing Service standardised exam. [Completed]

Achievement and Retention in Advanced Placement Courses Based upon Delivery Model - The general purpose of this study is to examine the retention rates and student achievement on standardized exams in the Advanced Placement curriculum in a Canadian province. The primary aim of this study is to explore the similarities and differences between retention rates and student achievement between different models of Advanced Placement delivery (i.e., classroom-based, web-based, or independent study). [Completed]

Effective Web-Based Design for Secondary Students - The general purpose of this study is to examine what constitutes pedagogically sound web-based course design for an adolescent audience. Using interviews with students, teachers, course developers, and administrators at two North American virtual high schools perceptions of what aspects of course design are useful and not useful will be discussed. A document analysis of various courses will also be conducted. [On-going]

Secondary Students’ Perceptions of Web-Based Learning – Using surveys and interviews, this study investigates helpful and challenging components of web-based learning with secondary students in a Canadian province. By exploring web-based learning from the student’s perspective it may inform the creation of strategies that can be implemented to assist web-based learning designers. [On-going]

Secondary Student Achievement by Course Delivery Model – Using standardized examination and the final course evaluation scores from a Canadian province for the past three years in each course that was offered through both a classroom and web-based format, this study will address whether or not there is a difference in student achievement on standardized exams based delivery model and location of the school (i.e., rural-urban) and whether there is a difference in student achievement on final course evaluation based delivery model and location. [In Progress]

Effectiveness of Powerpoint Games in K-12 e-Learning Environments – With Microsoft Powerpoint, a popular and commonly available classroom tool, it has become easier for teachers and students to use game design as a learning strategy in their classrooms. Through the use high stakes testing instruments, this study is designed to judge the effectiveness of game design as a learning strategy. [In Progress]

The ones that are completed are ones where the data has been collected, analyzed, and presented or published in the appropriate manners. The ones that are on-going are ones where the data has been collected and is either being analyzed or has been partially analyzed and partially presented or published. Finally, the ones that are in progress still have data collection underway.

And my own dissertation study which I just started this past month is entitled What are they doing and how are they doing it? Student experiences in virtual schooling. The abstract for the study is:

The Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador has utilized distance education for over a decade to provide equal opportunities for rural students. In recent years, students in the current web-based program has consistently performed as well as or better than their classroom counterparts in final course scores and standardized exams, opposing a more well-documented trend in the literature for distance education programs. Given the fact the performance results of these distance education students run counter to what is found in the literature, discovering what factors account for these results is an important undertaking. The purpose of this case study is to examine the nature of web-based learning with secondary students, seeking to explore the factors that may affect performance. Interviews, focus groups, journal entries, and participant observation will be used to gather data from distance education students throughout the province. Results will be analyzed using an inductive analysis approach, which involves scanning the data for categories and relationships within individual transcripts and between transcripts. Conclusions will focused on developing a better foundation for designing more effective web-based learning opportunities for all students.

Finally, I have also maintained a separate blog entitled Virtual High School Meanderings (which is linked into the BlogRoll) for the past year. So, as we begin this journey over the next six months - beginning with the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association coming up next week - you now have an idea of the professional and academic perspective I bring to this area.

Tags: AECT 2006, AECT, virtual school, cyber school, high school, education