Rural Context of Virtual Schooling

Okay, I just wanted to post this because I spend a great deal of time talking about the rural nature of virtual schooling and how I see that as my lens through which I look at virtual schooling.

In my particular case, my rural lens has traditionally been focused upon the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. For those of you unfamiliar with this geographic region, I wanted to direct you to a recent online article that I published in the Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy (CJEAP).

Issue Fifty-Nine
February 11, 2007

Portrait of Rural Virtual Schoolingby Michael K. Barbour, University of Georgia (Doctoral Candidate)

Abstract: Over the past two decades, distance education has become a reality of rural schooling in Newfoundland and Labrador. In this article, I provide historical background into the challenges facing rural schools in the province and how distance education was introduced to address that challenge. I also describe how that system of distance education evolved from a system that used the telephone lines and bridging technology to one that uses a combination synchronous and asynchronous system delivered over the Internet. Finally, I examine recent literature concerning the nature of today’s secondary students that would need to avail of this system and relate how this may not be an applicable portrait of youth in rural areas, such as Newfoundland and Labrador.

To download this article in pdf form, click here.

I hope you find this useful in getting a better sense of the lens that I use to look at virtual schooling.

Tags: research, virtual school, cyber school, high school, education, CDLI, Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation, Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador