Spotlight on Elizabeth Murphy

In my second to last entry I referenced the work of Dr. Elizabeth Murphy of Memorial University of Newfoundland and the fact that she has done a lot of work with virtual schooling. As I mentioned her in regard to the lack of consistency in the language that we use in describing virtual schools and virtual schooling (noting that she tends to use the more restrictive Barker, Wendel and Richmond (1999) definition).

As this may come across as complaining, I wanted to take an entry to highlight the work that Dr. Murphy has done in our field (also because where she is at a Canadian university and not involved in the NACOL community I think that her work has gone largely unnoticed). In that regard, I wanted to focus on some recent publications that she is responsible for in our field:

• Nippard, N. & Murphy, E. (2007). Social presence in the web-based synchronous secondary classroom. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology,Vol.33(1).
• Murphy, E. & Rodríguez-Manzanares, M. (2007). Deviations from the script: An Activity Theory perspective on the practice of the e-teacher in the virtual high-school classroom. The 10th IASTED International Conference on Computers and Advanced Technology in Education.
• Furey, D. & Murphy, E. (2005). K-12 virtual schools and schooling The Morning Watch: Educational and Social Analysis. Memorial University of Newfoundland, 32 (3-4).
• Power, R. & Murphy, E. (2003). Broadband in teaching and learning in Newfoundland and Labrador The Morning Watch: Educational and Social Analysis. Memorial University of Newfoundland, 31 (1-2).
• Murphy, E. & Coffin, G. (2003). Synchronous communication in a web-based senior-high school course: Maximizing affordances and minimizing constraints of the tools. American Journal of Distance Education, 17(4),235-246.Citations
• Murphy,E. (2003). Learning supported by broadband in a Canadian context: Benefits and Challenges. In A. M. Vilas, J.A. Gonzalez & J.M. Gonzalez,(Eds.) Advances in Technology-Based Education: Towards a Knowledge-Based Society. Junta De Extremadura, Consejeria de Educacion, Ciencia y Tecnologia, Vol.1, 273-277.
• Murphy, E. (2000). Strangers in a Strange Land: Teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning French as a second or foreign language in online learning environments. Doctoral dissertation. Québec: Université Laval.Citations

I should also note that she has three pieces that we should be on the look-out for in the coming months.

• Murphy,E. & Rodríguez-Manzanares, M. (accepted). Instant messaging in a context of virtual schooling: Balancing the affordances and challenges Educational Media International.
• Murphy,E. & Rodríguez-Manzanares, M. (accepted.) Contradictions between the virtual and physical high-school classroom: A third generation Activity Theory perspective. British Journal of Educational Technology BJET's online early version
• Murphy,E. & Rodríguez-Manzanares, M. (accepted). Revisiting Transactional Distance Theory in a context of web-based high-school distance education. Journal of Distance Education

I should also recognize at least one Master's thesis that I know of that is available on the Internet that Dr. Murphy led:

Nippard, E. C. (2005). Social presence in the web-based synchronous secondary classroom. Unpublished Thesis. Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL.

Finally, she is involved with three funded research projects that are all either focused on or have elements of K-12 online learning included in them.

• Strengthening the speaking skills of Core French students - SSHRC , Principal investigator, 2006-2007
• Community University Research Alliance: Building communities in the new learning environment - SSHRC, Co-investigator, 2006-2011
• Understanding the practice of the online teacher in the virtual high-school classroom - SSHRC, Principal investigator, 2005-2008

So, let's keep an eye out for more things to come from Dr. Murphy and her students.

Bibliography:

Barker, K., Wendel, T., & Richmond, M. (1999). Linking the literature: School effectiveness and virtual schools. Vancouver, BC: FuturEd. Retrieved July 31, 2005 from http://www.canlearn.ca/planning/pro/support/pdf/ComparingVirtualConventional.pdf

Tags: research, virtual school, cyber school, high school, education