Virtual School Project in Newfoundland

Well, I think that may have mentioned this project before (note, I have - see E-Learning Project From Back Home), but I want to give it some context. A number of year ago a group a faculty members at Memorial University of Newfoundland created a Centre for Telelearning and Rural Education (see http://www.cdli.ca/Community/prospects/v4n4/telelearning.htm or http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED413150&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED413150 for articles about its creation and purpose from Ken Stevens, and others, who was the original chair of the Centre). Note that Memorial University no longer maintains the Centre's website (which was available at http://www.tellearn.mun.ca/ ), but you can access some of it through the Internet Archive (go to http://www.archive.org/index.php and punch http://www.tellearn.mun.ca/ into their Wayback Machine).

Anyway, as best I can tell neither the webpage nor the Centre exist anymore (and it is a shame that the webpage is gone cause there were links to a lot of good early virtual school research there conducted by Dr. Stevens and his colleagues). A couple of years ago, a number of individuals from the Faculty of Education and Memorial University applied and received a Community-University Research Alliances (CURA). The project behind this CURA is described by the various initiatives that are underway as a part of the Killick Project for E-Learning Research.

I mention this here today because as I was out on the blogsphere, looking at what different Newfoundlanders were blogging about, I came across an entry entitled The Killick Project: Our "Wisconsin Idea" from Dale Kirby's Post-Secondary Education Blog. I've met Dale before and have a lot of respect for his work (which is more focused on post-secondary than mine own), and his entry got me thinking about their project again - that and the fact that Elizabeth Murphy (see Spotlight on Elizabeth Murphy) is also working on the Innovative and Effective Practices in Online Learning thread of this research.

In looking at their website, it appears that much of their work will extend into 2010 and beyond, so hopefully it will be stuff we are all reading about for the next four or five years.

Tags: research, Newfoundland and Labrador, CDLI, virtual school, cyber school, high school, education

Another Virtual Schooling CIDER Session

Well first of all, thanks to those who attended my own CIDER session a couple of Fridays ago. You can access the archived recording at:

Powerpoint presentation

Elluminate Recording of the Presentation

Now that I have that out of the way, I'd like to make mention of another virtual school session that CIDER has scheduled.

Research Results from BC’s Connected Learner’s Technology Projects

Institution: BCEd Online
Date and time: Nov 16, 2007 11:00 AM

What factors help to create effective online learning environments in K-12? In this session, Dr. Elizabeth Childs and Lara Jongedijk will report on the final data from nine provincial Connected Learner’s Technology Grant Projects that ran across 18 months and involved 14 school districts in British Columbia. The technologies used in the projects included: webcasting, web-conferencing, synchronous courses using Elluminate Live, use of Smartboards, online tutoring and data archiving. Lessons learned will be discussed and recommendations for making informed decisions when planning and implementing similar technology projects will be shared.

I'll post a reminder about it as the time gets closer, but I wanted to inform you now so you could get it on your calendars.

Tags: CIDER, CDLI, virtual school, cyber school, high school, education

Upcoming Virtual School CIDER Session

Okay, just one final reminder about my up-coming session of the Canadian Institute of Distance Education Research (CIDER).

Lessons learned in researching virtual schools: The Newfoundland and Labrador experience

Facilitator: Dr. Michael Barbour
Institution: Wayne State University
Date and time: Oct 05, 2007 11:00 AM

In this session, Dr. Michael Barbour will focus upon the lessons learned from researching the development and delivery of virtual school opportunities to secondary school students in Newfoundland and Labrador. Through qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method studies, he captures the experiences of students, teachers, course developers, and administrators in the formative years of a new virtual high school. Issues such as effective course design for this population of students, the benefits and challenges of online learning for secondary students, achievement differences based upon delivery model and geographic location, and what students are actually doing when engaged in virtual schooling are explored.

To join the session please click on the link below 30min prior to the start of the presentation (11:00am MST).

https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.8B71B60F2931D029AC3837DC06B70D

I hope that this session will be useful on a couple of fronts. The first is that you'll get to see how I got interested in virtual schools in the first place. The second is you'll get to see how I developed that interest from a beginning researcher to someone who I personally think asks better questions and is a better methodologist. The third is that I'll be discussing some of the findings from my various research studies with the Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation (CDLI - the virtual high school in Newfoundland).


Anyway, I'll post the link to the archive of the session some time next week, that way if you can't make the session you'll at least be able to see the recording. And thanks for indulging me as I do some self-promotion. :)


Tags: CIDER, CDLI, virtual school, cyber school, high school, education

Online Professional Development Sessions

I want to bring to your attention two online professional development sessions on the horizon this semester. The first is one offered by the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education through their Wise & Witty Wednesday series. Once they get it online, the complete schedule will be online at http://www.cade-aced.ca/cade_event_ww.php?i_nMode . The schedule that I got in the e-mail has the titles and presenter names for their monthly sessions beginning on 20 September. The one I wanted to point out is from the November session, which is their only K-12 one.

21 November - 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm, Eastern time
Solvig Norman & Eleanor Liddy
Tales from the Trenches: Distributed Learning in the K-12 World: The BC Experience

These sessions are delivered using Elluminate Live. To register for this session, please contact Tim Howard of CNIE in Ottawa at cnie-rcie@cnie-rcie.ca, phone 613.241.0018 or fax 613.241.0019. You are welcome to collect your colleagues at your site. You will receive a password and toll free phone number or instructions before the event. Registrations rates are $25 per workshop per individual OR $100 per workshop per site. Please add the appropriate GST or HST.

I should also note one other one from their archives that deals with a K-12 audience. It was entitled "Millenial Learners : Are We Ready?" and the complete description and abstract can be found here - http://www.cade-aced.ca/cade_event_ww_past.php?i_nEventId=6 .

The other one that I wanted to point out to you is one that I will be delivering through the Canadian Institute for Distance Education Research (CIDER). The complete schedule for this season, which begins on 21 September can be found at http://cider.athabascau.ca/CIDERSessions/upcomingsessions . My own session is in early October and the information is below.

Lessons learned in researching virtual schools: The Newfoundland and Labrador experience
Facilitator: Dr. Michael Barbour
Institution: Wayne State University
Date and time: Oct 05, 2007 11:00 AM (MST)

In this session, Dr. Michael Barbour will focus upon the lessons learned from researching the development and delivery of virtual school opportunities to secondary school students in Newfoundland and Labrador. Through qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method studies, he captures the experiences of students, teachers, course developers, and administrators in the formative years of a new virtual high school. Issues such as effective course design for this population of students, the benefits and challenges of online learning for secondary students, achievement differences based upon delivery model and geographic location, and what students are actually doing when engaged in virtual schooling are explored.

These sessions are also delivered through Elluminate, but unlike the CNIE sessions the CIDER sessions are free of charge. Also, I wanted to point out that I have posted about the other K-12 sessions that CIDER has offered in previous posts (see CIDER Session Archive and Invitation to CIDER session - 8 June 2007).

Personally, I won't be at the CNIE (as I don't want to spend the $25 plus tax) but I hope to see you all at the CIDER one.

Tags: CIDER, CNIE, CDLI, virtual school, cyber school, high school, education

Publication - Principles of Effective Web-based Content for Secondary School Students: Teacher and Developer Perceptions

Just wanted to alert you to a recent publication of mine in the Journal of Distance Education dealing with the CDLI (Newfoundland and Labrador's virtual school).


Home > Vol 21, No 3 (2007) > Barbour

Principles of Effective Web-based Content for Secondary School Students: Teacher and Developer Perceptions
Michael K. Barbour

Abstract - In this article, I describe findings from a study of the perceptions of course developers and electronic teachers on the principles of effective asynchronous web-based content design for secondary school students. Through interviews, participants’ perceptions of various web-based components and instructional strategies, and the effectiveness of both based upon the experiences of the participants were investigated in a virtual high school context for the purpose of generating a list of guidelines that future course developers might utilize.


Full Text: PDF, HTML

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

CIDER Session Archive

The session on the CDLI (Newfoundland's virtual high school) that was hosted by CIDER has been archived at:

http://cider.athabascau.ca/CIDERSessions/

Using Third Generation Activity Theory and Contradictions to Analyse Qualitative Data
Facilitator: Dr. Elizabeth Murphy
Institution: Memorial University
Date and time: Jun 08, 2007 11:00 AM

In this session Elizabeth Murphy and Maria Rodriguez Manzanares will illustrate how they relied on Third Generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and the concept of contradictions to make sense of data from a case study of e-teaching in virtual high-school classrooms in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. They will provide a brief overview of Third Generation Activity Theory, outline their approach and protocol, provide actual coded examples and discuss the limitations and value of this approach in particular and Activity Theory in general to distance education research. Elizabeth and Maria will be assisted in this presentation by doctoral students Brian Kerr and Charlene Dodd, who will discuss the coding of contradictions.

Tags: CIDER, CDLI, virtual school, cyber school, high school, education

Invitation to CIDER session - 8 June 2007

Wow! Twice in one day... This came in my inbox and the focus is upon the virtual school in Newfoundland and Labrador.

***Messages are posted in the language received.***

Dear CADE/AMTEC Member,

We would like to invite you to the next presentation in our series of free CIDER sessions. The session features a presentation and discussion with Dr. Elizabeth Murphy and Maria Rodriguez-Manzanares. Dr. Murphy is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Memorial University. Maria Rodriquez-Manzanares, also from the Faculty of Education at Memorial University, is a doctoral candidate.

Title: Using Third Generation Activity Theory and Contradictions to Analyse Qualitative Data

In this CIDER session, Elizabeth Murphy and Maria Rodriguez-Manzanares will illustrate how they relied on Third Generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and the concept of contradictions to make sense of data from a case study of e-teaching in virtual high-school classrooms in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Elizabeth and Maria will be assisted in this presentation by doctoral students Brian Kerr and Charlene Dodd, who will discuss the coding of contradictions. For more details on this presentation go to: http://cider.athabascau.ca/CIDERSessions/

When: Friday, June 8th, 2007, 11am – 12pm Mountain Standard Time

Where: Online via Elluminate at: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.8B71B60F2931D029AC3837DC06B70D

Pre-Configuration
Please make sure your Mac or PC is equipped with a microphone and speakers, so that we can use the Voice over IP functionality built into the web conferencing software.

Please note that it is extremely important that you get your system set up prior to the start of the event. Please don't wait until the day of the session to do this. Information on installing the necessary software and configuring your PC is available at http://www.elluminate.com/support/ in the “First Time Users” section.The session will be recorded and available for future playback from http://cider.athabascau.ca/CIDERSessions/

**************************
CIDER is a Community Partner of Elluminate, who proudly sponsors our web conferencing needs. To sign up for a free, no obligation three-user version of Elluminate, please visit http://www.getvroom.com

Elluminate is currently conducting a higher education survey about eLearning. Your participation in this survey would be greatly appreciated. The survey can be accessed at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=265373346008

Tags: CIDER, CDLI, virtual school, cyber school, high school, education

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