Virtual School MOOC – Introduction to K-12 Online Learning Research (10 September-07 October 2012) CONCLUSION

This past Sunday ended the Virtual School massive online open course (MOOC) entitled Introduction to K-12 Online Learning Research, which was run over the previous four weeks. The MOOC itself was designed to provide a broad overview of the field of K-12 online learning, specifically what is currently known based on the research that has been conducted in the field.  The topics that we covered during the next four weeks included:

1. Classifying K-12 Online Learning
2. History of K-12 Online Learning
3. Overview of Research into K-12 Online Learning
4. Design of K-12 Online Learning
5. Teaching of K-12 Online Learning
6. Facilitation of K-12 Online Learning
7. K-12 Online Learning from an International Perspective
8. Concluding the K-12 Online Learning Research MOOC

We spent about a half a week on each topic, but as the MOOC was designed to be primarily asynchronous many folks went at their  own pace – some completing more than others.

During the MOOC, I tried to post an introductory teaser blog entry to each topic, then my own response to the blogging activity for that topic, and finally an entry that would qualify me for the “Virtual School Apprentice” badge (see list of badges here).  I had also intended to post sample entries related to some of the other badges that are listed (e.g., Virtual School Designer or  Virtual School Evangelist badges).

There was one week where I was traveling and I missed a series of entries, as well the final week was a busy one for me and I missed some entries then as well.  Finally, I didn’t get to those extra badges.  In all, I suspect there are about a dozen entries that I wanted to post that I missed.  I guess the nice thing about an asynchronous event is that I can go back now and backdate some of those entries (and the ones for the additional badges I can post them in real time as I come up with them) – so keep checking the vsmooc12 tag on this blog for what will be the complete set of entries by the end of this month.

Also, as I begin to collect the data from this MOOC – which will also occur over the coming month – I’ll begin to post some of that information as well.  One of the reasons I undertook this four week MOOC was to determine if there was interest in a larger one next summer (and to give me a sense of what it might be like).  As I begin to analyze the data over the next few months I guess I’ll figure out whether a second one is worth it (or maybe a series of future mini-ones).

Virtual School MOOC – International Research into K-12 Online Learning (01-04 October 2012)

The seventh topic in Introduction to K-12 Online Learning Research is “International Research into K-12 Online Learning .”

Sara Bristow: Online learning plays a critical role in education not just in the North America, but globally, with new virtual schools and programs emerging every year. This module focuses on preliminary outcomes of the ongoing VISCED project, the first systematic global study of the state of K-12 education worldwide. We will examine the range of learning models the study has uncovered before embarking on a “World Tour” of virtual schooling. We will then review “Key Success Factors” for virtual schools before concluding with a look at select case studies from around the world.

Virtual School MOOC – Research into the Facilitation of K-12 Online Learning: Summary Entry

As a part of the novice badge for the Introduction to K-12 Online Learning Research, I’ve asked people to “a short blog post summarizing what you’ve learned about the topic and why you think the topic is important.”

I have to be honest and say that this is one of those entries where I’m not exactly sure what I want to write. I’m not sure what I have learned from this topic, as this is one where my own research has focused in recent years.  And one of the main themes that I have learned from my own research in this topic I mentioned earlier today when I wrote:

…limited research has indicated this individual has a critical role on students’ success in online learning.

[AND]

…there has no been additional research into the role of local teachers in supporting K-12 students engaged in online learning.

See Virtual School MOOC – Research into the Facilitation of K-12 Online Learning: Blogging Activity #2 for the full content of those quotes.

In fact, this is an area where I try to encourage doctoral students to complete their dissertation work – for the reasons stated above.  If I have one personal takeaway from this topic, I guess it would be the importance of the role of the school-based facilitator and how little we know about this role (as well as how little support is provided to this role).

 

Virtual School MOOC – Research into the Facilitation of K-12 Online Learning: Blogging Activity #2

The sixth topic in Introduction to K-12 Online Learning Research is “Research into the Facilitation of K-12 Online Learning.” The second blogging activity for this topic is:

Do you agree that facilitators play an important role in online learning? Why or why not?

I agree that facilitators play an important role in online learning.  As I wrote in my forthcoming chapter in the third edition of the Handbook of Distance Education:

While little has been written about the various roles facilitators or mentor teachers undertake, limited research has indicated this individual has a critical role on students’ success in online learning (Barbour & Mulcahy, 2004; Roblyer, Freeman, Stabler, & Schneidmiller, 2007). Barbour and Mulcahy (2004) found that teachers at the school level provided substantial levels of support in a wide range of areas, including supervisory and administrative duties, technical troubleshooting, and providing content-based assistance. However, these findings were based on only five teachers performing this role in the first year of operation for a single, Canadian virtual school. In a follow-up to that initial study, Barbour and Mulcahy (2009) found that the amount of time these school-based teachers spent supporting the students engaged in online learning had actually increased. The authors also found that as students with a wider range of abilities are enrolling in online courses the local school-based teachers have to spend more time monitoring students’ progress and assisting the academically weaker students. Similarly, in their evaluation of a statewide virtual school, Roblyer et al. (2007) found that school-based teachers “directly working with students day by day [were] key to the success of the [K-12 online learning] program” (p. 11).

The problem is that beyond the findings in these two individual province-wide/statewide supplemental programs (and the work that Matt Irvin and his colleagues have conducted – as described by the content for this topic), there has no been additional research into the role of local teachers in supporting K-12 students engaged in online learning.

References:

Barbour, M. K., & Mulcahy, D. (2004). The role of mediating teachers in Newfoundland’s new model of distance education. The Morning Watch, 32(1-2). Retrieved from http://www.mun.ca/educ/faculty/mwatch/fall4/barbourmulcahy.htm

Barbour, M. K., & Mulcahy, D. (2009). Beyond volunteerism and good will: Examining the commitment of school-based teachers to distance education. In I. Gibson et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (779-784). Norfolk, VA: AACE.

Roblyer, M. D., Freeman, J., Stabler, M., & Schneidmiller, J. (2007). External evaluation of the Alabama ACCESS initiative: Phase 3 report. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved from http://accessdl.state.al.us/2006Evaluation.pdf

 

Roblyer, Freeman, Stabler, & Schneidmiller, 2007)

Virtual School MOOC – Research into the Facilitation of K-12 Online Learning: Blogging Activity #1

The sixth topic in Introduction to K-12 Online Learning Research is “Research into the Facilitation of K-12 Online Learning.” The first blogging activity for this topic is:

Have you ever been or have you known someone who has been a facilitator? What was that experience like for you or them? In what ways does your or their experience reflect and/or conflict with the research and text discussed above.

I have not personally been a facilitator. I have been an online teacher and I have had some of my own online students at my school, but I have never played the role of the facilitator myself. In fact, it is the only one of Davis’ roles that I have not performed.

I have conducted research into this role. In fact, you’ll note that two of the citations that Matt includes in his materials are studies that I conducted with mediating teachers (the term used by the Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation (CDLI) in the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and Labrador for their school-based facilitators).  Interestingly, the CDLI has actually organized their mediating teachers into a mediating team, divided into three specific roles: administrative, technical, and coach.  The mediating teacher that performs the administrative role is responsible for things like proctoring exams, taking attendance, entering grades into the school-based systems, communicating with the virtual school teacher (or e-teacher as they call it) about administrative items.  The mediating teacher performing the technical role is responsible for ensuring that the computers the online students need to use has all of the appropriate software, responsible for ensuring adequate bandwidth, and any sort of technical troubleshooting.  Finally, the mediating teacher responsible for the coach role is supposed to help the students with those soft learning skills, to work with them to teach them time management, self-regulation, self-directedness, and other things.

As you might imagine in many small, rural schools a single individual performs all three roles.  As you might also imagine, the administrative and technical roles – or the things that have to be done – often overtake the coaching role, which is quite often totally neglected.  There is also a role that isn’t mentioned in the formal structure, but has been the dirty little secret of K-12 distance education for quite some time (and Dennis and I mention this in our work).  Often these school-based facilitators, even though they have little or no subject matter expertise, often perform substantial tutoring for these students.  In know in my own dissertation work, I found that the students I studied were much more likely to ask a school-based teacher for content-based help – regardless if they had any subject matter expertise in that area.  In fact, contacting their virtual school teacher was often low on the list of things they would do when they did require content-based assistance.

I refer to this as the dirty little secret because what is means is that many distance education programs would often fail without the volunteer teaching done by school-based teachers.  While this is great for the students, as as Matt and his colleagues have recently begun to explore in their own work, it increases the level of teacher presence (or distributes the teacher presence to be a teacher co-presence), what does it say about the quality of our online programs and the instruction being provided?