E-Learn 2013: How Schools Are Meeting State Legal Mandates To Provide Online Education

The final session that I am formally blogging at this 2013 World Conference on E-Learning is:

How Schools Are Meeting State Legal Mandates To Provide Online Education

ID: 40189
Type: Brief Paper   Topic: Evaluation

Room: 12
Thu, Oct. 24 2:10 PM-2:30 PM

Authors:
Mark Deschaine, Central Michigan University, United States
Robert Leneway, Western Michigan University, United States

Abstract:
Michigan became the first state in the nation to mandate online learning opportunities as a condition for graduation. This paper is a report on the findings of a study conducted on how public schools in Michigan are meeting the mandate to provide online learning opportunities as a condition of graduation. Descriptive and inferential techniques were used to examine the survey results from K-12 public and charter school principals across Michigan. Findings indicate that that a greater percentage of students enrolled in Online Experiences Incorporated within Classes than in Fully Online Semester Long Courses, with both options being incorporated more into content academic areas than non-core academic areas. Smaller enrollment schools utilized on line opportunities at a higher rate than their peers in larger schools. Online Educational Opportunities are most often used as a vehicle for student skillset improvement: to help students with credit recovery needs, to help students considered at-risk for school failure, and to assist students in gaining 21st Century skills. Student and administrator technological training, as well as providing online experiences within existing classes both significantly predicted improvement in student access to curriculum. Providing Fully Online Courses to students significantly predicted improvement in the school programs’ financial and perceived achievement measures. Commercial vendors were the largest provider of content for Fully Online Semester Long Course content. Districts tend to stay within their own organizations for support for their Online Educational Opportunities. Decision makers tended to be influence mostly by their building administrators, followed by their district administrators on the types of opportunities being offered. It was also found that significant differences based upon district enrollment size existed throughout the state. Implications for policy development and implementation were provided.

Unfortunately, the first two presenters in that slot/room did not show up. As such this presenter began earlier and was about half way through or further when I arrived. In terms of what I was able to view…

The fourth research question focused on where school districts were receiving support for the implementation of the online learning mandate. Apparently, 25.7% of responding districts indicated that they did this in-house, with 92% indicating that they used an external vendor (including Michigan Virtual) to assist them, and there were another six or seven items listed (as many districts were receiving multiple levels or sources or support). Within the internal sources of support, it tended to be sources at the building level – as opposed to the district or ISD level.

When it came to looking for vendors for their online course content, vendors – including Michigan Virtual – were by far the most common source. Michigan-based post-secondary institutions were a distance second on this list, followed by non-Michigan-based post-secondary institutions.

Interesting, the larger enrollment districts seemed to have the greatest reliance on vendors for their online courses and the support for implementing the online learning mandate. Smaller enrollment districts tended to utilize internal resources more (including using Michigan Virtual at a statistically significant lower level). Larger enrollment districts also utilized the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning more than their smaller enrollment district counterparts – possibly because the larger ones have more money for professional development.

The presenter admitted that this study was a cursory look or quick snap shot. This snap shot was further complicated by the fact that many of the administrators that were responsible for completing the surveys did not have a common understanding of the language around the online learning mandate. But clearly this is an area that more research could be done, how schools are implementing online learning mandates (both in Michigan and other jurisdictions that have implemented online learning graduation requirements).

E-Learn 2013: Best Practices in Teaching at K-12 Virtual Schools

The second session that I am blogging at this 2013 World Conference on E-Learning is:

Best Practices in Teaching at K-12 Virtual Schools

ID: 39827
Type: Best Practices Session   Topic: Implementation Examples & Issues

Room: 5
Wed, Oct. 23 11:55 AM-12:15 PM

Authors:
Berhane Teclehaimanot, University of Toledo, United States
Peter You, University of Toledo, United States

Abstract:
Virtual schools in K-12 online learning are growing at an exponential rate throughout the United States. Some states have passed legislative measures requiring K-12 Charter School students to complete their learning experiences totally online by the time they graduate from high school. Unfortunately, there is little research on the success of online teaching in the K-12 arena and most of the existing research focused on teaching online is entrenched in face-to- face content, not focused on content areas. The purpose of this study is to examine the status of best practices in teaching K-12 virtual schools that fully prepare students online in 17 Midwestern Virtual Schools. The study will also explore the practices of online teacher professional development that are being used in K-12 virtual schools.

The presenter for this session was a faculty member at the University of Toledo and was based on a project they conducted with 17 virtual charter schools. The purpose of the study was to identify a series of best practices for teaching students in an online environment.

There were four research questions, all of which assumed that there were an existing set of best practices, and were designed to discover what best practices teachers used, how they were used, and what professional development was needed. The established best practices that were used were based on the list prepared by DiPietro et al. (2008) and the Quality Matters framework. A total of 108 participants responded to the survey (97 of whom were females). About half of the sample was high school, with a quarter each coming from elementary school and middle school. Interestingly a fifth of the sample had been teaching online for less than a year.

The results, which were kind of funny, began with the fact that “most virtual teachers strongly agreed that they utilized the best practices” – I’m sure that they did!!! Forgetting the fact that the ‘best practices” that we’re being tested were based on a single study of teacher opinions with no actual verification, how many folks when presented a list of best practices that they should be doing in their own teaching would actually say, “Nah, I don’t do any of those!” I hate to be negative towards someone who is a new research in our field, but what value is there in this kind of study?

Let’s just review a little, so you understand my pessimism about this study. DiPietro et al. (2008) was a study where the researchers interviewed a couple dozen virtual school teachers from one supplemental statewide K-12 online learning program that were identified as being effective online teachers by the virtual school themselves. There was no verification of whether these teachers were actually effective, the researchers simply accepted that at face value and then got their perceptions of what constituted good online teaching. The researchers did not verify whether teachers that used these strategies actually had better results than teachers that didn’t. The researchers didn’t examine the online teachers practice to see if they actually did any of these “best practices” in their own online teaching. They simply got opinions from online teachers and used the themes to generate about three dozen “best practices.”

Now these two folks from the University of Toledo took these methodologically limited “best practices” and sent a survey out to a bunch of online teachers. They told the online teachers that this was a list if “best practices” and then asked them, using a Likert scale, their level of agreement in terms of whether they actually did each “best practice” in their own online teaching. The folks from Toledo also did not verify whether the teachers actually did any of these “best practices,” and there was not even an analysis of whether these Ohio-based cyber charter teachers agreed with the set of best practices that were generated by the Michigan-based supplemental online teachers! I’m hoping that everyone understand the problem with this research and why it is of VERY limited value to the field!!!

E-Learn 2013: Designing and delivering an Online Teaching Endorsement for K-12 Virtual School Teachers

The first session that I am blogging at this 2013 World Conference on E-Learning is:

Designing and delivering an Online Teaching Endorsement for K-12 Virtual School Teachers

ID: 40173
Type: Best Practices Session   Topic: Implementation Examples & Issues

Room: 12
Tue, Oct. 22 11:35 AM-11:55 AM

Authors:
Jeremy Dickerson, Coastal Carolina University, United States

Abstract:
While virtual school programs are growing exponentially all over the world, the demand for qualified online teachers has also increased. What does it mean to be qualified to teach online? What knowledge and skills are necessary? How does a teacher receive online teaching endorsement and what does this translate to in terms of abilities and aptitudes of online pedagogy and technological tool sets? This presentation covers these topics and discusses the Online Teaching Endorsement process. Specifically, the Online Teaching Endorsement (OTE) offered by the College of Education at Coastal Carolina University is highlighted and described in detail. Topics covered include the relationship and articulation between the University and the State Department of Education, the scope and sequence of courses, the delivery techniques and tools used, and the process of reviewing and adapting the curriculum so that learners receive a combination of relevant and useful theories and skills.

 

This session was from a faculty member at Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he described the process hat they went through to create an online teaching endorsement for teachers in that state. The biggest issue they were faced with was what constitutes a qualified online teacher and what characteristics do they possess.

The session itself was quite general in nature. The speaker spent most of his time talking in very general ways, where the presentation could have been

One of the specifics that he did discuss was the course work. The endorsement is a four course sequence, with two required courses and two elective courses. The two require courses were “Teaching and Learning Online” and ” Advanced Teaching Online,” and then the specific topics covered by each course and asked the audience to provide feedback on the topics and content. The electives included a teaching with technology class, an introduction to ID course, a planning course, and a media course.

Reminder: E-Learn 2013 And K-12 Online Learning

A reminder that the 2013 World Conference on E-Learning begins today. I spent some time searching through the schedule a few months back and had identified the following K-12 online learning session. If you know of others, please let me know.

———————

Tue, Oct. 22
Time	Room	Title	Type	Topic
11:35 AM	12	Designing and delivering an Online Teaching Endorsement for K-12 Virtual School Teachers Jeremy Dickerson, Coastal Carolina University, USA View Details	Best Practices Session	Implementation Examples & Issues
4:00 PM	4	K-12 Online Learning and the Diffusion of the Teacher Michael Barbour, Sacred Heart University, USA View Details	Full Paper	Research
4:20 PM	8	Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School – Complete Online High School Ryan Hauber, Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School, Canada View Details	Best Practices Session	Implementation Examples & Issues
4:30 PM	4	Online Advanced Placement Advantage: Examining Online Achievement and Perceptions Michael Barbour, Sacred Heart University, USA; Sharon Johnston, Independent Consultant (Formerly Senior Associate Advanced Placement, Florida Virtual School), USA View Details	Full Paper	Research
Wed, Oct. 23
Time	Room	Title	Type	Topic
11:55 AM	5	Best Practices in Teaching at K-12 Virtual Schools Berhane Teclehaimanot, University of Toledo, USA; Peter You, University of Toledo, USA View Details	Best Practices Session	Implementation Examples & Issues
Thu, Oct. 24
Time	Room	Title	Type	Topic
10:40 AM	5	Promoting Failure: Examining Policies Related to K-12 Online Schools Michael Barbour, Sacred Heart University, USA View Details	Brief Paper	Policy Issues
11:15 AM	11	Digital Solidarity in Education: Promoting Equity, Diversity, and Academic Excellence through Innovative Instructional Programs Mary Kolesinski, Nova Southeastern University, USA; Evelyn Nelson-Weaver, Nova Southeastern University, USA; Daryl Diamond, Broward County Schools, USA View Details	Roundtable	Implementation Examples & Issues

E-Learn 2013 And K-12 Online Learning

So the schedule for the 2013 World Conference on E-Learning has finally been released. I spent some time searching through the schedule a few months back and had identified the following K-12 online learning session. If you know of others, please let me know.

———————

Tue, Oct. 22
Time	Room	Title	Type	Topic
11:35 AM	12	Designing and delivering an Online Teaching Endorsement for K-12 Virtual School Teachers Jeremy Dickerson, Coastal Carolina University, USA View Details	Best Practices Session	Implementation Examples & Issues
4:00 PM	4	K-12 Online Learning and the Diffusion of the Teacher Michael Barbour, Sacred Heart University, USA View Details	Full Paper	Research
4:20 PM	8	Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School – Complete Online High School Ryan Hauber, Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School, Canada View Details	Best Practices Session	Implementation Examples & Issues
4:30 PM	4	Online Advanced Placement Advantage: Examining Online Achievement and Perceptions Michael Barbour, Sacred Heart University, USA; Sharon Johnston, Independent Consultant (Formerly Senior Associate Advanced Placement, Florida Virtual School), USA View Details	Full Paper	Research
Wed, Oct. 23
Time	Room	Title	Type	Topic
11:55 AM	5	Best Practices in Teaching at K-12 Virtual Schools Berhane Teclehaimanot, University of Toledo, USA; Peter You, University of Toledo, USA View Details	Best Practices Session	Implementation Examples & Issues
Thu, Oct. 24
Time	Room	Title	Type	Topic
10:40 AM	5	Promoting Failure: Examining Policies Related to K-12 Online Schools Michael Barbour, Sacred Heart University, USA View Details	Brief Paper	Policy Issues
11:15 AM	11	Digital Solidarity in Education: Promoting Equity, Diversity, and Academic Excellence through Innovative Instructional Programs Mary Kolesinski, Nova Southeastern University, USA; Evelyn Nelson-Weaver, Nova Southeastern University, USA; Daryl Diamond, Broward County Schools, USA View Details	Roundtable	Implementation Examples & Issues