The document discusses teaching in online versus traditional classroom environments. It summarizes research comparing the two environments and identifies limitations in the existing research. The research finds that online teaching requires more time for activities like materials creation and technology use. It also notes that online teachers often receive little training and that teacher training programs rarely include systematic preparation for online teaching. Roles like course designers and facilitators are also discussed.

1. Michael Barbour
Sacred Heart University

5. Full-Time Model

6. 1. How does teaching in a distance or online
environment compare with teaching in a
traditional classroom environment?
2. What is the relationship of teachers’
unions with K-12 online learning in
Canada, the United States and other
countries within the context of each
jurisdiction?

7. 1. How does teaching in a distance or online
environment compare with teaching in a
traditional classroom environment?
2. What is the relationship of teachers’
unions with K-12 online learning in
Canada, the United States and other
countries within the context of each
jurisdiction?

8. Virtual School Designer: Course Development
 design instructional materials
 works in team with teachers and a virtual school to construct the
online course, etc.
Virtual School Teacher: Pedagogy & Class Management
 presents activities, manages pacing, rigor, etc.
 interacts with students and their facilitators
 undertakes assessment, grading, etc.
Virtual School Site Facilitator: Mentoring & Advocating
 local mentor and advocate for student(s)
 proctors & records grades, etc.
Davis (2007)

9. Virtual School Designer: Course Development
 design instructional materials
 works in team with teachers and a virtual school to construct the
online course, etc.
Virtual School Teacher: Pedagogy & Class Management
 presents activities, manages pacing, rigor, etc.
 interacts with students and their facilitators
 undertakes assessment, grading, etc.
Virtual School Site Facilitator: Mentoring & Advocating
 local mentor and advocate for student(s)
 proctors & records grades, etc.
Davis (2007)

10. Similar to classroom-based teaching, with
differences
 time management, creation of materials,
understanding current technology and working
with a student one-on-one (Kearsley & Blomeyer,
2004)
 work differently to have positive communication
and assessments, using non-verbal
communication, time is needed for teachers to
become comfortable with technology, shift
occurring from teacher-centered to studentcentered learning (Easton, 2003)

11. Lack of reliable and valid
empirical research
 most research is based on teacher
perceptions

12. Study
Results
Methodological Limitation
Online
Teaching
37 Best practice for
effective asynchronous
online instruction
Interviews with teachers at a
single, statewide virtual school
that were selected by virtual
school administrators. Online
teacher beliefs were not validated
through observation or student
performance.
7 Principles of effective
asynchronous course
design for adolescent
learners
Interviews with teachers and
course developers at a single
province-wide virtual school that
had a strong synchronous
delivery model. Beliefs were not
validated through observation or
student performance
DiPietro
et al.
(2008)
Online
Course
Design
Barbour
(2005,
2007)

13. 







general characteristics – 12 practices
classroom management strategies – 2 practices
pedagogical strategies: assessment – 3 practices
pedagogical strategies: engaging students with
content – 7 practices
pedagogical strategies: making course meaningful
for students – 4 practices
pedagogical strategies: providing support– 1
practice
pedagogical strategies: communication &
community – 5 practices
technology – 3 practices

15. Course developers should:
1. prior to beginning development of any of the web-based material,
plan out the course with ideas for the individual lessons and
specific items that they would like to include;
2. keep the navigation simple and to a minimum, but don’t present
the material the same way in every lesson;
3. provide a summary of the content from the required readings or
the synchronous lesson and include examples that are
personalized to the students’ own context;
4. ensure students are given clear instructions and model
expectations of the style and level that will be required for student
work;
5. refrain from using too much text and consider the use of visuals to
replace or supplement text when applicable;
6. only use multimedia that will enhances the content and not simply
because it is available; and
7. develop their content for the average or below average student.

16.  based on University of Florida’s
Virtual School Clearinghouse
initiative
 AT&T Foundation-funded project
from 2006-2009
 designed to provide K-12 online
learning programs, particularly
statewide supplemental programs,
with data analysis tools and metrics
for school improvement
 13 of those K-12 online programs
were outlined in a publication
entitled Lessons Learned for Virtual
Schools: Experiences and
Recommendations from the Field
Black, Ferdig, DiPietro (2008)

17.  design-based research approach
to first five years of VHS
 SRI International were external
evaluators
 identified seven goals and
focused all of their research and
evaluation
 resulted in:
 three annual evaluations
 one five-year evaluation
 two subject specific evaluations

18. Role of the parent
 full-time environment
 parent is responsible for significant instruction
 Programs need to consider how to measure (Liu,
Black, Algina, Cavanaugh, & Dawson, 2010) and
foster it (Borup, Graham, & Davies, 2013; Halser
Waters, 2012; Klein, 2006)
 overall findings
 parental involvement tends to decrease as
student performance increases (Borup, Graham,
& Davies, 2013)

19. Online teaching is more work
 CDLI class size limit (official & unofficial)
 asynchronous instruction in particular
What is known about teacher
training
 learn online in order to teach online
 works in team with teachers and a virtual school
to construct the online course, etc.

20. Lack of professional development
 less than 40% of online teachers reported to
receiving any professional development before they
began teaching online (Rice & Dawley, 2007)
Lack of teacher preparation programs
 less than 2% of universities in the United States
provided any systematic training in their preservice or in-service teacher education programs
(Kennedy & Archambault, 2012)

21. Barbour, M. K. (2005). Perceptions of effective web-based design for secondary school students: A
narrative analysis of previously collected data. The Morning Watch, 32(3-4). Retrieved from
http://www.mun.ca/educ/faculty/mwatch/win05/Barbour.htm
Barbour, M. K. (2007). Principles of effective web-based content for secondary school students:
Teacher and developer perceptions. Journal of Distance Education, 21(3), 93-114.
Black, E. W., Ferdig, R. E., DiPietro, M. (2008). An overview of evaluative instrumentation for
virtual high schools. American Journal of Distance Education, 22(1), 24-45.
Borup, J., Graham, C. R., & Davies, R. S. (2013). The nature of parental interactions in an online
charter school. American Journal of Distance Education, 27(1), 40-55.
Davis, N. E. (2007, February). Teacher Education Goes into Virtual Schooling. Paper presented at
the FIPSE Comprehensive Conference. Retrieved from
http://ctlt.iastate.edu/~tegivs/TEGIVS/publications/VS%20Symposium2007.pdf
DiPetro, M., Ferdig, R. E., Black, E. W., & Preston, M. (2008). Best practices in teaching K-12
online: Lessons learned from Michigan Virtual School teachers. Journal of Interactive Online
Learning, 7(1). Retrieved from http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/7.1.2.pdf
Easton, S. (2003). Clarifying the instructor’s role in online distance learning. Communication
Education, 52(2), 87–105.

22. Elbaum, B., McIntyre, C., & Smith, A. (2002). Essential elements: Prepare, design, and teach your
online course. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.
Espinoza, C., Dove, T., Zucker, A., & Kozma, R. (1999). An evaluation of the Virtual High School
after two years in operation. Arlington, VA: SRI International. Retrieved from
https://web.archive.org/web/20080626110701/http://ctl.sri.com/publications/downloads/evalvh
s2yrs.pdf
Ferdig, R. E. & Cavanaugh, C. (Eds.). (2008). Lessons learned for virtual schools: Experiences and
recommendations from the field. Vienna, VA: International Association for K-12 Online
Learning.
Halser Waters, L. (2012). Exploring the experience of learning choices in a cyber charter schools: A
qualitative case study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Hawaii, Mānoa, HI.
Kearsley, G., & Blomeyer, R. (2004), Preparing K-12 teachers to teach online. Educational
Technology, 44(1), pp. 49-52. Retrieved from
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/TeachingOnline.htm
Kennedy, K., & Archambault, L. M. (2012). Offering pre-service teachers field experiences in K-12
online learning: A national survey of teacher education programs. Journal of Teacher Education,
63(3), 185–200.
Klein, C. (2006). Virtual charter schools and home schooling. Youngstown, NY: Cambria Press.

23. Kozma, R., Zucker, A., & Espinoza, C. (1998). An evaluation of the Virtual High School after one
year in operation. Arlington, VA: SRI International. Retrieved from
https://web.archive.org/web/20080626110702/http://ctl.sri.com/publications/downloads/evalv
hs1yr.pdf
Kozma, R., Zucker, A., Espinoza, C., McGhee, R., Yarnall, L., Zalles, D., et al. (2000). The online
course experience: Evaluation of the Virtual High School's third year of implementation, 19992000. Arlington, VA: SRI International. Retrieved from
http://www.sri.com/sites/default/files/publications/imports/VHS_Online_Experience.pdf
Lui, F., Black, E., Algina, J., Cavanaugh, C., & Dawson, K. (2010). The validation of one parental involvement measurement in virtual schooling. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 9(2).
Retrieved from http://www.ncolr.org/issues/jiol/v9/n2/the-validation-of-one-parentalinvolvement-measurement-in-virtual-schooling
Rice, K., & Dawley, L. (2007). Going Virtual: The status of professional development of K-12 online
teachers. Boise ID: Boise State University. Retrieved from
http://edtech.boisestate.edu/goingvirtual/goingvirtual1.pdf
Yamashiro, K., & Zucker, A. (1999). An expert panel review of the quality of Virtual High School
courses: Final report. Arlington, VA: SRI International. Retrieved from
http://thevhscollaborative.org/sites/default/files/public/vhsexprt.pdf
Zucker, A., & Kozma, R. (2003). The Virtual High School: Teaching generation V. New York, NY:
Teachers College Press.

25. Director of Doctoral Studies
Sacred Heart University, USA
mkbarbour@gmail.com
http://www.michaelbarbour.com
http://virtualschooling.wordpress.com