These are the slides from my research-focused job talk at the University of Cincinnati in February 2007.

1. Virtual Schooling
in Rural Schools
Michael K. Barbour
Department of Educational Psychology
and Instructional Technology
College of Education
University of Georgia

2. Agenda
1. Background as a teacher and researcher
2. Program of research
3. Context for my research
4. Dissertation study

3. Newfoundland and Labrador
• area of the island is 43,359
square miles, while Labrador
covers 112,826 square miles
• population of 508,955 in 2006
(down from 551,795 in 1996)
• 81,458 students in 2006 (down
from 118,273 in 1996)
• 287 schools in 2006 (down from
432 in 1996)
• average school size 220 pupils

4. Personal Background
• Graduated from a large, urban high school
• Became a teacher in a regional, rural school
• Started a web-based Advanced Placement social studies distance
education program
• Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation was created
• Became interested in how some of the tools were working and
affecting student performance and whether there were achievement
and retention differences in the online

5. Pre-Ph.D. Research
• Effects of individual student
learning style and web-based
design on student performance
• The use of instant messaging as
a tool for community building
• The role of school-based or
mediating teachers
• The differences in achievement
and retention of AP students
based on delivery model

6. Developing a Program of Research
• Rural schools have challenges offering a varied
curriculum.
• Distance education and more recently virtual schooling
have been used to address this challenge.
• Virtual school students tend to be highly motivated,
independent, and are comfortable with technology.
• Virtual schooling allows rural schools to offer a wider
variety of course and access to highly trained teachers.
• Most virtual schooling opportunities have been
designed for only a select group of students.

7. Pre-Dissertation Research
Web Design
(Teacher)
Web Design
(Student)
Jan-04 Aug-04 Feb-05 Sep-05 Mar-06 Oct-06
Performance
Comparison
Benefits and
Challenges
• Teacher perceptions of effective web-based design for
secondary students
• Student perceptions of benefits and challenges of virtual
schooling
• Student perceptions of effective web-based design
• Comparing student performance in traditional and virtual school
courses

8. Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation
Synchronous – Online
• 30% to 80%, depending on
subject area
• taught via a virtual classroom
(e.g., Elluminate Live)
Asynchronous – Offline
• remainder of their time
• taught via a course
management system (e.g.,
WebCT)
• usually consists of
independent work from posted
homework or assignments or
from their textbooks

9. Synchronous Instruction

10. Synchronous Instruction

11. Synchronous Instruction

12. Asynchronous Instruction

13. Asynchronous Instruction

14. Asynchronous Instruction

15. Asynchronous Instruction

16. Asynchronous Instruction

17. Dissertation Study
1. What are the students’ experiences
during their synchronous time online?
2. What are the students’ experiences
during their asynchronous time online?
3. When students require content-based
assistance, where do they seek that
assistance and why do they choose
those sources?

18. Case Study - Beaches All Grade
• K-12 school
• student body of 108
• teaching staff of 15
• 12 students taking 8 different virtual school
courses
– some taking one, others taking two or three

19. Data Collected
• January to June 2006
• 4 monthly interviews
• 15 weeks of journal responses
• 4 different surveys
• 38 in-school classes observed
• 27 synchronous classes from 13
different courses observed
• 13 asynchronous course
management systems observed

20. Trends – Question 1
Synchronous Time
• students tended to stay on task during this time
(although not always)
Image from http://www.cdli.ca/index.php?PID=AnnounceFull&NewsID=6352&PHPSESSID=f523be334ba73a54eab5707f738b18be

21. Trends – Question 1
Synchronous Time
• students tended to stay on task during this time
(although not always)
• students tended to rely upon each other more than the
online teacher for help
Image from http://www.cdli.ca/index.php?PID=AnnounceFull&NewsID=6352&PHPSESSID=f523be334ba73a54eab5707f738b18be

22. Trends – Question 1
Synchronous Time
• students tended to stay on task during this time
(although not always)
• students tended to rely upon each other more than the
online teacher for help
• students tended to communicate using text rather than
audio
Image from http://www.cdli.ca/index.php?PID=AnnounceFull&NewsID=6352&PHPSESSID=f523be334ba73a54eab5707f738b18be

23. Trends – Question 2
Asynchronous Time
• when the students decided to
work, they worked well
Image from http://www.waet.uga.edu/canada/canada.htm

24. Trends – Question 2
Asynchronous Time
• when the students decided to
work, they worked well
• students decided to work less
than half of the time
Image from http://www.waet.uga.edu/canada/canada.htm

25. Trends – Question 2
Asynchronous Time
• when the students decided to
work, they worked well
• students decided to work less
than half of the time
• students would complete work in
a collaborative effort, particularly
in the mathematics and sciences
Image from http://www.waet.uga.edu/canada/canada.htm

26. Trends – Question 2
Asynchronous Time
• when the students decided to
work, they worked well
• students decided to work less
than half of the time
• students would complete work in
a collaborative effort, particularly
in the mathematics and sciences
• asynchronous time was easy to
give up for other school related
activities
Image from http://www.waet.uga.edu/canada/canada.htm

27. Trends – Question 3
Turning for Help
• students primarily relied upon each
other for help

28. Trends – Question 3
Turning for Help
• students primarily relied upon each
other for help
• local class size played an important role
– the smaller the class the more likely
the students were to turn to their online
teacher as opposed to a school-based
teacher

29. Trends – Question 3
Turning for Help
• students primarily relied upon each
other for help
• local class size played an important role
– the smaller the class the more likely
the students were to turn to their online
teacher as opposed to a school-based
teacher
• student colleagues, teachers (both
online and school-based), and general
Internet searches were primarily the only
sources students used for help, even
though they had access to a textbook,
supplemental material in WebCT, a live
tutor available in the virtual classroom
after schools and during the evenings

30. Initial Implications
• Synchronous instruction is both what makes the
CDLI different from other virtual schools and is
where the majority of “teaching” occurs.
• Teachers don’t “teach” asynchronous, they simply
assign independent work, and as such students
don’t make good use of asynchronous time.
• Many students don’t know about all of the
resources available to assist them and even when
they do know about them they tend not to take
advantage of them – instead preferring to use
human resources.

31. Future Research
• Asynchronous teaching techniques
that teachers have found effective
• The development and operation of in
and out of school learning
communities
• Case studies of lower performing
students engaged in virtual schooling
• Whether pre-course assessments of
student skills and study habits can be
used to identify weaknesses and
provide remedial assistance on how
to learn online

32. Contact Information
Michael K. Barbour
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Educational Psychology and
Instructional Technology
University of Georgia
mkbarbour@gmail.com
http://www.michaelbarbour.com