Implications of Virtual Schooling for Socialization and Community

2011 ◽  
pp. 253-257
Author(s):  
Glenn Russel
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
The United States ◽  
Virtual Schools ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Virtual Schooling ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Florida Virtual School ◽  
Virtual Classes

This article discusses virtual schools. It examines reasons for their growth, and relates criticism and support of virtual schools to the purposes of schooling. In particular, the notions of socialization, values, affective objectives and the future needs of communities are examined. This article discusses the measurement and importance of values and socialization in a school system where virtual schools are valued, and concludes that more attention must be given to these issues as this schooling mode matures. Virtual schools are a variant of distance education whereby students use online computers for some or all of their schooling. Russell (2004) suggests that they may be categorized in terms of the amount of face-to-face interaction, as the range of virtual schools now available includes the following: 1. Those offering some virtual classes at conventional schools. 2. “Out-of-school” models, where there is no designated school building and students never attend a face-to-face class. 3. Mixed-mode examples, where students are expected to work online from home or elsewhere, but attend some face-to-face sessions such as sport or social activities. Variation can also be seen in the experiences offered to students in the online component of their course. Some schools, such as the Virtual Schooling Service in Queensland, Australia (VSS 2003), rely principally on synchronous interaction in the timetabled classes of conventional schools. Other schools, such as Florida Virtual School in the United States (U.S.), use asynchronous methods to enable greater flexibility. The Florida Virtual School uses the motto of “Teaching Any Time, Any Place, Any Pace” (Johnson 2004). The experiences that students will receive within the online component of their virtual schools also vary. An examination of virtual school Web sites and reports, including the California Virtual School Report (2000), Virtual High School (Kozma, Zucker, Espinoza, McGee, Yarnell, Zalles, & Lewis, 2000) and Florida (Florida High School Evaluation, 2002) indicate a range of environments. These include Web pages, chat rooms, online discussion groups and e-mail. In addition, some schools retain predecessor technologies such as telephone, post and audio and videotapes—or combinations of technologies that seem appropriate. It is difficult, if not impossible, to compare student experiences where the technological provision is so disparate

Trends and Issues of Virtual K-12 Schools

2011 ◽  
pp. 1898-1901
Author(s):  
Belinda Davis Lazarus
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
The United States ◽  
Virtual Schools ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
Virtual High School ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Rapid Pace ◽  
K 12

Increasingly, K-12 schools are delivering instruction via Internet courses that allow students to access course content and complete assignments from home. According to a recent survey conducted by Education Week, 27 states in the United States have spent public monies to establish virtual public or charter schools. For example, over the past 5 years, the Florida Virtual School has spent $23 million and offered 62 online courses to over 8,000 students. Kentucky Virtual High School, which offers approximately 40 courses and enrolls approximately 750 students annually, has a budget of about $400,000 per. The Michigan Virtual High School is funded for $15 million for start-up costs with $1.5 million allocated annually for operational costs. And the Virtual High School International, a nonprofit collaborative of 200 national and international schools with a budget of $10 million, offers 160 courses to students in 16 countries. In spite of declining budgets, the growth of K-12 virtual schools continues at a rapid pace (Park & Staresina, 2004).

Training Teachers for a Virtual School System

2013 ◽  
pp. 1398-1415
Author(s):  
Michael K. Barbour
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Virtual Schools ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Cyber Schools ◽  
K 12

Online learning at the K-12 level is growing exponentially. Students learning in supplemental virtual schools and full-time cyber schools, using a variety of delivery models that include and sometimes combine independent, asynchronous, and synchronous instruction, in almost every state in the US. In some instances the knowledge, skills, and abilities required by teachers in this technology-mediated environment is consistent with what they learned about face-to-face teaching in their teacher education programs, while in many instances, the two are quite different. Presently the lack of empirical research into effective K-12 online teaching limits teacher education programs. However, teacher education programs still need to better prepare pre-service and in-service teachers to design, deliver, and support students engaged virtual schooling.

scholarly journals An investigation of communication in virtual high schools

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marley Belair
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Schools ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
Phone Call ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Virtual Schooling ◽  
Struggling Learners ◽  
Student Responses ◽  
Work Habits ◽  
Phone Calls ◽  
Learner Responses

<p>Virtual schooling is an increasing trend for secondary education. Research of the communication practices in virtual schools has provided a myriad of suggestions for virtual school policies. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the activities and processes involved in the daily rituals of virtual school teachers and learners with the goal of determining how regular phone calls by teachers contributed to the work habits of students. Eight virtual teachers were observed attempting to contact more than 60 struggling learners. Phone conversations with 12 of these learners showed that teachers repeatedly attempted to help them. Eleven students were interviewed and indicated preferences for written communications. Ten additional teachers who were interviewed emphasized the difficulty they had in reaching students by phone and the lack of student responses to phone-call attempts. The teachers in the study provided additional data regarding their regular communication patterns. Archival records from more than 100 contact attempts showed that approximately 20% of the students responded to teacher phone calls and less than half of these students completed the work requested. The interview data revealed that teachers believe written communications or multiple forms of communication may be more effective than regular phone calls. Future research should extend current research by expanding on sample size and investigating alternate methods of communication. Further investigation of learner responses to phone calls and of nonresponsive students could add to this data.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>

“Friday Night is their Super Bowl”: A Relational Investigation Regarding Occupational Stress Among American High School Football Officials

2020 ◽  
pp. 216747952096893
Author(s):  
Brianna L. Avalos
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Occupational Stress ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Interpretive Research ◽  
High School Football ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
A Current ◽  
Friday Night

This interpretive research explores American high school football officials’ perceptions of occupational stress experienced both on and off the field. Within the United States, there is a current shortage of high school football officials. Overall individualistic identification within the association and how members make sense of their position on and off the field contribute to occupational stress. The research focused on one Southern Californian high school football organization officiating for youth, high school, and some college football. Data was collected through both semi-structured face-to-face interviews as well as analysis of field notes from football games and similar settings. This research utilized the theoretical framework of sensemaking as well as thematic analysis as a method in order to better understand and make sense of how members within the organization identify and manage stressful and hostile football-related situations. (Inter)personal relational stress-impacted themes emerged from the data: (1) with coaches, (2) with parents, and (3) with other officials.

Virtual School Counseling

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 2156759X0001800
Author(s):  
Debra S. Osborn ◽  
Gary W. Peterson ◽  
Rebecca R. Hale
Keyword(s):  
School Counseling ◽  
School Counselors ◽  
Virtual Schools ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Traditional School ◽  
Florida Virtual School

The advent of virtual schools opens doors to opportunity for delivery of student services via the Internet. Through the use of structured interviews with four practicing Florida virtual school counselors, and a follow-up survey, the authors examined the experiences and reflections of school counselors who are employed full time in a statewide virtual school. Findings highlight how virtual school counselors differ in their activities from traditional school counselors. This article presents implications for practice, training, and future research.

Training Teachers for a Virtual School System

2012 ◽  
pp. 499-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael K. Barbour
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Virtual Schools ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Cyber Schools ◽  
K 12

Online learning at the K-12 level is growing exponentially. Students learning in supplemental virtual schools and full-time cyber schools, using a variety of delivery models that include and sometimes combine independent, asynchronous, and synchronous instruction, in almost every state in the US. In some instances the knowledge, skills, and abilities required by teachers in this technology-mediated environment is consistent with what they learned about face-to-face teaching in their teacher education programs, while in many instances, the two are quite different. Presently the lack of empirical research into effective K-12 online teaching limits teacher education programs. However, teacher education programs still need to better prepare pre-service and in-service teachers to design, deliver, and support students engaged virtual schooling.

scholarly journals Virtual schools

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 19-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Çiğdem Apaydın
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
School System ◽  
System Organization ◽  
The United States ◽  
Virtual Schools ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
Education Development ◽  
First Time

The purpose of this article is to examine the concept of virtual schools in the scope of distance education based on a literature review. The virtual school is that the students have distance education by using online computers. The virtual school is named as a "out of school" model and these schools are administered that students complete their studies from their homes by online computers and they interact with their teachers distantly. The main purpose of the virtual schools is to provide access to citizens who cannot have education due to some reasons. Virtual schools were launched in the United States of America for the first time and then they have spread to other countries. Virtual schools operate as professional institutions which have curriculums and teachers. In this review following topics are examined: distance education; development of distance education; virtual school; types of virtual schools; positive and negative sides of the virtual school; virtual school system; organization types in virtual schools; the points to be considered about virtual schools.

scholarly journals Self-Reflection and Math Performance in an Online Learning Environment

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinnie Choi ◽  
Alyssa Walters ◽  
Pat Hoge
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Virtual Schools ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
Math Performance ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Math Learning ◽  
School Students ◽  
Self Reflection

According to recent reports, K-12 full-time virtual school students have shown lower performance in math than their counterparts in regular brick-and-mortar schools. However, research is lacking in what kind of programmatic interventions virtual schools might be particularly well-suited to provide to improve math learning. Engaging students in self-reflection is a potentially promising pedagogical approach for supporting math learning. Nonetheless, it is unclear how models for math learning in regular classrooms translate in an online environment. The purpose of this study was to (a) analyze rich assessment data from virtual schools to explore the association between self-reflection and math performance, (b) compare the patterns found in student self-reflection across elementary, middle, and high school levels, and (c) examine whether providing opportunities for self-reflection had positive impact on learning in a virtual learning environment. In this study, the self-reflection assessments were developed and administered multiple times within several math courses during the 2014-2015 school year. These assessments included 4-7 questions that ask students to reflect on their understanding of the knowledge and skills they learned in the preceding lessons and units. Using these assessments, multiple constructs and indicators were measured, which include confidence about the topic knowledge/understanding, general feelings towards math, accuracy of self-judgment against actual test performance, and frequency of self-reflection. Through a series of three retrospective studies, data were collected from full-time virtual school students who took three math courses (one elementary, one middle, and one high school math course) in eight virtual schools in the United States during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years. The results showed that (a) participation in self-reflection varied by grade, unit test performance level, and course/topic difficulty; (b) more frequent participation in self-reflection and higher self-confidence level were associated with higher final course performance; and (c) self-reflection, as was implemented here, showed limited impact for more difficult topics, higher grade courses, and higher performing students. Implications for future research are provided.

Instructional Design Factors and Requirements for Online Courses and Modules

2004 ◽  
pp. 158-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Schnitz ◽  
Janet W. Azbell
Keyword(s):  
Online Courses ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Instructional Delivery ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
Virtual Schooling ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Florida Virtual School ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Design Factors

The nature of digital content and tools, coupled with the communications capabilities available through online instruction, can, if leveraged properly, provide opportunities for quality instructional delivery. This chapter proposes that — even in an environment of remote, asynchronous, web-based instruction — approaches and the best of effective classroom practices may not be sufficient to address the full range of capabilities the technology provides. Through work done by IBM and the Florida Virtual School (FLVS), principles and models for leveraging the advantages offered by the technology environment and overcoming the difficulties inherent have been worked out in ways that offer significant promise to all providers of virtual schooling.

scholarly journals Real-Time Virtual Teaching: Lessons Learned From a Case Study in a Rural School

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael K. Barbour
Keyword(s):  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
Rural School ◽  
Virtual Schools ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Online Student ◽  
School Programs ◽  
Virtual School Programs

Due to the challenges facing rural schools, many jurisdictions have resorted to the use of virtual school programs to provide curricular opportunities to their students. While the number of virtual schools that rely on synchronous instruction as a primary or significant method of delivery is quite small, there are some programs that do (and a growing number of virtual schools that use it with small groups or individuals). This case study examined the use of synchronous online instruction by one virtual school with students in a single rural school in Newfoundland and Labrador. The data from a variety of collection methods revealed three themes: similarities with online student experiences and their traditional classroom experiences, the development of local learning communities, and the preference for students to use chat over audio.

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