iPad Usage and Appropriate Applications

Mobile learning, learning delivered or accompanied by any handheld or individual device that contributes to increasing knowledge or skills, has continuously become popular in educational systems in the 21st century. Apple's iPad has been a popular mobile device that has been chosen for us in 1-to-1 learning environments. Research suggests that utilizing iPads in educational settings is beneficial due to its affordance, portability, ubiquitous access to information, ability to communicate with other iPad users, and the opportunity it offers to showcase creativity and individuality through various applications. Studies have found value in providing students with their own iPads. This chapter overviews both the benefits and concerns of iPad usage in K-12 classrooms. Furthermore, specific web and iPad applications are discussed. When educators take appropriate steps to create a controlled learning environment, concerns and limitations regarding mobile learning with an iPad can be diminished.

Factors Influencing International Student Success in a K-12 Blended Learning Program

This research explored the experiences of foreign students enrolled in the Canada eSchool distance learning program. The study included one secondary school in Nigeria and three in Malaysia that had students enrolled in a program based on a blended learning model. A mixed mode data analysis model including qualitative and quantitative data analysis was undertaken. The purpose of the study was to examine factors that influence student success in blended learning programs accessed by foreign students. Results indicated that students in the study were most successful if they were self-disciplined and had access to a variety of local supports including: an effective learning environment with access to quality technology; assistance in the development of English as a second language; and support in navigating pedagogical transitions between educational systems. In theory, the results of this study point to a connection between the local and Canadian support communities for foreign students enrolled in Canadian blended distance education programs, and their academic success.

Current Trends and Perspectives in the K-12 Canadian Blended and Online Classroom

Canada has a history and geography that has required the use of distance education models and resources, and with its distributed population the potential of blended and online learning to further address K-12 learning needs is presently viewed by government as a means to deliver public education. These commitments have produced numerous responses and concerns regarding technical infrastructure, discussions regarding pedagogy, professional development of teachers, and establishing the means to meet the needs of twenty-first century learners. The following overview provides the Canadian K-12 context and educational trends, issues, and concerns within digital technologies and distance learning. The resulting summary holds significance for jurisdictions that have a vast geography and dispersed rural students, indigenous populations, as well as K-12 urban learners who require flexible access to educational delivery. Additionally, the overview contributes to the emerging understanding and the variety of response to digital technologies as part of the Canadian educational landscape.

Optimizing K-12 Education through Effective Educator Preparation

Teacher interaction, presence, and participation in online and blended courses are key to facilitating student learning and student satisfaction. Those being prepared to teach in online K-12 environments must learn the knowledge, content, skills, and dispositions relevant to the online learner of the digital age, and particularly to incorporate into online courses the appropriate methods, including Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). It is imperative that educator preparation programs provide its candidates with authentic field experiences in K-12 digital environments. This chapter includes findings of a pilot study that examined challenges faced by teacher candidates placed in an online student teaching environment and provides recommendations for course design, faculty support, infrastructure, and future research direction.

Case Studies of Scaffolded On-Line Inquiry in Primary and Secondary Classrooms

The chapter examines the alignment of science inquiry skills to the information literacy framework (Bent & Stubbings, 2011) and considers how these skills were supported by a range of web 2.0 tools using the TPACK framework to create an on-line scaffolded inquiry in two school contexts. Two case studies of inquiry around the pedagogy of ICT skills are examined here; one study in six grade seven high school classes and the other in a single extension group of twenty-five primary students from grade five to grade seven. In addition the affordances and limitations of the technology tools are assessed to determine how the scaffolded on-line inquiry process could be implemented in schools. In conclusion the chapter describes how in these cases, scaffolded on-line inquiry provides an opportunity for students to create an authentic, rich and detailed inquiry around their focus utilising a range of ICT tools and strategies.

Authentic Assessment Construction in Online Education

This chapter submits that conventional learning assessment models used in traditional classrooms cannot be employed in blended programs at the secondary education level. The tendency of high school students in online education is to adopt the path of least resistance or to cheat thinking that they cannot be caught. Constructing authentic assessment measures for online education should be crafted for teachers to ensure that students who graduate through this learning mode are competent. While examinations are to be conducted, test construction should differ. Online learners would prefer to apply what they have learned instead of the conventional assessments. This contribution aims to develop authentic assessment procedure for the Open High School Program of the Philippines (OHSP), a blended program offered by private high schools in the Philippines, funded by the Department of Education. The program aims to mainstream out-of-school youth, high school dropouts, or regular students who cannot afford to study on their own given their unfortunate circumstances in life. As adult learners, they have rich experiences that can be used in problem-based learning to understand the lessons more effectively. Hence, this study is anchored on the assumption that teachers in blended learning mode should employ a different learning assessment or unique to conditions of OSHP students.

Optimizing an Online Learning Course Using Automatic Curating in Sliding Mode

Various platforms can be used for webinars in online programs; such as WizIQ. This online service allows the user to conduct webinars with audio-visual material, presentations, etc. Listeners of the online programs can hear presenter's voice, see a presentation, listen to music, and take an active part in the chat. However, there are great difficulties associated with the ongoing course content- an abundance of unstructured information, inaccuracy of information, a growing number of public resources, an ever-changing world and a changing labor market have led to the emergence of a new kind of activity - curating content. This chapter describes the authors' suggestions of optimizing online learning course content using an automated curator in the sliding mode. The given system has been successfully used by Professor Vardan Mkrttchian in five different Russian Universities, teaching online for its 10 academic disciplines.

Teaching Strategies and Tactics in K-12 Blended Education

With a mission of creating a new paradigm of instructional methods to increase engagement in student learning in order to help develop more resilient students in a high-needs school district, this study examined implementation of the flipped classroom model in an early childhood and childhood education setting. This chapter will start by locating challenges in the current K-12 educational field. It will then examine how flipped classroom model approaches will simultaneously help educators meet long-standing challenges and support teachers to meet the diverse needs of students. This chapter will further discuss a pedagogical rationale for the flipped classroom model. It will then proceed to showcase best practices in utilizing the Flipped Classroom (FC) Model through the presentation of multiple teacher case studies. Lastly, this chapter will discuss considerations that should be examined while executing the Flipped Classroom model.

An Inquiry-Based Approach to Blended and Online Learning in K-12 Education

The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate how Garrison, Anderson, and Archer's (2001) Practical Inquiry model can be used to create effective blended and online learning experiences in a K to 12 education context. The chapter begins with an introduction to inquiry-based learning followed by design strategies and examples of how digital technologies can be used to successfully integrate synchronous and asynchronous opportunities for learning in blended and online courses.

Introducing the Teaching and Learning Benefits of the WWW in Aboriginal Schools

In this chapter, projects undertaken at two independent Aboriginal boarding schools in remote Western Australia are described. Both projects have sought to provide instructional advice for teachers and to enhance students' literacy levels through access to the internet. A dedicated website was developed for each school to respond specifically to the students' language and literacy needs. Several positive outcomes resulted from the projects. At the first school, code-switching was accepted throughout the school and even formed part of classroom instruction. At the second school, staff in general showed great interest in supporting their students' use of the online resource. Students who accessed the website were excited by the prospect of having their photos and videos uploaded and even suggested improvements to the site. Despite the above successes, the introduction of the websites at each school did not occur without problems which are described in this chapter.