Virtual School Novice 2012 Badge

Intent to have completed the Virtual School Novice Badge

I am announcing my intent to have completed the Virtual School Novice Badge. Following are my post links.  There are 2-3 post that include the summary and blogging activity for each of the 8 topics.  I learned a great deal while participating in the MOOC.  Thank you for all of your efforts. http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/viewing-youtube-video-by-michael.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/1.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/history-of-k-12-online-learning-activity.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/history-of-k-12-online-learning-summary.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/research-into-k-12-online-learning.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/research-into-k-12-online-learning_18.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/research-into-k-12-online-learning_7563.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/research-into-design-of-k-12-online.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/research-into-design-of-k-12-online_20.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/research-into-teaching-of-k-12-online.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/research-into-teaching-of-k-12-online_24.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/research-into-facilitation-of-k-12.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/research-into-facilitation-of-k-12_27.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/10/international-research-into-k-12-online.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/10/international-research-into-k-12-online_1.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/10/concluding-introduction-to-k-12-online.html http://medt7472uwgvirtualschoolmooc2012.blogspot.com/2012/10/concluding-introduction-to-k-12-online_4.html

Concluding the Introduction to K-12 Online Learning Research MOOC blogging activity

1.  The comparative literature references above focuses solely on the supplemental K-12 online learning environment. Locate one research article that focuses specifically on comparing student performance in the full-time K-12 online learning environment with student performance in the traditional brick-and-mortar environment and critique that study.

     Although this study focuses only on math, it encompasses the above criteria.  Two assessments were used to determine the outcome of the study.  "Three virtual and three traditional schools in three different states participated" (Hughes, McLeod, Brown, Maeda, & Choi, 2007).  The article does speak to the blog summary that was previously posted regarding research that already is existing and its "conflicting results" (Hughes et al., 2007).
     One question that was asked by Hughes, McLeod, Brown, Maeda, and Choi (2007) is as follows.  "Does Algebra achievement differ between online and traditional face-to-face students?"  According to the results published in The American Journal of Distance Education in 2007, the online learners outperformed the traditional students in the areas that were tested.
     Other characteristics and findings are also included in the report.  Some of the results indicate that "online courses can provide successful, alternative learning opportunities  (Hughes et al, 2007) including students that might be on different high school paths to graduation.  It was  mentioned that a larger sample size could have been beneficial to the study as noted in the blog post summary as well.

Hughes, J.E., McLeod, S., Brown, R., Maeda, Y., & Choi, J. (2007). Academic achievement

       and perceptions of the learning environment in virtual and traditional secondary

       mathematics classrooms. American Journal of Distance Education, 21(4). Retrieved
       from https://www2.bc.edu/christopher-brunner/Hughes%202007%20
       Online%20Learning.pdf

Concluding the Introduction to K-12 Online Learning Research MOOC Summary

     In the article by Barbour, it appears that the research is minimal for K-12 online learning when comparing to traditional learning.  This applies worldwide as well and not just in the United States.  The amount of research has been increasing over the last few years however.  There are many specific areas that have been targeted in the research such as benefit, educational choice, access issues, and challenge among others according to Barbour.  There have also been several problems along the way with the research such as the sample size.  Quite a bit is unknown about K-12 online learning and its impact on students without the vast amount of research We are awaiting more research in the near future on the effectiveness of K-12 online learning to show its worthiness.

Barbour, M. (2012).  Concluding the introduction to K-12 online learning research MOOC. 
       Retrieved from http://virtualschoolmooc.wikispaces.com/conclusion

International Research into K-12 Online Learning Summary

     After reading the article by Bacsich and Bristow (2012), I was amazed at the vastness of online learning within not only the United States but the world.  Online schools touch many areas even if just in a small way. When viewing the USA number of online learners, it seems like a large one, but when you look at the percentage, you realize that only a small percentage of US students are reached by online learning.  Canada fell in the range of a bit below or a little above the US percentage of 3% as noted in the article.  The specific information was taken from the VISCED Wiki (http://virtualcampuses.eu/index.php/Main_Page) per the article.  I find interesting some of the statistics about the European Virtual Schools.  In particular, it appears that the largest school has 14,000 students.  The comma is in an unusual place in the article.  Perhaps, it is 1,400 students.  If so, it is still a rather large school.
     The European Virtual Schools addressed the characteristics of pupil exclusion which included "pregnant young women."  This really caught my attention as well as "students with specific language needs".  As I understand it, these students must attend the European Virtual School.  A huge majority of the students at my school would meet the "students with specific language needs."  Fortunately at my school we have no "pregnant young women" that I know of.  According to the article, Australia has many virtual schools likely due to the large geographic region.
     In Asia, there are virtual schools in many areas.  I was just amazed as I viewed the list of other virtual schools is so many parts of the earth including Africa, the Middle-East (Higher Education only at this time), Latin America, and Oceania.  Other areas in the world also have online programs for education.  It obviously is expanding rapidly for many reasons.  There are many key factors that contribute to the success of an online program.  Some of which include the extent to which regular evaluations occur, leadership skills, and learning outcomes.  All of these factors are addressed in the article by Bacsich and Bristow (2012).  Several case studies were also presented of virtual schools around the world as part of the VISCED Project.


Bacsich, P., & Bristow, S. (2012). International research into K-12 online learning. 
       Retrieved from http://virtualschoolmooc.wikispaces.com/international

International Research into K-12 Online Learning Blogging Activity

For your institution, consider the criteria on the next page and decide on one of three tasks:      
1.  Decide on the relevance to your institution’s/sector’s future success

     I chose number one for the task for this blogging activity.  I currently work in an elementary school that is not virtual and does not have any immediate plans to offer online education.  Our county does have an online school although elementary is not included at the moment.  It will be added at a future date.  All students in my county have the option to choose the online campus if their grade level is offered.  
     I reviewed the criteria for Quality, Benchmarking and Success Factors for Virtual Colleges and Schools by Paul Bacsich, and I do not find it relevant to my current institution.  At the present, we do not offer any type of virtual schooling.  I think online learning is terrific, but I am not sure of the impact on the students that I have at my school.  I work in a low income Title I school.  Many of our students do not have a computer and/or internet at home.  
     We had parent/teacher conferences at my school today for example.  After the conferences, the parents came to the media center to complete a parent perception survey online.  Many came as they do not have the access at home. In addition, a parent came to me today asking for help with multiplication for her daughter.  She wanted information about a tutor as well.  She also wanted to know where her daughter could use a free computer after school hours for educational purposes.  I suggested the public library, and she explained that the time was so limited and the lines were long for the computers at the library. I sure do not want to rule out online learning for our students.  Perhaps, they could participate at some level during the school day.  However, this would not give them the full benefit of online learning.  Our students must have access before leaping into the virtual world.  The future success is dependent upon this access.