W4_Reading

As online education becomes more prevalent in high schools, it is important to understand why and how the current state of education in traditional schools affects our enrollment and position in the sphere of education. In the descriptive report, “Levers for Change,” Edmunds and McColskey (2007) take an in-depth look at what the southeast states are doing to improve education at the high school level. The study involves 6 “levers:”

· Standards and assessments

· Course requirements

· Student support and access to courses

· Model schools and practices

· Local capacity-building

· Partnerships and public involvement

Though my focus is on Florida, the following states are also involved: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Barbour (2007) investigates Web-based content for high school students through the perceptions of teachers and content developers. The article focuses on the principles and effectiveness of asynchronous course design for high school content. While the teachers also employed synchronous instruction via Elluminate, this article focuses on the asynchronous dimension of the virtual learning environment. In his findings, Barbour offers seven guidelines:

· Preparing to develop

· Simple navigation, but diverse content presentation

· Summarize and personalize

· Clear instructions and expectations

· The use of text and visuals

· Smart use of multimedia and interactive elements

· Who to target

Murphy and Rodriguez-Manzanares (2009) quickly caught my eye with the title of their article, “Sage without a Stage.” An entertainer and teacher (some would argue that they are one in the same), this really rang true in my current teaching environment. I miss my “stage.” Though my audience is still the same (high school students), the interaction and drama that unfolds is altogether different. This study focuses on several teachers who had a minimum of 11 years of experience teaching in a traditional classroom, and who now teach in a virtual environment. Several components are discussed:

· Technology

· Learning outcomes

· Traits of the “E-teachers”

· Shift from “source of knowledge” to “facilitator”

· Different rules (traditional vs. online)

· Community

· Division of labour

As you can see, Murphy and Rodriguez-Manzanares (2009) caught my attention on several occasions. This is my third article by these authors, and they were found at different times. The last article for this post discusses how teachers perceive high school students’ motivation in online courses. Suggestions are given to help increase student motivation:

· Communication, Interaction, and Social Presence

· Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivators

· Learner Centered Designs

Barbour, M. (2007). Principles of effective Web-based content for secondary school students: teacher and developer perceptions. Journal of Distance Education, 21(3), 93-114. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from ERIC database.

Edmunds, J., & McColskey, W. (2007). Levers for change: southeast State initiatives to improve high schools. Greensboro, NC: Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from ERIC database.

Murphy, E., & Manzanares, M. (2009). Sage without a stage: expanding the object of teaching in a Web-based, high school curriculum. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(3), 1-19. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from ERIC database.

Murphy, E., & Manzanares, M. (2009). Teachers’ perspectives on motivation in high school distance education. Journal of Distance Education. 23(3), 1-24. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from ERIC database.