| Descript |
136 p |
| Note |
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-08, Section: A, page: |
|
Adviser: Alfred Butler |
|
Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Virginia, 2011 |
|
Despite the exponential rise in online instruction, few teachers are trained according to a set of quality standards such as the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching, which were published in 2008. Instead of providing teachers with training that is based on the standards, most programs simply provide teachers with training that they "think" teachers need. School leaders who participate in supplemental online programs need to provide their instructors with appropriate support that fosters best practice online instruction |
|
The goal of this study was to create a valid source of data from which school leaders can design staff development for online teachers that is reflective of standards for quality online teaching. For the purpose of this study, the author culled 23 competencies unique to online instruction from the National Standards for Quality Online Teaching. The competencies, which were validated for content by leading researchers in the field, were used to create a survey that asked online teachers to rate their desirability to participate in training to acquire skill specific to each |
|
One hundred teachers from one of the most developed and established supplemental online program in the Commonwealth of Virginia were asked to participate in the study. Sixty eight (n=68) teachers participated in the survey online. Respondents indicated their desire to participate in training of each of the competencies on a scale from 1 to 4 |
|
Descriptive and correlation statistics were used to determine teachers' levels of desirability to participate in staff development specific to each competency. There appears to be evidence that, regardless of subject taught or experience instructing online, online teachers recognize the importance of building healthy interactions between teachers and among students in the virtual classroom |
|
These are important findings at a time when the majority of research on the topic points to the distinctively unique skills that are associated with quality online teaching. The one dimensional research focus has tended to overshadow the competencies quality online teaching has in commons with traditional classroom instruction. In both the traditional and virtual classroom, good instruction is contingent upon the existence of healthy interpersonal interactions between teachers and among students. This research concludes that it is just as important for teachers to be competent in building interactions with and among students in the virtual classroom as it is in the traditional. The means online teachers use to establish such interactions, however, are distinctively different from those used in the traditional classroom |
|
School code: 0246 |
| Host Item |
Dissertation Abstracts International 72-08A
|
| Subject |
Education, Technology of
|
|
Education, Curriculum and Instruction
|
|
0710
|
|
0727
|
| Alt Author |
University of Virginia
|
|
