Journal+Articles


 * Readings: **

Barbour, M. K. (2007). **Portrait of rural virtual schooling.** Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, Issue #59, February 11, 2007. Retrieved June, 2010: []

Trend 1: The lines of prescribed attendance areas will blur Trend 2: Schools will be smaller and more b\neighborhood oriented Trend 3: There will be fewer students per class Trend 4: Technology will dominate instructional delivery (one way being through distance education) Trend 5: The typical spaces thought to constitute a school may change (again, suggesting virtual schooling and online ed) Trend 6: Students and teachers will be organized differently (including a trend toward matching instruction with learning styles) Trend 7: Students will spend more time in school Trend 8: Instructional materials will evolve (including a movement away from paper toward other technology-focused materials) Trend 9: Grade configurations will change Trend 10: Schools will disappear before the end of the 21st century (OR they will change so much that they might be unrecognizable... perhaps ending the school buildings perse, but not necessarily schooling. Again, linking to online ed)

Berkins & Kristoniz. (2007). **Curriculum leadership: New trends and career and technical education.** The Lamar University Electronic Journal of Student Research. Fall 2007. Retrieved June, 2010: []

Changes to the Newfoundland school system - including the reduction of the amount of schools Teachers unable to be experts in everything; limitations to course offerings; virtual schools were recommended Distance ed experiment was successful Especially valuable in terms of learning about designs of web-based instruction; determined that they needed standards for courses Essentially, that sort of student wasn't a "normal" student, but had access to computer, supportive parents and a strong work ethic Notes that there is extra burden to teachers to support virtual schools, and differing job expectations Interesting note that due to socio-economic issues, many NFLD students do NOT have access to high speed internet or computers and so cannot actually be defined as "digital natives" (Prensky) Describes this trend as the "rural digital divide" This comment could be applied to rural Canada in many areas.
 * Note: Discovered that at this point, the program was only successful with a specific type of student online ed

Davis, N.E. & Rose, R. (2007). **Report on professional development for virtual schooling and online learning.** Vienna,. VA: NACOL. Retrieved June, 2010: []

Myth 1: Virtual schools and regular school counselors can handle the few participating students without leadership support Myth 2: Any regular classroom teacher is already qualified to teach online Myth 3: Any highly qualified face to face classroom teacher is ready to teach a quality online course that has previously been prepared or purchased. Myth 4: Virtual schooling will fit with regular school routines and practices. The technology coordinator and counselor will provide any professional development necessary. Myth 5: Newly qualified teachers who learn about virtual schooling in their preservice programs will be ready to teach online when they graduate. Action: Plan for PD Action: Recruit and Develop Faculty to Provide VS related PD Action: Integrate virtual schooling in pre-service and PD programs for teachers, their leaders and education service providers Action: Differentiate PD according to need, role, culture and context Action: Research PD for VS

Oliver, K., Kellogg, S., Townsend, L., & Brady, K. (2010). **Needs of Elementary and Middle School Teachers Developing Online Courses for a Virtual School**. //Distance Education //, //31 //(1), 55-75. Retrieved June 2010: []

Findings: Teams need Guidance from Leadership & Professional Development Guidance from Leadership: Provide technical expertise on-site while building course; Provide regular feedback and encouragement; Provide an overall vision but also specific guidelines and expectations; Provide information on target learners’ prerequisite skills and needs. Professional Development: Provide well-timed, bite-sized professional development; Provide comparative models of course design; Provide a professional development orientation to course delivery tools; Provide an understanding of how to assess learners online; Provide an understanding of how to prepare online content within copyright restrictions; Provide an understanding of how to leverage online tools while maintainingsafe practice; Provide definitions and models of best practices with Web 2.0; Provide an understanding of how to prepare documentation for a course to assist in deployment efforts.

Leadership in: Professional Development on:
 * Virtual schools need to support Teachers / Course Designers by providing Leadership and Professional Development.**
 * Technical Support
 * Regular Feedback
 * Clear Expectations
 * Replicating Courses
 * Using LMS
 * Online Assessment
 * Copyright
 * Developing Course Documentation