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FINDINGS 4 (Online Schooling: (Compton (Career: Loss of Job vs. Viability…

- - - - “One of the most widely accepted theories of distance education at present is the theory of transactional distance (Moore, 1972, 1973, 1983, 1993; Moore & Kearsley, 1996). Like most other theories of distance education, this theory was based on adult learners in a distance environment. Based upon the work of Malcolm Knowles, one of the founders of the field of adult education, Moore conjectured that it was natural for an adult learner to exhibit autonomous behavior, which was why distance education programs should seek to have a low level of transactional distance (i.e., a high level of dialogue and a low level of structure) to maximize the opportunities for the autonomous adult learner.” (Barbour,2)
      - “1) his self-concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directing human being; 2) he accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning; 3) his readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his social roles; and 4) his time perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to immediacy of application, and accordingly his orientation toward learning shifts from one of subject.” (Barbour, 2)
      - “unlike the education of adult learners, learning for a child was a social process that focused upon interaction within a zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal development “is the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Barbour, 3)
      - Methodology
        
        “The purpose of this project was to examine the effectiveness of a closed social network as a way to increase socialization in a full-time online school and to decrease transactional distance. This project used a multiphase, action research methodology (Mills, 2011). Action research was an appropriate methodological approach for this study because it is “insider research, in the sense of practitioners researching their own professional action” (McNiff, Lomax, & Whitehead, 1996, p. 14). The practitioners in question were teachers and administrators at OCHS in Clark County School District (CCSD) in the U.S. state of Nevada.“
        
        “Phase 1 and the first semester of Phase 2 served as an orientation for the practitioners involved and included smaller numbers of students. The second semester of Phase 2, the implementation of the social network, was opened to all students and data was collected……..Phase 3 included revisions to the use and polices of the social network based on the results of the study described here. Phase 3 is also the manner in which the social network is currently operating.” (Barbour, 2012, p.4)
        
        Vygotsky (1962) observed that, unlike the education of adult learners, learning for a child was a social process that focused upon interaction within a zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal development “is the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). (pg.3)
    - - In many instances, it is the K-12 school environment that is the primary “agency responsible for socializing groups of young people in particular skills and values in our society.” (Barbour 2012, p. 4)
        
        “Tasmajian (2002) argued that schools serve this function because “school is the first agency that encourages children to develop loyalties and sentiments that go beyond the family and link them to a wider social order” (p. ¶ 9).” (Barbour, 4)
      - While the use of K-12 online learning has grown substantially in the past two decades, there has been concern that a lack of face-to-face contact might hinder the process of socialization for these students. (Barbour 2012, p. 4)
      - “Durkin (1995) defined socialization as “the process whereby people acquire the rules of behavior and systems of beliefs and attitudes that equip a person to function effectively as a member of a particular society” (p. 614).” (Barbour, 3)
    - - “The pilot program demonstrated some of the beliefs the creators had about socialization at an online school. For example, they believed that although many students had come to OCHS because of social hardships, they still had a desire to interact with their peers. It also reinforced the idea that students could benefit by having other students to discuss coursework with or, at the very least, by making contacts so they could get help when needed.” (Barbour, 13)
  - - - “Online distance education for kindergarten to 12th grade (K-12) students in the USA, also known as virtual schooling (VS), is growing exponentially (Barbour & Reeves, 2009)” (Compton, 2010, p. 37).
        
        “Of the 50 states, 45 have established a state virtual school and/or state-led online programs (North American Council of Online Learning, 2009). Although virtual schools tend to develop their own approach, there is a great diversity of approaches to VS in the USA, including organizational structures, pedagogies, and technologies deployed” (Compton, 2010, p. 37).
    - - “The project, Teacher Education Goes Into Virtual Schooling (TEGIVS), was led by Iowa State University’s (ISU) Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching from 2005 to 2008 in collaboration with the University of Florida, the University of Virginia, Graceland University, and Iowa Learning Online (Compton, in press; Compton, Davis, & Mackey, 2009; Davis et al., 2007; Harms, Niederhauser, Davis, Roblyer, & Gilbert, 2006)” (Compton, 2010, p. 38).
      - "The goal of the project was to develop the curriculum in the four collaborating teacher education programs and Iowa Learning Online as a model of ways to include VS as an additional mode of schooling. The curriculum emphasized three VS roles: facilitator, teacher, and designer. (pg.38)
    - - “Since many pre-service teachers are likely to have an inaccurate or incomplete conception of VS, it was necessary to redesign the curriculum in the pre-service program to prompt and support conceptual change” (Compton, 2010, p. 38).
        
        “The purpose of this study was to identify pre-service teachers’ common preconceptions, misconceptions, and concerns about VS using a grounded-theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, 1998), because this was the first research study of this topic” (Compton, 2010, p. 40).
        
        “The primary strategy utilized to increase the ‘credibility, transferability, and confirmability’ (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) of this study was the collection of rich, thick, detailed descriptions of the research methods, analysis process, and the participants’ experiences to provide ‘sufficient information about the context in which an inquiry is carried out so that anyone else interested in transferability has a base of information appropriate to the judgment’ (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 124)” (Compton, 2010, p. 42).
        
        The theory of conceptual change states that beliefs are changed when pre-service teachers recognize the discrepancies between their preconceptions and new ideas of teaching and learning (Posner, Strike, Hewson, & Gertoz, 1982; Strike & Posner, 1985, 1992). (pg.38)
      - Major Findings
        
        “This study found that the most commonly held misconception among pre-service teachers concerned academic and pedagogical issues – that VS would automate teaching and reduce opportunities for teaching. This view influenced many other preconceptions and could be examined for many pre-service teachers through innovative VS content and web-based mode of study that had been implemented in three introductory seminars for the early field experience course” (Compton, 2010, p. 42).
    - - “The purpose of this study was to identify pre-service teachers’ common preconceptions, misconceptions, and concerns about VS using a grounded-theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, 1998), because this was the first research study of this topic. Instead of beginning with a theory, we examined rich empirical data from participants for ‘interconnected thoughts or patterns linked to a whole’ (Creswell, 2003, p. 133) and then used these relationships to develop a ‘pattern theory’ (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 38) that was grounded in the participants’ information (Esterberg, 2002; Merriam & Associates, 2002).” (Compton 2010 p.4)
        
        o “The student participants of this study were selected based on their participation in the first of three virtual seminars on VS integrated in a pre-service teaching experience course at ISU. Pre-service teachers volunteered to be part of this study before starting the seminars, but not all students’ journals were used. From the fall 2006, spring 2007, and spring 2008 course offerings, 65 pre-service teachers were selected for inclusion in the study because they had completed all the tasks. As this was a secondary education course, only five of the participants were from elementary education.” (Compton 2010 p.4)
    - - “In their initial journals, participants in the early stages of their teacher education program expressed fears that VS would lead to cuts in teacher employment, meaning career threat was identified as a concern” (Compton, 2010, p. 42).
      - "This study found that the most commonly held misconception among pre-service teachers concerned academic and pedagogical issues – that VS would automate teaching and reduce opportunities for teaching." (pg.42)
      - "The curriculum materials on VS did not explore the issue of cost or technology access in detail, so this misconception was not examined. Although their summative responses indicated that they were more open to the use of technology to support VS, participants still believed that the cost would be a major deterrent." (pg.46)
    - - “Academic dishonesty appeared to be a common concern. Several participants reported that they or people they knew had cheated in online courses” (Compton, 2010, p. 44).
        
        “Additionally, several participants believed that cheating is more difficult to detect and that there are more opportunities to cheat in VS compared to a traditional classroom setting” (Compton, 2010, p. 44).
        
        “A few participants expressed concerns about equity in terms of technology access and cost” (Compton, 2010, p. 45).