According to Molnar (2014), full time virtual school education lacks a
measurement tool that accurately measures effective virtual teacher practice.
Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the current study sought to
understand the common practices among full time K-8 virtual school teachers,
the extent to which teachers believed such practices impacted student learning,
as well as the methods in which current standards, recommendations and
practices were implemented in the full time K-8 virtual school setting. The
relationship between virtual school teacher practices and their Technological
Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) was also explored. Using the
standards, practices and recommendations developed for online learning from
International Association for K–12 Online Learning (iNACOL), National Education
Association (NEA), Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) a team of focus group
members gave input on the common practices for teaching students in the full
time K-8 virtual school environment. The results included 11 general virtual
school teacher practices, 12 teacher practices relating to evaluation and three
practices relating to special needs and diverse learners. Qualitative and
quantitative findings indicated that teachers most frequently meet the established
practices through the following strategies: phone conferences, live sessions with
students, feedback on assessments, webmail communication, professional
development, collaborating with peers/teacher collaboration, professional
learning communities, curriculum based assessments on the phone,
communicating with family stakeholders, and determining students in the bottom
quartile. A framework for K-8 full time virtual school pedagogy which includes
evaluating student learning and individualizing instruction through technology
tools and collaborative methods was developed.
Finally, the quantitative findings indicated that of the three virtual school
teacher practice categories (teacher practice, evaluation and special needs and
diverse learners), evaluation was the leading predictor of teacher TPACK scores.
Specifically, collaboration, having an online voice and presence, and using data
from assessments to modify instruction were found to significantly predict a
teacher’s Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge. Using virtual
school teachers’ expertise on the practices which most impact student learning
and the methods for implementing virtual school teacher practices, the
researcher created a draft full time K-8 virtual school teacher evaluation rubric. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_33955 |
| Contributors | Seamster, Christina Lambert (author), Weber, Roberta K. (Thesis advisor), Florida Atlantic University (Degree grantor), College of Education, Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 242 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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