Fall '21 โ Quarterly Research Clearinghouse Newsletter
Four times a year, we send out a digest of published scholarship in the area of K-12 online and blended learning. Below you will find abstracts to several recently published articles โ hand-picked by our Institute's researchers โ with links to the full-text if you are interested in reading more.
Student-Centered Learning In Michigan K-12 Schools: Factors that Impact Successful Implementation
Christa Green and Chris Harrington
While the more traditional teacher-centered model of education does work for some students, it does not work for all. By connecting with district administrators, school administrators, and teachers through both a survey and interviews, this study aimed to capture the ways in which some Michigan K-12 schools are implementing student-centered learning practices along with the factors that impact the successful implementation of such practices. It is our hope that the effective practices, guidance, and advice gleaned from the many innovative educators who so generously gave their time to participate in this study will help other school and district personnel overcome their own barriers to successful implementation of a more student-centered approach to learning.
An exploratory study of how novice instructors pivot to online assessments strategies
Virginia L. Byrne, Erin Hogan, Neil Dhingra, Monica Anthony, and Colleen Gannon
Increasingly, graduate student instructors (GSIs) teach online without prior formal training on how to design online assessments of learning and participation. We present findings from a collective case study of seven GSIs at a university in the United States of America to describe how these novice online instructors learned to enact assessment strategies in an online classroom. Findings reveal that the GSIs were influenced by professional learning networks such as peer communities of practice, the academic Twitter community, student feedback, and faculty gatekeeping of institutional resources and policies. With limited institutional and departmental support, the GSIs struggled to transform their face-to-face assessments to leverage technology but leaned on their professional judgment to prioritize traditional discussion and participation structures. Findings inform our understanding of how universities might prioritize professional learning networks on online teaching at differing institutional levels to increase GSIsโ access to online teaching information and knowledgeable role models.
K-12 Blended Teaching Skills and Abilities: An Analysis of Blended Teaching Artifacts
Cecil R. Short, Charles R. Graham, and Emily Sabey
Several professional organizations, non-profit groups, and researchers have provided K-12 blended teaching competencies; however, few of these have connected competencies to concrete practices. This analysis used a set of research-based blended teaching competencies to analyze a representative sample of 959 artifacts focused on blended teaching practices to uncover the dispositions, technology skills, and competencies that are important to K-12 blended teaching. The analysis uncovered that all dispositions used for coding were important, some technology skills seemed to be more important than others, and some competency areas seemed to be more important than others. These findings provide a foundation for future research that could seek to understand the competencies and practices that are important to K-12 blended teaching.
Key Strategies for Engaging Students in Virtual Learning Environments
Chris Harrington and Kristen DeBruler
The student engagement and relationship-building strategies discussed in this report are based on the current practices provided by the 1,721 virtual teachers participating in this study. These individuals currently work within the school structures of 17 statewide virtual schools or programs, in which providing virtual education to students is their primary focus. The expertise of these individuals is provided as a way to aid teachers and administrators of both traditional and nontraditional schools and districts that have teachers and school leaders who are developing their skills and abilities as virtual educators.
A Case Study of Teachersโ Experiences of Blended Teaching and Learning
Diane Cunningham
The purpose of this study was to explore the question, How do teachers experience blended teaching and learning? This article describes the interplay of beliefs and practices of four high school teachers, based on interview data, observation data, and artifact analysis. Results show that the four teachers in the study are enacting their beliefs in the blended context and that their beliefs are consistent across blended and face-to-face domains. Teachers' views of teaching and learning center on facilitation of active and authentic learning for students and are aligned to school vision. Strategies to remain student-centered vary from teacher to teacher, but an emphasis on formative assessment and feedback is evidenced in the practice of all teachers. Technology use did not emerge as a barrier for these teachers because professional development focused both on curriculum design and the use of instructional technology. The study provides implications for teacher placement, course selection, and professional development design.
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Want more regular updates? Every month, our research team publishes several blog articles on online and blended learning, including four separate series on monthly research round ups, student-centered learning, mentoring online students, and success in online learning. By subscribing to the Digital Backpack blog, you'll receive a weekly digest of Michigan Virtual's latest articles sent to your inbox every Thursday.
Explore over 1,000 publications in our Research Clearinghouse
Though we only feature four or five resources per newsletter, we encourage you to visit our Research Clearinghouse to search for citations that may be of use to you. The Clearinghouse currently houses over 1,000 citations in the field of online and blended learning, and over 100 new citations are added each year.
If you have any questions about how to navigate this resource, please check out our "Getting Started Guide."
What else do you want to see?Please feel free to offer any feedback on the Clearinghouse or any other MVLRI initiatives by emailing us at mvlri@michiganvirtual.org. Thank you!
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