What Are Secondary Students' Expectations for Teachers in Virtual School Environments?

Kevin Oliver, Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology

North Carolina State University

Friday Institute Evaluations of NCVPS

• annual surveys of NCVPS students, teachers, and distance learning advisors (DLAs) since courses were first offered in summer 2007; focus studies of pilots

• both Likert-scale and open-ended survey questions developed with input from NCVPS staff to inform progress on strategic goals

• open-ended questions particularly valuable to inform student expectations for teachers (e.g., how can your teacher help you better learn online course content, what was your favorite teaching method in this course) (spring '08 survey--120 single spaced pages)

Students Pleased with Teacher QualityBut Not All Expectations Met

• on spring '08 survey, more than 70% of NCVPS students agreed or strongly agreed with 9 of 10 teacher quality variables (e.g., provides timely feedback, encourages questions, uses appropriate tools, etc.) (n=1648)

• written comments revealed several student expectations that were not met (i.e., "I assumed my online teacher would...")

• understanding expectations is important to improve online teaching where possible; students may have some unrealistic expectations, but understanding those is also important to better offset false expectations when screening/orienting

Some Students Expect Virtual Teachersto Actually Teach, Not Moderate (1 of 2)

• 87 students expected teachers to provide explanations and elaborations of otherwise static textual material, much like face-to-face teachers

• the word "explain" was used repeatedly• comments from 35 different classes across multiple

subject areas--not a subject-specific perception

Some Students Expect Virtual Teachersto Actually Teach, Not Moderate (2 of 2)

• but "teach" how... 47 students recommended their teachers post content presentations in an audio or visual format (podcasts and webcasts mentioned) (one-way)

• but "teach" how... students suggested teachers could better "explain" course content through discussion boards and chats (two-way)– “He should have used the chat room

to discuss what we were learning.”

Some Students Expect Virtual Teachersto Supplement Course Content (1 of 2)

• even though most online teachers receive a course shell with existing content, some students had an expectation that teachers would modify that shell

• 108 students recommended their teachers add examples, problems, questions, quizzes, or exercises to help them better process course content

• some students listed helpful study aids individual teachers brought into a course such as electronic flash cards for vocabulary, study guides for test review, and visual organizers

Some Students Expect Virtual Teachersto Supplement Course Content (2 of 2)

• some students had an expectation that teachers would supplement course content with examples that illustrate content relevance

• students recommended teachers embed real-world examples from businesses to show how course content was relevant to the working world

• 29 students recommended leveraging technology to achieve this goal, such as through virtual tours and field trips

Some Students Expect Virtual Teachersto Supplement Course Assignments (1 of 2)

• some students had a perception that teachers could cull or modify course curriculum

• 41 students recommended teachers require fewer "busy work" assignments in a course

• 21 students wanted teachers to replace worksheets with "interactive" and "engaging" activities such as games and simulations

• 27 students recommended the inclusion of real-world projects to provide authentic or "hands-on" opportunities

Some Students Expect Virtual Teachersto Supplement Course Assignments (2 of 2)

• 18 students recommended teachers add formal cooperative assignments to their course

• 23 students recommended teachers add assignments that leverage student-student communication− “For Spanish, host virtual conferences to practice speaking.”

• a few students recommended teachers add assignments that leverage student-professional collaborations to further illustrate content relevance

Some Students Expect Virtual Teachers to Quickly Respond to Questions and Grade

• 34 students indicated when they initiated communication with the instructor, usually by email, they desired quicker responses to their questions

• 35 students desired quicker and more detailed feedback from teachers on submitted assignments

Some Students Expect Virtual Teachers to Motivate Their Learning

• 38 students expected their teachers to better monitor their individual progress in the course to make sure they were keeping up with assignments

• some students more or less admitted a lack of self-directedness through comments like "make sure I'm on track" and "make sure I'm studying every day"

• a lack of self-directedness was also demonstrated by some students who expected teachers to initiate personal rather than whole-class communication to ask if they needed help, rather than the student asking for help

Some Students Expect Virtual Teachers to Provide Individualized Attention (1 of 2)

• when students were asked to list a favorite teaching method in their online course, the most popular method discussed by 180 students was one-on-one communication with adults about course content

• some students sought and received help from local teachers when virtual teachers were inaccessible

• likewise, 43 students indicated tutoring peers and receiving tutoring from peers provided them with additional support, suggesting individualized attention may come from multiple sources beyond the virtual school teacher

Some Students Expect Virtual Teachers to Provide Individualized Attention (2 of 2)

• 28 students indicated synchronous toolswere particularly helpful to support tutoring,including chat rooms, instant messaging,the telephone, voice over IP (i.e., Skype),and Web conferencing (i.e., Elluminate)

• 37 students mentioned asynchronous toolshelped with tutoring--primarily discussionboards

Interpretations (1 of 2)

• first, several expectations that teachers will modify course content with added presentations, materials, and assignments

• unclear if virtual teachers have the time or the charge by a virtual school to significantly modify course shells

• if not, expectations may help course developers improve instructional design

• if so, expectations may help virtual schools design teacher professional development toward better supplementing courses with the range of content virtual students expect

Interpretations (2 of 2)

• second, several expectations that teachers will better provide for individualized teacher-student communication and student-student collaboration

• unclear if teachers have the time to provide the levels of individualized attention required by some students

• but students have recommended some solutions that should help, including:– better use of collaborative technologies– better use of non-teacher support models such as local

school personnel and peer tutoring

• teachers and advisors recommend better screening for self-directedness

Reference

• you may access our published paper on this study:– Oliver, K., Osborne, J., Brady, K. (2009). What are

secondary students' expectations for teachers in virtual school environments? Distance Education, 30(1), 23-45.