Barbour, M. K., & Adelstein, D. (2013, October). A student’s perspective: Effective asynchronous course design for virtual schools. A paper presented at the annual convention of the Association for Educational Communication and Technology, Anaheim, CA.

1. A Student’s Perspective:
Effective Asynchronous Course
Design for Virtual Schools
Michael Barbour
Sacred Heart University
David Adelstein
Wayne State University

2. Teacher Roles
Virtual School Designer: Course Development
• design instructional materials
• works in team with teachers and a virtual school to construct the
online course, etc.
Virtual School Teacher: Pedagogy & Class Management
• presents activities, manages pacing, rigor, etc.
• interacts with students and their facilitators
• undertakes assessment, grading, etc.
Virtual School Site Facilitator: Mentoring & Advocating
• local mentor and advocate for student(s)
• proctors & records grades, etc.
Davis (2007)

3. Virtual School Designer
Developed by team on behalf of the
online program
• a team of teachers, multimedia
specialists, instructional designers
• work for hire/contract
Developed by the online teacher
• hired to teach a non-existent course
• course developed throughout semester

4. Virtual School Designer
Copyright
• who owns the content?
• what happens if teacher leaves?
Expertise/Training
• “more than 31% of teachers reported receiving no training in online
lesson design” (Rice & Dawley,2007, p. 26)
• to create one hour of training it took 43 hours for instructor-led, 79
hours for basic e-learning, 184 hours for interactive e-learning, and
490 hours for advanced e-learning (Chapman Alliance, 2010)
Lack of Research to Guide Practice
• studies have focused on unreliable and invalid measures
• primary data has been teacher and developer perceptions
• no open access research-based standards

5. Newfoundland and Labrador
• area of the island is 43,359
square miles, while Labrador
covers 112,826 square miles
• according to the 2001 Census
population for Newfoundland
and Labrador was 512,930
(down from 551,795 in 1996)
• 268 schools (down from 343
ten years ago)
• 67,604 students (down from
118,273 fifteen years ago)
• average school size 207.5
pupils
– 13.8% have <50
– 13.8% have 50-99
– 21.6% have 100-199
-> 49.2% have <200

6. Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation
The CDLI was founded in December 2000
by the Department of Education, in
response to the recommendations of
the 1999 Sparks-Williams Ministerial
Panel on Educational Delivery.
The vision of the Centre is to
•
provide access to educational opportunities
for students, teachers and other adult
learners in both rural and urban
communities in a manner that renders
distance transparent;
•
eliminate geographical and demographic
barriers as obstacles to broad, quality
educational programs and services; and
•
develop a culture of e-learning in our
schools which is considered to be an
integral part of school life for all teachers
and students.

7. Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation
Synchronous – Online
• 30% to 80%, depending on subject
area
• taught via a virtual classroom
(e.g., Elluminate Live)
Asynchronous – Offline
• remainder of their time
• taught via a course management
system (e.g., WebCT)
• usually consists of independent work
from posted homework or
assignments or from their textbooks

8. Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation
•
•
•
•
•
You Will Learn – briefly lists, in student friendly
language, the instructional outcomes for the lesson;
You Should Know – lists, and when necessary elaborates
on, knowledge and skills students are expected to have
mastered prior to the lesson;
Lesson – is self-explanatory and may be broken into
multiple pages;
Activities – contains further instructional events the
student that students need to carry out in order to master
the lesson outcomes; and
Test Yourself – offers an opportunity for the student to
gauge the degree to which the outcomes were achieved.

9. Initial Study
The perceptions of the characteristics of
effective web-based design for secondary
school students within the CDLI
environment by
• the administration of the CDLI,
• course developers and,
• those who held the role of both course
developer and electronic teacher

10. Initial Study
Course developers should:
1. prior to beginning development of any of the web-based material, plan
out the course with ideas for the individual lessons and specific items
that they would like to include;
2. keep the navigation simple and to a minimum, but don’t present the
material the same way in every lesson;
3. provide a summary of the content from the required readings or the
synchronous lesson and include examples that are personalized to the
students’ own context;
4. ensure students are given clear instructions and model expectations of
the style and level that will be required for student work;
5. refrain from using too much text and consider the use of visuals to
replace or supplement text when applicable;
6. use multimedia to enhance the content and not simply because it is
available; and
7. develop their content for the average or below average student, while
including enrichment activities for above average students.

11. Student Study
Kari is a grade 12 student at a school of approximately twenty teachers and one hundred and
seventy students, with about 50 of those in the high school. The school receives eight
different CDLI courses, while Kari has completed three of those and is currently enrolled in
three more.
Jenni is one of two grade 10 student at a necessary existent school of approximately twenty
students and four teachers. The school receives thirteen courses from the CDLI. Jenni
has taken one of those as a grade nine student and is close to finishing another four this
year.
Carla is a grade 12 student at an all grade school with twelve teachers and approximately one
hundred and twenty students. The school receives seven different CDLI courses and
Carla has taken three of those courses.
Annette is a grade 12 student at an all grade school with sixteen teachers and approximately
one hundred and fifty students, with about thirty of those in the high school. The school
offers three different CDLI courses and Ashley is taking her first one.
Becky is a grade 12 student. Her school has approximately one hundred and seventy
students, with about fifty students in the secondary grades. Becky has taken a total of
seven web-based courses through the Centre for Distance Learning and
Innovation, including four of her six courses this year.
Lori is also a grade 12 student. She attends a school with only nineteen students and four
teachers in a geographically isolated portion of the province. She is the only student in her
particular grade and has taken six courses through the CDLI over the past four years.

12. Findings
•
•
Use of webbased content
Lessons for webbased design

13. Use of Web-based Content
•
Students initially
indicate that they
don’t use the webbased content that
much.
“myself personally, I hardly
use those lessons” (Kari)
“but overall, if they weren’t
there it wouldn’t make
much of a difference to me
I don’t think.” (Kari)
“I don’t hardly use these at
all” (Jenni)
“I have only used them
three or four times” (Kari)
“in my offline time, I would
say one out of five.”
(Becky)

14. Use of Web-based Content
•
However, when
discussing each of
the individual
components it
comes out that
they do use them
more than they
initially let on.
“I like when the “Lessons” just deal
with the content that we learn” (Kari)
“the lessons are really good for
studying” (Jenni)
“I use the MLOs a bit, but not as
much as the WebCT content.” (Carla)
“I use the WebCT content a lot more.”
(Jenni)
“I’d say I’d spend half of the class, so
about half an hour, every class on the
WebCT content.” (Lori)
“if I still, I’m still puzzled and I can’t
find the answer, can’t find an
explanation, I’ll go to my WebCT, to
my WebCT material and see if there’s
anything there that can help me”
(Becky)

15. Use of Web-based Content
•
One barrier to
using the webbased content is
the amount of
work assigned
during offline time.
“they always have assignments that
you have to do, they’re
always, they’re like constantly
giving you assignments and stuff”
(Jenni)
“its almost like the teachers don’t
realize that you have courses in
school too” (Kari)
“there’s always so much work to be
done” (Kari)
“teachers always have labs or
questions or assignments for you to
do we’re never short of work”
(Becky)
“you’re always doing work, there’s
always, there’s always work to do.”
(Becky)

16. Use of Web-based Content
•
Another barrier to
using the webbased content is
how little eteachers actually
use it.
“but rarely he takes assignments
out of those lesson thingies out
there” (Kari)
“sometimes we do lessons like the
one you have there on the board,
but other times she just assigns
questions from the book.” (Carla)
“the only time we do the “Activities”
is if there’s readings or extra things
that we should know” (Carla)
“in the limited time that the teachers
have, but if we have extra time to be
given to look through the WebCT
material or if our teachers always
made reference” (Becky)
“remind students that it is there and
to use it” (Becky)

17. Use of Web-based Content
•
Another barrier to
using the webbased content is
they may not trust
it.
“I use my book a lot more
than the WebCT, it might
not be explained as good
as the book.” (Carla)
“not sure if I trust what is
in WebCT” (Becky)

18. Web-based Design
•
Students don’t like
text.
“instead of just reading out of
the old textbook, which gets
pretty boring” (Kari)
“he has many pictures and write
things in his own words, which
is really interesting and a lot
better than sitting down and
reading the book.” (Kari)
“basically text is boring and
pictures are exciting” (Becky)
“text is alright, but sometimes is
not really useful” (Becky)
“more than just reading through
text.” (Becky)

19. Web-based Design
•
Students enjoy
the various media
that the Internet is
able to offer.
“I think the links that they give you
because they take you in the other, in
other really useful sites that you can
really use.” (Jenni)
“maybe some more, you know, video
type things so that you could actually
see what they’re doing” (Lori)
“videos and stuff for to show them
how its done” (Lori)
“interactive things, and like, links to
videos and pictures and anything”
(Becky)
“graphics and videos and things like
that, they’re always exciting and can
teach you just as much as the text
sometimes” (Becky)
“there is a little bit of text and some
diagrams and examples and little
questions throughout” (Becky)

20. Web-based Design
•
Students want
multimedia used
to explain
concepts and
provide
information.
“watch MLOs and I find they’re really good
and they explain things in the video clips
and the, there’s a guy there explaining how
to do the topics and just background, and
its really interesting and it really helps a
lot.” (Kari)
“diagrams are really good to, for stuff that
you don’t really understand, something
that could actually show you and be
like, let you see how it works.” (Jenni)
“the information in there was all done for
you exactly what you have to do and you
could just keep playing with it over and
over that, you, it was really easy to get it
after.” (Lori)
“I find like, graphics really good and
videos, and things like that, and, like I
said, they’re just good because it gives
you a different way of, ah, understanding
the concepts.” (Becky)

21. Web-based Design
•
Students want to
have a good set
of notes.
“a summary of all that you learned that
day and pretty much just summarizing
everything up” (Kari)
“Yeah, if there good notes, it’s really
easier to study.” (Carla)
“you need a good set of notes to follow
or get someone else to help you, you’ve
got to have good notes.” (Annette)
“I don’t even use my textbook because
he has such good notes done up.”
(Annette)
“I think it’s important to have a really
good set of notes because if you don’t
you really, its going to be hard for the
course.” (Jenni)
“i agree the notes are excellent” (Carla)
“to explain it to you and show you how
to do it” (Lori)

22. Web-based Design
•
Students find
the review
questions,
particularly
“Test Yourself”
quizzes, quite
useful.
“the thing I like about it is those “Test
yourself” because they really give you an
idea of what it is going to be like for the
test and they help you remember” (Jenni)
“the test yourself is really helpful” (Carla)
“I always do the “Test yourself” at the
end” (Carla)
“the test yourself, like I was telling
you, which is really good for studying
and review.” (Lori)
“I find the test yourself really good”
(Becky)
“the test yourself, is always good, like, it
lets you know if you’re on track, if you
understand what the lesson’s about”
(Becky)

23. Your
Questions
and
Comments

24. Director of Doctoral Studies
Sacred Heart University, USA
mkbarbour@gmail.com
http://www.michaelbarbour.com