Final
Project
Distance Learning at the Secondary Level
Dakota State University LT 741 Introduction to Distance Education
Sara Kraft
Overview
Platte High School in rural Platte, South Dakota, is small school with a 9-12 enrollment of 128. P.H.S. employs fifteen full-time and four part-time instructors. Students at P.H.S. have two distance educational opportunities in addition to the traditional classes that are offered. First of all, for several years students have been able to take an AP calculus course offered through Northern State University via the Dakota Digital Network. During the 2004-2005 school year, four students enrolled in this class.
Starting in the 2004-2005 school year, students also have the option of taking on-line course using WebCT or Blackboard. These classes are offered by the DIAL Consortium and cover a variety of topics such as parenting, entrepreneurship, marketing, and horticulture. Twenty-six students chose to enroll in the on-line courses during the spring semester when this project was completed. Some students were enrolled in two classes.
Platte High School chose to allow students to take distance education classes in an effort to expand curriculum offerings. In addition, it has helped alleviate scheduling conflicts for students who couldn't find an appropriate class to fit into their schedules.
For my final project, I evaluated the effectiveness of these distance courses at Platte High School. I conducted this project by using written surveys and both formal and informal interviews. Written surveys were completed by distance education students and their parents. Formal interviews were conducted with some of the key staff members involved in distance education. Finally, when I delivered surveys to the students involved in distance education, I took time to visit with them informally about their experiences. This report will summarize my findings.
Interviews
Formal interviews were conducted with the following personnel: the school superintendent, the high school principal, the guidance counselor (who was put in charge of administering the on-line courses), and two paraprofessionals who proctor on-line courses.
For a more complete summary of the interview, please view the following page:
On-line Student Surveys
Most of the on-line students were satisfied with their experiences in working at a distance. Most found the class websites relatively easy to navigate. By far the majority of these students said that they would take another on-line class if given the opportunity. Technical difficulties and finding time to complete course work were only minor difficulties for most of the students. Of those who experienced technical difficulties, inadequate computers were often cited. Because P.H.S. computer labs have not been recently updated, students had difficulty with slow loading and viewing multimedia components.
These on-line students were comfortable with their ability to contact the instructor and believe that P.H.S. should continue to offer on-line courses, and a frequently cited advantage to on-line courses was the opportunity for expanded curriculum. When asked for suggestions for improving the course, upgrading equipment was a top priority. Also some students did not like having a proctor sit in with them. However, at the beginning of the semester, there was not proctor for the course, and the administration discovered students leaving early for lunch, playing computer games during class time, and even racing remote-control cars in the computer lab. For these reasons a proctors were quickly added to these sections.
I did learn that we need to be sure to explain our on-line course options carefully to our students. Some of the most dissatisfied students were those who were registered for horticulture. They believed that the course would center on agriculture and were quite disappointed with the actual material covered by the class.
To view full survey results, please view the following page:
On-line Student Survey Results
DDN Student Surveys
The DDN calculus class was small, consisting of only four students. These students were overwhelmingly positive in their assessment of the class. When I visited the class, I observed the instructor at the remote site calling on Platte (and other) students by name and encouraging student participation. The calculus students appreciated this and spoke highly of the course instructor. They also appreciated the opportunity to take an advanced class not offered in the traditional classsroom in Platte.
When discussing disadvantages to the DDN class, scheduling was a major area of concern. Because Platte High School operated on a block schedule, most classes are taken in ninety minute blocks every other day. However, the NSU calculus class does not operate on a block schedule. It is presented every day, and to accommodate this schedule, Platte students had to miss a portion of their second block class every day. They also experienced a few technical difficulties throughout the school year but did not seem to feel this a major problem in class delivery.
To view full survey results, please view the following page:
Parent Surveys
In one respect I was disappointed in the results of the parent surveys. Only six parents chose to return surveys. (One parent had a child in two on-line classes.) On the other hand, the surveys that were returned were very thoughtful and contain interesting and expansive comments. All of the parents who returned surveys believed that the distance course was beneficial to their child. They also appreciated the expanded curriculum opportunity, and some also commented on how taking distance education class will give students an advantage over other students. Most understood that small schools have significant budget and scheduling constraints and need to explore other options for curriculum development.
Some of the parents were familiar with technical difficulties experienced by their child, and one acknowledged that distance education is not for every student. Other concerns included personality conflicts with instructors, student-teacher communication, and scheduling conflicts. However, parents were overwhelmingly in favor of continuing to offer distance education classes at P.H.S.
To view full survey results, please view the following page:
Conclusion
From the time I spent working on this final project, I believe that there is a place for distance education at Platte High School. Like so many schools in South Dakota, we are facing budget pressures, and DDN and on-line classes are one way to alleviate those pressures. I do think we need to think carefully about what we expect from our distance education students. We may need to create a contract for both distance students and their parents to sign that spells out exactly what those expectations are. It has been suggested by many of the teachers here that students should have to pay for any distance class they don't pass. I have mixed feelings about this suggestion. We need to find a way to make students more responsible for their learning, but I know this could cause financial hardship for some families in the school district.
I do favor the development of a more rigorous application process for those students who want to take distance education classes. I think teacher recommendations and a formal application process would be a good start. On-line classes need to be proctored from the first day of class. Some of the behavior problems we experienced this year stemmed from students starting the semester unsupervised. Students were much more resistant to monitoring when it was introduced after the start of class.
In conclusion, I believe that distance education is here to stay, and for the most part this is a positive thing. For those students who are looking for new learning opportunities, distance education provides that challenge. Many of our students are thriving in the distance learning environment and appreciate the classes they are taking. With modifications the distance education program here will be a powerful addition to our curriculum.