site2014-blended learning from the perspective of parents and students
DESCRIPTION
SITE2014 presentation Siko, J.P., & Barbour, M.K. (2014, March). Blended Learning from the Perspective of Parents and Students. Presentation at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education Intenational Conference, Jacksonville, FL.TRANSCRIPT
Blended Learning from the Perspective of Parents and Students
Jason SikoAssistant Professor of Educational TechnologyGrand Valley State University
Michael Barbour
Director of Doctoral Studies
Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership
Sacred Heart University
Student Perceptions
Generally speaking, students have a positive perception of blended instruction (Chandra & Fisher, 2009; Geçer, 2013; Pratt & Trewern, 2011)
While they enjoyed the experience, did desire more face-to-face communication
Parent Perceptions
Little research done on perceptions of parents
Different role than with college-age online students
They are not the instructor, facilitator, or technical support for the course; however, they often play all of these roles at some point
Parental support is important to the success of virtual student (Black,2009), but they themselves might be uncomfortable/unfamiliar with the learning environment
Research Questions
1. What are the perceptions of students in a blended learning class?
2. What are the perceptions of parents whose students are in a blended learning class?
Setting
AY2011-2012
Large, suburban, Midwestern high school (~1800 students in grades 10-12)
Culturally homogenous; however, diverse with respect to SES
Course: International Baccalaureate Biology – Higher Level (IB Bio-HL)
43 students, grade 10
1st half of course – Face-to-face
2nd half of course - blended
Methods
Administered anonymous survey via Google Forms to parents and students
All students participated (n=47)
Limited parent participation (n=14)
Descriptive statistics for Likert and selected-response questions
Open-ended questions were analyzed for themes using constant comparative method (Strauss & Corbin, 1994)
Liked the independenceAlthough some struggled with the autonomy (~liked the “pressure” of being in class)
Many admitted to falling behind
Various “favorites”/”dislikes”
Some wanted more communication/had confusion
Parents
Parent comments
Excited with a little apprehension
Some frustration with communication (grades)
Despite access to online grades
“ABLE to get lazy…”
Overall, most seemed glad their student had the experience.
Implications
Emphasize communication in teacher preparation for blended instruction to both parents and students
Look for ways to mitigate organization and self-regulation issues
Questions?
Thanks for coming!
Jason P. SikoAssistant Professor of Educational TechnologyGrand Valley State UniversityGrand Rapids, MI
[email protected] [email protected]://jasonsiko.com@jasonsiko
Michael K. BarbourDirector of Doctoral Studies, Isabelle Farrington College of EducationAssistant Professor, Educational LeadershipSacred Heart UniversityFairfield, CT
[email protected] http://michaelbarbour.comhttp://virtualschooling.wordpress.com@mkbshu