References

Allen, E, & Seamaan, J. (2007). Online nation: five years of growth in online learning. The Sloan Consortium, Retrieved from []

This research study is the fifth in a series of five years about the progression and future outlook for online learning. The Sloan Consortium has dedicated many of its resources and researchers to this topic for an overview look at how online education has changed, grown, and developed over the time frame from 2002-2007. This study focuses on the fundamentals of online learning, the reason of choice of online learners as well as a future estimation of what the authors and researchers believe to be the future of online education. The base of this study derives from an increase in online learning and in this study the authors Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman look for answers and future projections for online learning from their 2,500 participants. This study began by conducting a survey of questions and looking at the findings and responses of universities and colleges to not only understand who was taking online classes, but why institutions were offering online courses and classes, and this survey finished by taking the information that they had gained from the colleges and universities and made future projections for how many students will eventually be enrolled and how many more colleges and universities would be offering online learning in the near future.

This research study was chosen because it was fascinating that it was the fifth findings from the Sloan Consortium about online learning and the potential for its use and creation. The research study was thought to be very detailed in the specifics that it provided. This research study was chosen for our learning community because it detailed the reasons for why so many people were choosing online learning as well as the importance that online learning is playing in our country. The future projections for online learning were found to be extremely interesting and probably fairly accurate of what the online learning environment has actually become.

Archambault, L., & Crippen, K. (2009). Examining TPACK among K-12 online distance educators in the United States Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1). Retrieved from []

The article Examining TPACK among K012 Online Distance Educators in the United States is an article that focuses on the responses of 596 online teachers and their current knowledge and practice of the TPACK methodology. TPACK methodology is the combination of technology, pedagogy, content and pedagogical content knowledge. This article details the findings of the online teachers and explains that while they felt they had very strong content and pedagogical knowledge of the context they felt that they were lacking in the technological respect. These teachers then gave a comprehensive look at the importance of knowing the technology that was to be used in the online learning environment before teaching the content to students. There was a focus of understanding and knowing why and how on is using the technology and having specific purposes for using it.

This article was chosen for our learning community because it made an important point that we should utilize in the creation of our workshop, and that is that to be an effective teacher you must not only know the curriculum and content of what you are teaching, but you need to have the confidence, background, and knowledge of the tools that you are going to be using. As we begin to create our workshop this point of content knowledge, background and confidence needs to be delivered to our students with the understanding that just because you have been teaching in a face-to-face situation does not mean that you are ready for an online or blended environment. Our learning team could use this article for providing suggestions and ideas to our students in the area of blended learning.

Clark, K. (2009). Online education offers access and affordability. U.S. News and World Report, 3(1), Retrieved from [] *

The article Online Education Offers Access and Affordability was chosen because of the information provided to readers about the accessibility and affordability of online education. This article describes the benefits of online learning in a manner that is scholarly, yet reader friendly. The article details the reasons behind why so many Americans are choosing to partake in online education and the reasons behind the boom of the field. The article also offers reasons to why online education is in some cases cheaper than that of a face-to-face education. The article also describes online learners as webizens rather than citizens which I thought was a unique choice of term for the online population.

I chose to include this article for our workshop because the information that was presented was up to date, helpful and a unique look at the world of online education. I believe our group can benefit from the use and information presented in this article because it provides the reasons to why online education is becoming so popular and this information would be very helpful in explaining why online education and courses should be available to all.

Devaney, L. (2008). Report assesses k-12 online learning. eschool news, (October 2008), Retrieved from []

The article Report Assesses K-12 Online Learning is an article that details what the future of online education could look like and the changes in policy and funding changes that will need to take place in order for online learning to meet its potential. This article focuses on the policy changes that will need to be made in order for online learning to keep growing and bettering education. The article overviews policy changes that the North American Council for Online Learning council believe will need to be made for the progression of online learning. The article then goes into specific details about which states and how many states offer online learning or an option of blended learning, and what types of classes and courses are being offered. The article also details the fact that online learning is allowing schools to measure achievement on an apple to apple basis rather than the past apple to oranges scenario of the past. This article details the specific requirements of school districts and what the future requirements for online learning may be, and goes into depth about the professional development required to successfully implement online learning into the traditional school model.

This article was chosen because it was a good source of data for our learning community. The thought behind the article was that it would provide us some excellent resources for why online learning is important and how with the new policy and funding ideas presented online learning could become a vital resource for educators across the globe. The section that broke down the different states requirements and policies to be exceptionally helpful in understanding where we are as a nation to committing to online education. I thought this would be an interesting piece for us to include in the workshop because it provides a plethora of data that could be used in creating our workshop.

Edwards, E. (2010). Creating e-learning that makes a difference (Adobe Digital Edition 1), Retrieved from []

The book Creating E-Learning That Makes a Difference is a motivating text that puts a new spin on both online learning and blended learning. The focus of this book is explaining how instruction can make the difference in the online experience for learners. The book has four main principles for instructors to follow and provides the reader guidelines for following the principles. The book begins by looking at the downfalls and failures of online learning in the past and then moves into how instructors can construct a more productive and effective learning environment through the implementation of the four principles of: Context, Challenge, Activity, and Feedback. The author Ethan Edwards, the chief instructional strategist for Allen Interactions sees e-learning as a puzzle that must have all four pieces (or the principles mentioned above) present to be successful. In this thought provoking electronic book Edwards gives educators ideas on how to bring all four principles to the forefront of their teaching.

The reason this resource was chosen was because the ideas and examples provided were solid. The examples were consistent with the ideas and concepts of our learning teams’ goal of creating blended learning environments. The step by step approach that Edwards presents was not only inventive; but it was progressive and right in line with what our learning team discussed to be our focus. I especially appreciated the final section of the book that described how to put all the principles and guidelines together. This section was extremely helpful in setting a vision for not only our learning teams’ workshop, but for my individual classroom as well. As I read this book I was very surprised by the author’s honesty and want to improve the online learning experience. Throughout the book the author also provides checkpoint activities to re-emphasize his points which I thought were extremely helpful. I plan on using this book not only for our learning teams’ workshop, but I found the information presented to be directly adaptable and applicable for the secondary setting.

Picciano, A, & Seaman, J. (2007). K–12 online learning: a survey of U.S. administrators. The Sloan Consortium, Retrieved from []

This article was one of the first of its kind published. This research study focuses on the collection of data throughout the k-12 setting in online education. Unlike most of the previous research studies about online education that focus on the benefits, the outcomes, the issues of online learning this research study dives right into the heart of online learning and the data that school district administrators across the United States have been finding. The goal of this research study was to provide base data for future studies. This study began by providing a review of the current literature available for online learning and why it has become more popular and why the need for online learning has grown so substantially over the years. This research study focused on four central learning questions to gather data on. These questions were centralized on the importance, the barriers, and the providers of online education in the K-12 setting. The study then preceded to breakdown the findings from the survey research they had given to almost 8,000 school district administrators. The article ended with an open and frank discussion of the future of online education and the thoughts of its authors and participants of what they thought the future of online learning would be.

This article was chosen for our learning team because it was unique in comparison to the other research studies I had been reading. Rather than focusing on the same topics that most of the other studies had been focusing on this one took a whole new perspective of online learning. I was especially impressed by the number of participants that this study had utilized to find their data. This study was found to be the first of the many studies that I have read to really focus on the how and why students in the K-12 setting are choosing to either enroll in full online classes or in blended learning environments. The comments and explanations that this article provided were completely new takes on online and blended learning than I have seen in the past. I am excited to share this resource with my learning team; however I am more excited to share it with my principle as a rationale and support for the online learning program at our school. I think that in today’s day and age students need to be able to have options in their learning and in their learning environment and for me, this study reinforced and encouraged my desire for online education.

Watson, J. (2008). Blending learning: the convergence of online and face-to-face education. North American Council for Online Teaching: Promising Practices In Online Learning, 1(1), Retrieved from []

The article Blending Learning: The Convergence of Online and Face-to-Face Education is an article that details the definitions of both online learning and face-to-face learning and how both of them can be combined to create a new type of learning called blended learning. This article focuses on how the online and face-to-face environments can be united to create a new powerful learning environment. The article then explains how the online learning environment and the face-to-face learning environment have been combined both successfully and unsuccessfully and then gives the specifics about how and why they were either successful or unsuccessful. The article then gives examples of real online and face-to-face schools and where they fall on the blended learning spectrum. Once the schools were identified on the blended learning spectrum the individual schools were broken down to where and how they have been blending online and face-to-face interactions. The article then goes on to explain what the key lessons learned from these schools were and why they were felt their programs were blended learning environments. The article ends with a section about looking ahead and the possible future of blended learning, and explains that while there is not one specific definition or type of blended learning that the combination of online and face-to-face interaction in learning environments has been seen to be a positive relationship.

This article was chosen because it is absolutely critical to our learning teams’ workshop. It details what makes blended learning environments, and how to use them in the most effective and applicable manner. Our students would appreciate reading or seeing how other schools have been initiating blended learning environments and would perhaps get ideas on how they could create their own blended learning environment. I really liked the fact that this article focused on making blended learning successful, and the fact that they gave examples of many schools and how they are using technology to their advantage.

Best Sources Paragraph:

The best sources that I found while looking for my references and resources were both published by the Sloan’s Consortium. The reason this was the best source was because the Sloan’s Consortium had the most detailed, specific, and timely information that I found on these topics. I was especially impressed by how lengthy the studies were, and the fact that they were a succession of multiple studies and not just independent pieces of information. The fact that the research studies built upon one another made the Sloan’s Consortium my best source.
 * Kassidy Hetzel:**