Connecting Distance Learners : Student to Student Contact in Virtual High School Classes

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dc.contributor.advisorMenchaca, Michael
dc.contributor.authorDavids, June
dc.contributor.departmentLearning Design and Technology
dc.date.accessioned2025-02-20T22:36:54Z
dc.date.available2025-02-20T22:36:54Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.degreePh.D.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10125/110222
dc.subjectEducation
dc.subjectcommunity
dc.subjectk-12 online classes
dc.subjectstudent to student contact
dc.titleConnecting Distance Learners : Student to Student Contact in Virtual High School Classes
dc.typeThesis
dcterms.abstractABSTRACTThis study was designed to look at K-12 teacher beliefs about the role that community plays in their online learning classes and how instructors use communication, technology and pedagogical methodologies to form class communities. This study used a qualitative case study research methodology which included teacher interviews from five online instructors who taught high school online classes. Findings from the study indicated that among the sample population, teachers who believed in the value of community and had created their own online content, integrated community building features into their courses. This study is important because community features such as trust, interdependence and feelings of connectedness have been associated with student persistence in online higher education and this study demonstrates these features have been found to be important in K-12 education too. Since Covid-19 pressured almost all teachers to learn how to use distance technologies to instruct students, it appears that more digital distance education and future course designers can utilize this information as they build new K-12 online learning communities. Wenger’s (1998) conceptual framework on communities of practice was used to guide this study. The findings revealed that a creation of a virtual community of practice is valued by its members and is an efficient and effective tool for acquiring knowledge and sharing knowledge.
dcterms.extent116 pages
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.publisherUniversity of Hawai'i at Manoa
dcterms.rightsAll UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.
dcterms.typeText
local.identifier.alturihttp://dissertations.umi.com/hawii:12405

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