Needs of elementary and middle school teachers developing online courses for a virtual school

Abstract

Eight teams of elementary and middle school teachers developed pilot online courses for the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) in the USA. A qualitative case study with focus groups and a follow‐up survey helped to identify common needs of these non‐traditional course designers during course development efforts. Findings suggest virtual schools can better support non‐traditional course designers by providing leadership components such as technical expertise, regular feedback, and clear expectations, including an understanding of the target students. Findings further suggest designers need a range of bite‐sized professional development on replicating model courses, using course management systems, assessing learners online, designing with copyright and safety issues in mind, integrating Web tools, and developing course documentation for deployment. The article concludes with a discussion of support structures that may aid instructors tasked with online course development.

Keywords:

• virtual schooling
• online learning
• distance education
• course development
• instructional design
• Web‐based instruction
• elementary education
• middle grades

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (Contract No. EP4597533).