SITE2014-Blended Learning from the Perspective of Parents and Students

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

sikojp@gmail.com sikoj@gvsu.eduhttp://jasonsiko.com@jasonsiko

Michael K. BarbourDirector of Doctoral Studies, Isabelle Farrington College of EducationAssistant Professor, Educational LeadershipSacred Heart UniversityFairfield, CT

mkbarbour@gmail.com http://michaelbarbour.comhttp://virtualschooling.wordpress.com@mkbshu