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The nature of teacher engagement at an online high school
Author(s) -
Borup Jered,
Graham Charles R.,
Drysdale Jeffery S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
british journal of educational technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.79
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-8535
pISSN - 0007-1013
DOI - 10.1111/bjet.12089
Subject(s) - construct (python library) , psychology , charter , mathematics education , pedagogy , student engagement , online learning , computer science , multimedia , archaeology , history , programming language
Little research has examined the critical components of successful K ‐12 online schools, due in part to the theoretical focus of current frameworks on higher education rather than characteristics of K ‐12 online learners and environments. Using K ‐12 online research, this paper examined teaching presence as explained by the C ommunity of I nquiry framework and identified additional teacher roles that needed stronger emphasis. We termed the new construct teacher engagement . Teacher engagement was shown to be helpful in describing and identifying effective teacher practices at the O pen H igh S chool of U tah ( OHSU ), a successful online charter school. Through a series of 22 interviews with over half of the OHSU faculty, it was found that teachers worked to improve student outcomes by (1) designing and organizing learning activities, (2) facilitating discourse with students and parents, (3) providing students with one‐on‐one instruction, (4) nurturing a safe and caring learning environment, (5) motivating students to engage in learning activities and (6) closely monitoring student behavior and learning. These six elements describe the core of teacher engagement .