Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Roberta Albi

Abstract

To satisfy demand for online learning opportunities at the high school level, 3 school districts in the northeast United States established a consortium to share resources to develop and deliver online courses. High school teachers who volunteered to develop courses for the consortium attempted the task without previous training in online course design and facilitation. High school students enrolled in the courses often did not successfully complete them, which obstructed the mission of the consortium. The purpose of this qualitative single critical case study was to explore teachers' experiences with and perceptions of designing and developing online courses without accompanying professional development. The iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses (v2) and technological, pedagogical, content knowledge (TPACK) served as the conceptual frameworks for the study. Five teachers who developed and facilitated an online course for the consortium, without companion professional development, volunteered to be interviewed. Data were reduced using NVivo software and analyzed using a priori codes based on NACOL standards then open-coded for emerging themes. Results indicated that other than content expertise, teachers did not believe they had sufficient competencies in any of the areas identified in the iNACOL standards. Based on these results, an online professional development course for teachers was designed to provide introductory training and to model elements of quality online course design using the Moodle learning management system. Positive social change may be achieved if teachers have the knowledge and skills required to develop high-caliber, innovative, and convenient education opportunities that encourage students' course completion which leads to learning and academic success.

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