Distances of Space and Time: Understanding the Challenges and Support Needs of Secondary School Teachers Developing Online Courses

This study investigated the experiences of teachers involved in an online course development program at a small Wisconsin virtual school in order to understand the challenges experienced and the support needs desired by secondary school teachers developing online courses. Article One was a review of literature, which analyzed research on K-12 online curriculum and course development, using the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (2011) Standards for Quality Online Courses as the organizational framework. Article Two was the research study, which used a phenomenological methodology with focus groups of middle and high school teachers followed by a confirmatory survey of results. Findings identified four major areas of challenge where teachers needed specific support: the overall course development process, the curricular and organizational design of the courses, providing instruction and assessment over distances of space and time, and responding to student skills.;Article Three combined the results of the literature review and the research study in a discussion for educational leaders regarding online K-12 course development. Five principles for leading online course development were presented: the need for leaders to understand online education, the need for extensive planning, providing opportunities for collaboration and feedback, providing opportunities for professional development, and the need for time in the process. This study had implications for both further research and professional practice. It demonstrated the need for further research into online K-12 course development as a whole as well as greater study of supporting teachers in developing courses. Professionally, this study provided school leaders with principles in leading and supporting teachers who are learning new skills in order to transfer their existing content and instructional expertise into an online course.