Shane

=Welcome to the proving ground for my research prospectus!=

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Research Interests
I have a few areas where I am interested in exploring for my dissertation. I often wonder how distance learning affects the lives of students in the elementary grades and what characteristics these students need to be successful. I also would like to learn more about how English language learners of all ages respond to distance learning.

Theoretical Foundations
Motivational theories and self-regulation appear to be most relevant to my research interests on distance learning, but there may also be a connection to attachment theory as well. Since many of the distance learning programs are not computer-based, I do not think that a human-computer interaction model would be appropriate. My theoretical foundations will consist of the psychology of learning, instructional design, and motivation (as it pertains to human development). According to the areas outlined in the text (Spector, Merrill, Merrienboer, & Driscoll, 2008), I will refer to theories from Bruner, Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, Gagne, Bowlby as well as Simon, Kaplan, Ausubel and Mayer.

Literature Review
The primary research I wish to conduct is on students in elementary school in a distance education program. In order to gather as much information as possible related to my topic and to promote social change, I believe it will be necessary to cover a number of areas for my literature review. Provided below are my preliminary choices for the literature review with a brief justification for each. I expect to find the largest selection of literature on this general topic. By reading many articles about distance learning, I will be able to discover if there is a need for my research as well as uncover the theoretical base for distance learning programs in elementary education. Also, I will be able to frame the scope of my research within a specific population of learners. I would like to focus by starting on the latter quarter of the 20th century as the research may be more relevant to the computer-based/facilitated models currently available. Just as the foundations of distance learning are essential for uncovering theoretical models and precedence, so too are current pedagogy. What I expect to find in my review of this area is studies directly related to middle school age and above. I think this area is important for contextualizing my research questions and identifying the research gap. One area where I foresee some issues is that I may have to limit the scope of the inquiry given the amount of current research on this topic. Part of the reason why families are being drawn to distance learning as opposed to traditional schooling may be as a result of poor performing schools and educational inequity. I believe that educational reform, specifically NCLB and state mandates, have contributed to the current trend of state's requiring a virtual option. Of course, I must research the literature on educational reform to identify these precursors and locate relevant articles, both local and peer reviewed. I expect to find a lot of references about the downsides of educational reform as well as policies developed at the state level for distance learning alternatives. My research context and literature will be further narrowed to include rural school districts. I expect that many of the research projects in America have focused on urban and suburban areas of the country. For the purposes of my literature review and for establishing the importance of my study, it will be important to understand the unique needs of students in rural areas. I think this area of research is necessary because it will help me to limit the scope of my research to direct my focus towards improving educational opportunities to this population of students. I may also research distance education programs in other rural areas outside of the United States to look for commonalities. Lastly, I would like to know what programs and distance learning curricula are currently available for K-5 students. I expect to find a number of turnkey programs including those with varying models of district involvement. I believe this is where I will find limited research other than what has been conducted by the vendor. I would include this area of research in order to understand the types of programs students from which students may choose and to evaluate the specific design of each. I placed this sixth area as a possible area of inquiry. Depending on the type of study I conduct, I may want to explore the types of productivity and learning organizers elementary students self-select and use on a regular basis. I may also want to see if there are any "best practices" by distance education teachers in relation to using graphic organizers with their students.
 * Foundations of Distance learning in the 20th Century.
 * Current Distance Education Pedagogy
 * Elementary Education Reform (in Florida as well as nationally)
 * Rural Education
 * Distance Education Programs for K-5
 * Digital Productivity?

Gap in the Research
What is apparent from my preliminary literature review is that there is a lack of knowledge about how elementary-level students respond to distance education. Also, most research includes older students in urban or suburban settings. Very little is known about the successful qualities that elementary students in rural areas and their caregivers posses.

Research Questions
How do rural elementary students view online education? What are the qualities that rural students have that enable their successful completion of an online program? How do students use and self-select existing technology to facilitate their learning?

Problem Statement
Though a great deal is known about how older students respond to online education, very little is known about how elementary students in rural areas both view and develop successful strategies in an online context. Given the number of available distance learning providers for younger learners and the current trend in education towards providing alternative schooling options for families, it is imperative that we develop an understanding of how elementary-age students successfully complete these types of programs. In order for a rural district to meet the needs of these students and create meaningful initiative with realistic goals, more must be known about how students and their families extend their abilities in an online environment.

I found it hard to collect information about my topic directly. Instead, I reviewed articles about distance education pedagogy from Anderson & Dron (2011) as my contextual framework in addition to research on specific issues in rural education from Irvin, Hannum, de la Varre, & Farmer (2010) and Stelman (2011) to focus my lens. I also reviewed studies on how students use digital organizers by Lorenz, Green, & Brown (2009) and the specific needs of elementary/middle school teachers when developing or facilitating a distance learning program. Most of the articles echoed the same sentiments about a distance learning program, but I did not find a common thread for rural students in elementary education. What was clear is that stakeholders in rural education faces many challenges that are unique and may not possess the resources to presently address those needs.

Theory
I will use established distance learning theory from a constructivist/connectivist perspective as well as motivational theory as it relates to young children. I would like to draw from Ausubel's research on advance organizers and Mayer's work with multimedia theory if appropriate. I expect that much of my research with be exploratory in terms of uncovering and adding to what we know about rural elementary students and online learning in the elementary grades.

Methodology
Adapted from Creswell (2007)
 * ~ Research Methodology ||~ Strengths ||~ Limitations ||~ Authoritative Sources ||~ Why I Will/Will Not Use this Methodology ||
 * Case Study || * determine how policy affects a certain population
 * gives clues about the larger group
 * intimate, deep, and rich data
 * small sample || * generalizability
 * openness of individuals
 * must ask the "right" questions
 * small sample || Algozzine, Gerring, Hancock, Stake, and Yin || I may use this methodology as I think that if I identify the appropriate (small) sample I will gather valuable data to address my research questions. ||
 * Phenomenology || * can uncover common experiences of similar individuals
 * values the experiences of the individual across multiple disciplines
 * intimate, deep, and rich data || * participant selection needs to be clearly defined
 * careful attention must be paid to interviews and interpretation of the data
 * one must have an understanding of the larger philosophical assumptions of the approach
 * the researcher has to be "open" to emerging themes || Dukes, Giorgi, Moustakas, Polkinghorne, and Tesch || Of the approaches, this method seems the most appropriate as I believe the caregivers that I will focus on have similar issues. Also, each participant will have experienced what is required of having an elementary student in a distance learning program. I believe that a variety of strengths and barriers will emerge with thoughtful questioning and probing through interviews. ||
 * Grounded Theory || * enables the researcher to generate a theory or model
 * significantly adds to the knowledge base
 * rooted in established research || * time intensive
 * significant amount of data to collect, interpret, analyze, and store
 * requires a large enough sample to saturate the model (20-60) || Charmaz, Corbin, Glaser, and Strauss || My research questions do not require the breadth of this approach at this time. I may employ this methodology if my preliminary research warrants further exploration of the topic. ||

Ethnography || Caregivers of elementary aged students in the North East Florida Educational Consortium member district schools. Ideally 5 or 8 participants || Interviews, possible blogs, audio recording (with transcription), student performance on the state assessment, observation, focus groups || same ||
 * ~ Research Questions ||~ Methodology ||~ Sample ||~ Data Collection ||~ Statistical Analysis ||
 * How do the lived experiences of the caregivers of rural elementary students contribute to the successful completion of distance education programs? || Phenomenology || Caregivers of elementary aged students in the North East Florida Educational Consortium member district schools. Ideally 3 or 4 participants || Interviews, possible blogs, audio recording (with transcription), student performance on the state assessment || no statistical analysis except as informative, i.e. income, number of families with reliable broadband internet, etc. ||
 * How have caregivers in rural areas overcome obstacles to enable their elementary students to be successful in a distance education program? || Case Study Phenomenology || Caregivers of elementary aged students in the North East Florida Educational Consortium member district schools, that have been identified as "families of concern" either prior to or during a distance education program. Ideally 3 or 4 participants || Interviews, possible blogs, audio recording (with transcription), student performance on the state assessment, data on student performance for historical comparison || same ||
 * What barriers exist for caregivers of elementary students in rural areas to successfully completing a distance education program? || Case Study
 * What barriers exist for caregivers of elementary students in rural areas to successfully completing a distance education program? || Case Study

Significance of the Study
Though there is a large body of knowledge about how older students respond to online education, very little is known about the lived experiences of the caregivers of elementary students and how they develop successful strategies. Given the number of available distance learning providers for younger learners and the current trend in education towards providing alternative schooling options for families, it is imperative to develop an understanding of how caregivers enable their students to complete distance learning programs. The barriers to online education must be uncovered and used to improve educational equity to effect social change for rural students.

The proposed study will add to the field of educational technology by identifying successful strategies and behaviors that caregivers of elementary aged students in rural areas exhibit. Additionally, through analyzing the experiences of this population common barriers to educational equity may be uncovered that can be used to inform policy as well as course design to ensure that the unique needs of the rural student are addressed. The implications of this preliminary work extend beyond the United States and may be used to promote programs in other rural areas for elementary students. As technology advances to the degree where brick and mortar institutions become more expensive to operate than online education, having an understanding of how the families of young students successfully respond to distance learning will be an important component of providing educational equity throughout rural areas.

Dissemination of Research
The Educational Technology Research and Development journal would be my first choice to submit my research for publication because it is the premier journal for educational technology.

The American Education Research Journal is a combined journal that promotes issues related to all areas of education with a stated purpose of improving educational outcomes.

The Journal of Research in Rural Education is a journal dedicated to research on education within a rural context. A peer-reviewed open journal, the JRRE accepts original research from all areas of education, from teacher education to policy development.

I would like to present at the AECT International Conference as this is //the// conference to reach stakeholder in educational technology as all levels and throughout the world.

Also, to reach a broad range of educational technologists, leaders, and policymakers in the state of Florida, the Florida Educational Technology Conference would be ideal. Not only could I discuss the implications of my findings, I could also advocate for the use of relevant technology in online course design and delivery for younger students.

References

Anderson, T., & Dron, J. (2011). Three generations of distance education pedagogy. //International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 12//(3), 80-97.

Creswell, J. W. (2007). //Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches// (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Irvin, M. J., Hannum, W. H., de la Varre, C., & Farmer, T. W. (2010). Barriers to distance education in rural schools. //Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 11//(2), 73-90.

Lorenz, B., Green, T. I. M., & Brown, A. (2009). Using multimedia graphic organizer software in the prewriting activities of primary school students: What are the benefits? //Computers in the Schools, 26//(2), 115-129. doi: 10.1080/07380560902906054

Oliver, K., Kellogg, S., Townsend, L., & Brady, K. (2010). Needs of elementary and middle school teachers developing online courses for a virtual school. //Distance Education, 31//(1), 55-75. doi: 10.1080/01587911003725022

Spector, J. M., Merrill, M. D., Merrienboer, J. V., & Driscoll, M. P. (Eds.). (2008). //Handbook of research on educational communications and technology// (3rd ed.). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Stelmach, B. L. (2011). A synthesis of international rural education issues and responses. //Rural Educator, 32//(2), 32-42.