Program

Education Doctorate

Year Approved

2015

First Advisor

Lindstrom, Mike

Second Reader

Putz, Matt

Third Reader

Rasmussen, Jay

Abstract

Educators who serve students in online classrooms display a unique set of skills necessary to engage students, however little research and no teacher evaluation tools exist to guide K-12 online teachers in the evidence-based practices needed to perfect their craft. The research that does exist focuses on the post-secondary classroom which is assumed to be significantly different from K-12 environments. Using a Delphi study, an expert group of MN K-12 online educators confirmed that the research from the college level related to teacher immediacy and interaction, the teacher behaviors that most impact student engagement, are applicable to the K-12 online classroom. They also identified twelve distinct teacher behaviors that increase student engagement in the K-12 online setting. Through the synthesis of expert teacher practice and post-secondary research, three unique rubrics were developed; Developing Personal Connections, Facilitating Interaction, and Providing Feedback; to provide a strong supplement to other teacher evaluation programs for the evaluation of K-12 online teachers. These rubrics are intended to provide an entry point for further discussion and research.

Degree Name

Education Doctorate

Document Type

Doctoral dissertation

Terms of Use and License Information

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

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