Blended and Online Learning Research Alliance, REL Southeast
The long-term goal of the Blended and Online Learning Research Alliance is to improve course outcomes and reduce student attrition for rural students in blended and online learning environments. Members include leaders from the South Carolina Department of Education, the Florida Department of Education, and Florida Virtual School.
Alliance Work
Research Questions:
Long-term questions of interest include:
- What do we know about participation, course attrition, and course-outcome success of rural vs. non-rural students in blended and online learning in Florida and South Carolina?
- Are there qualitative features of teacher-student communications that are linked to variations across teachers in student outcomes and student attrition for a course? What are they? How can we train teachers to use these features in their communications? How can we ensure that features of rural students' learning environments do not inhibit effective teacher-student communication practices?
- What other practices are effective in helping to reduce student attrition and increase course success for rural students? (For example, certain types of welcome and stage-setting procedures.) Are there school/teacher practices that help to increase student persistence in the face of typical technological or other difficulties that rural students face?
- What proportion of rural students in FL and SC in online learning are also ELL students? How are the districts supporting the ELL students: is there collaboration between the district ESOL office and the virtual contact in the district? Does this differ between rural and non-rural districts?
Short-term research questions to support these areas of interest are currently undergoing development.
Geographical Areas Served:
Florida and South Carolina
Member Organizations:
- Florida Department of Education, Office of Virtual Education
- Florida Virtual School
- South Carolina Department of Education, Office of Virtual Education and VirtualSC
Contact Information:
Diana Sharp
dsharp@rmcres.com
(813) 915-0010
External Website
http://rel-se.fcrr.org/research-alliances/blended_and_online.aspx