Virtual Voices: Online Teachers' Perceptions of Online Teaching Standards
Source: Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 17(4), 547-571. (October 2009).
The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the National Education Association (NEA) published in 2006 the “Online teachers’ perceptions of online teaching standards”.
Interviews with two teachers from each of the four online schools were studied following an online survey of 49 online teachers from these schools.
Overall, participants reported that both sets of standards as being important but found the NEA standards to be slightly more relevant to their practice.
The qualitative data, both interviews and open-ended questions on the survey, revealed these themes related to the national standards:
concerns about the language of the standards;
the standards’ failure to acknowledge how much the roles of individual online teachers vary, depending on the school and course model; differentiation between online and face-to-face teaching;
aspects of the standards participants endorsed;
omissions participants perceived in the standards;
participants’ lack of awareness of the standards; and the importance of online teachers having experience as online learners.
The article concludes with recommendations for policy and research.