An Online High School “Shepherding” Program: Teacher Roles and Experiences Mentoring Online Students
Source: Journal of Technology and Teacher Education Volume 22, No. 1, January 2014, p. 9-32
This case study analyzed a “shepherding program” at Mountain Heights Academy, a fully online high school.
The authors used K-12 online research.
They found that the shepherding program enabled fully online teachers to provide their students with many of the services typical of on-site facilitators.
The roles of the shepherding program included building caring relationships, facilitating content interaction, and providing students with the communication links they needed to be successful.
In addition, the shepherding program increased teachers’ job satisfaction, responsibility, motivation, and mental peace.
This case study provides fully online schools with one approach for improving student support.