Date of Award

Summer 2019

Document Type

Master's Project

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

STEM Education & Professional Studies

Program/Concentration

Occupational and Technical Studies

Committee Director

Tian Luo

Abstract

This research explored the preliminary results that show how technology through virtual classrooms has bridged the home and public-schooling systems. The research invites further reflection on the ways by which the home-learning process improves through the inclusion of other parameters such as the e-learning framework. Online education has been discussed extensively as a way of enabling the home-schooling with increased access to better teachers and learning materials.

The research identified the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a means of determining how new technologies in the online learning process compared to the virtual classroom learning experience. The research explored a case study research design, as proposed by Robert K. Yin (2014), in the analysis of the home-schooling alongside public school learners. The qualitative data used in this research saw the sampling frame of parents with home-schooled children with an understanding of the virtual learning process. The data collection through online means like Skype and personal interviews; ten participants sampled for this research were parents of home-schooled children. From the respondents, 18% backed home-schooling due to the suitability of the customized curriculum best fitting the children. The sample qualification eighty percent had a bachelor’s degree, and above, ten percent with a high school diploma and the other ten percent had no degree at all. This research determined that the employability of the persons who attend the virtual schools was as high as those that attend public schools albeit with added benefits of having used various virtual learning systems like tablets and video cameras in the learning process thus inculcating a virtue of independence among students. The interpretation of the research findings necessitates the argument that virtual classrooms can bridge the home-schooling to public schools.

Comments

A Research Study Presented to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE - OCCUPATION AND TECHNICAL STUDIES

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