Barbour, M. K. (2006, October). Effective web-based design for secondary school students. Roundtable session at the annual convention of the Association for Educational Communication and Technology, Dallas, TX.

1. Effective web-based design for
secondary school students
Experiences of Students, Electronic
Teachers, and Course Developers

2. Why?
• there has been much research on web-based course
design
– Collis, 1999; Gallini & Barron, 2001-2002; Gunawardena & McIsaac,
2004; Kanuka, 2002; McLoughlin & Oliver, 2000; Stein, 2004
• however, this research conducted in online learning has
focused upon post-secondary institutions and corporate
America
– Gunawardena & McIsaac, 2004; Hill, Wiley, Nelson & Han, 2004; Kolbe
& Bunker, 1997;
• the problem with this focus upon an adult population is
that there is a difference between how adults learn
compared to the way adolescents learn
– Bright, 1989; Cavanaugh, Gillan, Kromrey, Hess & Blomeyer, 2004;
Knowles, 1970; Moore, 1973; Vygotsky, 1962, 1978

3. The Studies
• Three studies
– Teachers and developers
in Newfoundland (Canada)
• Jun – Aug 2004
– Developers in Illinois
• Nov 2004 – Feb 2005
– Students in Newfoundland
(Canada)
• May – Jun 2005

4. The Teachers and Developers Study
John was one of the initial developers and was perceived as one of the
stronger course developers until accepting a new job with the
understanding he would not seek to be seconded by the CDLI.
Cliff, a retired teacher who spent twenty-nine years in the classroom, is
designing his first course.
Norman, one of four original developers who went on to be an e-teacher,
has also developed of sections of two other courses and is teaching a
second web-based course.
Bill, began his thirtieth year of teaching this past September, is another of
the initial developers that went on to be an e-teacher for the past three
years.
Sam is a principal of a small, rural school, where he has taught in almost
every subject area at every grade level, even though he is trained as a
Science teacher.
George, an administrator with the CDLI has been involved in distance
education for the past decade and a half; first as a distance education
coordinator in a rural school, then as an instructor and content
developer, and later with a web-based program.

5. Findings
Course developers should:
1. prior to beginning development of any of the web-based material,
plan out the course with ideas for the individual lessons and
specific items that they would like to include;
2. keep the navigation simple and to a minimum, but don’t present
the material the same way in every lesson;
3. provide a summary of the content from the required readings or
the synchronous lesson and include examples that are
personalized to the students’ own context;
4. ensure students are given clear instructions and model
expectations of the style and level that will be required for student
work;
5. refrain from using too much text and consider the use of visuals to
replace or supplement text when applicable;
6. only use multimedia that will enhances the content and not simply
because it is available; and
7. develop their content for the average or below average student.

6. Planning and preparation
Developers should “not attempt to write
anything, do not attempt to construct
anything, until you have designed your
project out from end to end, from start to
finish… if you fail to do this, here’s what
happens… if you get in there and get on with
it and make a misstep, … undoing that
mistake usually means changes that
peculate right through the web of work that
you’ve constructed. So, undoing you’re
mistakes is horrendously difficult. Second
thing is that when you take the time to lay
your project out from start to finish, the
chances are you will confer with other
people and that means that you will add
layers of… important content… to your
project that would not otherwise have been
there if you did not take the time.” (George)

7. KISS, but not the same way all the time
Instead of going… “You will learn,” or
“You should know,” and so on,
they’ll click right to the “Lesson”…
if I have any activities assigned to
them, they’ll simply just go right to
the “Activities,” they won’t even
bother with the “Lesson” itself.
(Norman)
Each lesson “has to offer a certain
sense of choice to the students
preferred style or mode of
learning. Some students learn
better by reading, some… with
their hands, [and] some… by
discussing items. Now a well
designed lesson would either a)
provide a couple of approaches or
b) at least in the long scheme of
things the lessons taken in
aggregate would provide… a
varied approach” (George).

8. Useful and personal
Developers should “try to
develop a good set of notes
[and] a good set of worked
examples.” (John)
He had students “looking a lot at
their own lives [and] their own
communities” (Bill).
“For example, if it’s… a student
in Newfoundland and
Labrador, you would use
organisms that would reside
in the province themselves,”
which “can provide [the
students] with something a
little more substantive and
relate to where they are”
(Norman).

9. Clear directions and expectations
Students “need to have
clearly defined what has
to be done [over] a
certain period of time.”
(John)
“The directions and the
expectations [need to be]
precise enough so
students can work
effectively on their own,
not providing a roadblock
for their time.” (Bill)

10. Text, text and more text
“You’re trying very often to
explain things... [that are]
difficult to understand.
The more explanation
you have there the less
chance… students are
going to read it, but some
of the concepts are just
too difficult to be…
presented very
concisely.” (Bill)
“By providing students a
visual cue with the written
information it does
provide a connection for
them.” (Norman)

11. Appropriate selection of tools
“There should be a lot of
distractions there with
things that… might be
gimmicky.” (Bill)
“Trying to be too flashy…
really may distract…
from the lesson itself
and students may miss
the message.”
(Norman)

12. Who’s your audience
“Appropriateness… [is] an important
thing… because a lot of… people
who develop courses… design…
for… top students… but we’re
also going to have some very,
very weak students… so even if
you’re into doing complicated
material… keeping it as simple as
possible.” (Bill)
“Students are still students and… we
shouldn’t assume that they’re all
self motivated… it’s much better
to shoot… for the average and
below average student… making
sure that… there’s a structure in
place that guarantees they’re
doing their… work.” (Cliff)

13. The American Developers Evaluation
Survey
• twenty-nine developers
– seventeen completed part one
– fifteen of which completed part two
• response rate of 59% for part one and
52% for part two
Interviews
• four IVHS course developers
– two from the IVHS’ first year of operation
and two the second year

14. The American Developers Evaluation
1. How does the IVHS course development
process compare to other virtual high school
programs?
2. How does the IVHS course development
process contribute to the stated goals and
objectives of the IVHS?
3. How has the IVHS course development
process been improved over time?
4. What specific improvements to the IVHS
course development process are
recommended?

15. Findings
1. Overall, course developers are pleased with their
experience in developing courses for the Illinois Virtual
High School.
2. The Illinois Virtual High School course development
process is fairly open-ended with a lot of room for
developers to create the kind of course that they want to
create.
3. Approximately half of the Illinois Virtual High School
courses were developed by a team of two or more
developers and this has worked well in some instances
and not so well in others.
4. The course developers for the Illinois Virtual High
School were trained as teachers and unable to utilize the
technology of the web to its fullest capacity.
5. As the Illinois Virtual High School begins to use the
Syllabuild Tool to standardize their course development
process, the freedom to design the look and feel of their
courses was one of the things that the course
developers enjoyed.

16. Recommendations
1. Create a structure for the course development process so that the
IVHS, eCollege, and the developer are under the same
impressions when it comes to the nature of the assistance that
can be provided and the expectations of all parties within the
specific deadlines of the course development process.
2. Divide the course development process into timed segments that
describe the nature of the deliverable due at the end of each
period, with partial payment for the successful delivery of each of
the segments.
3. If the IVHS continues to use a team of developers for a single
course, determine a method of select team members that will
work well together.
4. Provide training in multimedia software for course developers or
split the course development process so that technical developers
can add multimedia components to courses after the content has
been developed.
5. Any tool used to guide the development of course developers
needs to be open enough to allow for the creativity of the
developer.

17. The Students Study
Kari Baker is a grade twelve student at Beaches All Grade, a school of approximately twenty
teachers and one hundred and seventy students, with about 50 of those in the high school.
The school receives eight different CDLI courses, while Kari has completed three of those
and is currently enrolled in three more.
Jenni Mills is one of two grade ten student at St. Rita’s All Grade, a necessary existent school of
approximately twenty students and four teachers. The school receives thirteen courses from
the CDLI. Jenni has taken one of those as a grade nine student and is close to finishing
another four this year.
Carla Saunders is a grade twelve student at Ocean Academy, an all grade school with twelve
teachers and approximately one hundred and twenty students. The school receives seven
different CDLI courses and Carla has taken three of those courses.
Annette Kean is a grade twelve student at St. Christopher’s School, an all grade school with
sixteen teachers and approximately one hundred and fifty students, with about thirty of those
in the high school. The school offers three different CDLI courses and Ashley is taking her
first one.
Becky Manning is a grade twelve student at Beaches All Grade in Beaches. Her school has
approximately one hundred and seventy students, with about fifty students in the secondary
grades. Becky has taken a total of seven web-based courses through the Centre for
Distance Learning and Innovation, including four of her six courses this year.
Lori Bursey is also a grade twelve student. She attends St. Rita’s All Grade in McBrides, a
school with only nineteen students and four teachers in a geographically isolated portion of
the province. She is the only student in her particular grade and has taken six courses
through the Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation over the past four years.

18. Findings
• Use of Web-based
Content
• Web-based Design

19. Use of Web-based Content
• Students initially indicate that
they don’t use the web-based
content that much.
• However, when discussing each
of the individual components it
comes out that they do use them
more than they initially let on.
• One barrier to using the web-
based content is the amount of
work assigned during offline time.
• Another barrier to using the web-
based content is how little e-
teachers actually use it.
• Another barrier to using the web-
based content is they may not
trust it.

20. Web-based Design
• Students don’t like text.
• Students enjoy the
various media that the
Internet is able to offer.
• Students want
multimedia used to
explain concepts and
provide information.
• Students want to have a
good set of notes.
• Students find the review
questions, particularly
“Test Yourself” quizzes,
quite useful.

21. Bibliography
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22. Bibliography
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23. Studies Citations
Barbour, M. (accepted, 2006). Teacher and developer perceptions of effective web-
based design for secondary school students. Journal of Distance Education, 21(3).
Barbour, M. (2005). Perceptions of effective web-based design for secondary school
students: A narrative analysis of previously collected data. The Morning Watch,
32(3-4). Retrieved November 04, 2005 from
http://www.mun.ca/educ/faculty/mwatch/win05/Barbour.htm
Barbour, M. (2005, October). Evaluation of the IVHS Course Development Process.
Paper presentation at the annual Virtual School Symposium, Denver, CO.
Barbour, M. (2005). Effective web-based design for secondary school students:
Developer and teacher perceptions. Proceedings of the Annual Conference on
Distance Teaching and Learning. Madison: WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Barbour, M. (2005). Teacher and developer perceptions of effective web-based design
for secondary school students. Proceedings of the Southeastern Conference in
Instructional Design and Technology (CD-Rom). Mobile, AL: University of South
Alabama.
Barbour, M. (2005, March). Teacher and developer perceptions of effective web-based
design for secondary school students. Paper presented at the annual Southeastern
Conference in Instructional Design and Technology, Mobile, AL.
Barbour, M. (2005). Evaluation of the Illinois Virtual High School course development
process. Illinois Virtual High School.
Barbour, M. (2005). The design of web-based courses for secondary students. Journal
of Distance Learning, 9(1). 27-36.
Barbour, M. (2004). Lessons on designing web-based courses for K-12 students based
upon individual learning styles. Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Distance
Teaching and Learning. Madison: WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison.

24. Contact Information
Michael K. Barbour
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Educational Psychology and
Instructional Technology
University of Georgia
mkb@uga.edu
http://www.michaelbarbour.com