| The number of web-supported courses in secondary institutions has grown in recent years, and in some states, such as in Michigan and Alabama, there are mandates that high school students complete at least one online course prior to their graduation. According to the U.S. Department of Education, in 2002-03, 38% of U.S. public highs schools offered distance education courses (2005). By the year of 2004-05, the U.S. Department of Education estimated that percentage to be over 39% (2008). Secondary distance education offerings were expected to continue to increase each year (U.S. Department of Education, 2008). With this in mind, there is a need to study the use of course management systems (CMS) that might be used to support online coursework in secondary classes. This bounded case study reports on the use of a CMS (Blackboard(TM)) in one high achieving secondary school in the southeast. The findings from this study indicate that (1) generally teachers utilized the features of the CMS for instructional purposes on a limited basis, (2) teachers used the CMS to support student participation, and (3) teachers used the CMS to increase access communication with students and parents.;In this study, framed by concepts from communities of practice and technology implementations in an information ecology context, teachers reported that they did not collaborate or share their implementation practices with each other. Barriers to implementation exist, such as the need for teacher training and access to additional tech support. More importantly, a participatory environment that might promote the systemic development of vibrant information ecology (IE) that reflects the values and practices of the classroom teachers did not exist in this school. The data suggest that the IE at the case school was seen to be in a formative stage with development hampered by top down implementation practices. Further research is needed to explore how such an environment might be supported through professional development and leadership. Ignoring such key contextual factors will likely confound future research on the effects of the use course management tools and resources (discussion boards, blogs etc) on secondary students' learning in online coursework.;KEYWORDS: Course Management Systems, Online Courses, Distance Education, Information Ecologies, Practice Fields. |
