1.0+Description+of+Context+for+Elearning+Design

The following is a description of an eLearning design solution that could be implemented to the distance education and home schooling sectors both in NSW and nationwide.

The context and inspiration for this design comes from both professional and personal interests

Firstly, I have a personal connection to the idea of home-schooling, my partner had an unsatisfactory experience of being faith based home schooled in rural Queensland. Currently Australia doesn't have a uniform secondary school based education system across all states and territories. This lack of uniformity is also reflected in the policies relating to school aged distance education and home schooling/education. Each state has varying requirements and standards that both parents/guardians and students have to adhere to in order to participate in distance education or home education. For the purpose of this assignment I will be refering to the New South Wales and Queensland policies regarding distance and homeschooling

Secondly, I am interest in the idea of Virtual schools. While researching this assignment I found a number of articles discussing how a virtual schools operate and what effects this type of learning enviroment had on adolescents and adult learners educational outcomes. This literature has influence the design of this elearning solution.

Thirdly, My belief that all children regardless of their geographic location or personal circumstances should have the opportunity to have a quality education. Many children of farmers or children who live in remote locations are often sent to boarding school to complete their secondary education. The eLearning design that I am proposing may assist in decreasing the cost for parents of secondary education as well as decreasing family separation.

Finally, I believe that this model of distance education could assist children in metropolitan areas who may find the environment of the school based high school problematic. These could include children who have been bullied, they may have a physical disability that the local school cannot accommodate, teenage mothers with small children and gay and lesbian youth at risk (Bogden 2003; 34).

The school that I have created to pilot my eLearning design reflect the above ideas and values. CHD High school (Central Distance Home-schooling High school) is a conglomeration of three groups that currently exist in the NSW and Australian education sphere.


 * Sydney distance education high school
 * School of the Air
 * Home schooling /unschooling movement

The reason my I have chosen to combine these organisations to create the pilot school is because they all bring unique issues to the educational table that hopefully my design would in some part assist in solving.

**CDH High School**
CDH was established in 2001 to provide student who lived in remote areas with quality education. In 2011 the school has decided to move into the eLearning space and support a wider group of students. The school is open to students in year six to year twelve. Students from outside Australia can also enrol however parents will have to pay a small fee to access online materials. Currently the school has an enrolment of four hundred students.

__**Current enrolments**__
 * ~ Year ||~ Total student numbers ||~ Female Students ||~ Male students ||
 * < ﻿6 ||< 65 ||< 43 || 22 ||
 * < 7 ||< 100 ||< 45 || 55 ||
 * < 8 ||< <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">70 ||< <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">25 || <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">45 ||
 * < <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">9 ||< <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">60 ||< <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">30 || <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">30 ||
 * < <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">10 ||< <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">50 ||< <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">27 || <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">23 ||
 * < <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">11 ||< <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">25 ||< <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">15 || <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">10 || ﻿ ||
 * < <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">12 ||< <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">30 ||< <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">17 || <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">13 ||

The school caters specifically for three distinct student groups:

Students who cannot regularly attend a traditional high school because they live in a geographically remote location and who may have to assist with the family farm.

Students who because of personal circumstances cannot attend a traditional high school. These include:
 * Students with disabilities
 * Students with anxiety issues
 * Teenage mothers with small childre
 * Gay and Lesbian youth at risk
 * Indigenous students

Students of parents/guardians who all want to take a more active role in their children’s education and educate them at home.

Design approach
The design approach that I used to create CDH High School virtual school project consisted of the following steps.


 * 1) I consulted literature relating to the formulation of similar virtual schools in the United States. As much of the literature pre-dated 2005 I investigated new technologies and approaches that could be used to replace the older technology solutions that where highlighted in these texts.
 * 2) Looked into how increased flexibility could be in cooperated into the design and the delivery of educational materials. I will discuss this in detail in the next section of the wiki.
 * 3) Conducted a training needs analysis of the school. Examining the following :
 * Demographics
 * Computer Skills
 * Literacy and Numeracy
 * Special needs of students and parents/guardians

This analysis assisted in formulating the eLearning design that would be a good fit for such a diverse student and parent population.