Rethinking Online Education in Rural Places Using Place-Conscious Pedagogy

This study set out to rethink and redesign online or distance education for the Rural Online Student Population (ROSP) based on this specific population's needs, strengths, places, and circumstances. To accomplish this goal, I combined recent, relevant research on successful methods and practices used to teach rural students, online students, and rural online students with a qualitative study on the online population of a rural university in central Florida. I developed a questionnaire that 84 rural, online students completed, and I coded and analyzed over 1300 short-answer responses to questions about rurality, learning and/in rurality, and their experiences with online education. This combination of research methods led me to conclude that considering "place" is crucial when designing online courses that can help this rural, online, student population succeed. Course design elements and assignments rooted in place-based, place-conscious pedagogy can aid these students as they work to earn their degree, develop a strong sense of community both inside the classroom and with their local communities, and engage this student population as they work toward improving their places while growing their own critical thinking skills, civic responsibility, and self-efficacy. This study also includes an online writing course that I designed based on these place-conscious principles. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]