Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

About me

Dr. S. David Vaillancourt currently serves as the Vice President of Academic Affairs for the College of Health Care Professions based in Houston, Texas. Prior to this post he worked as an e-Learning consultant for companies across the USA. His primary research focus over the past four years has been the development of online learning Engagement Metrics. Dr. Vaillancourt’s 27 years of service in education includes multiple levels of experience in both private and public educational institutions. His professional positions include Online Campus President for Virginia College, National Dean of ITT's Online Division, Director of Education for Ultimate Medical Academy, President of a two-campus allied health college in Utah, Certified Cisco Academy Instructor, Master Certified Novell Instructor, and K-12 public school science teacher.

Dr. Vaillancourt’s BS and MS in Education were earned from Samford University in 1983 and 1989, respectively. He completed his Ed.D. in Instructional Technology and Distance Education from Nova Southeastern University in May 2004. Dr. Vaillancourt designed, founded and chaired the non-profit National Math Bee (2006-2011), which provided an online learning community for over 15,000 elementary school mathematics students in 37 states across the country.  He was a US Army soldier prior to his career in education.

Activity

Sandy, Well stated. Do you have an opinion as to whether face-to-face or online requires more effort to effectively fulfill the same responsibilities within each environment, or do you estimate they are about the same? Thank you for your contribution and insights. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Raymond, Each instructor should implement communication about expectations in the manner that best follows their classroom demeanor. It sounds like your general approach sets a very good context for more specific discussions as the class unfolds. I know many very successful instructors who use this approach. Thank you for your insights. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Amjad, In the ultrasound classroom scenario described, providing hands-on practice with a skillful set of questions to be answered before each session will be very helpful with a high number of repetitions. Sometimes creating a specific critical thinking path and requiring the student to answer the questions that follow that thought path can help them understand the value of the critical thinking process as part of the procedure. Even in higher-level thinking scenarios, repetition can be very useful when procedures and diagnoses follow a consistent, logical process. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Sandy, This seems to be a very thorough list. Are these provided at the beginning of class, only, or are they really iterated at certain points? Thank you for your contribution. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Natalie, These are good suggestions. Do you find any of these producing better results than any of the others, in your experience? Thank you for sharing. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Natalie, Very good point. The blended approach is also gaining in popularity as well as demonstrating some superiority to online and traditional by themselves. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Natalie, Well said. Do you find the "more regular" accountability to online students an additional responsibility and does it stand in place of an eliminated responsibility of the traditional setting? Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Sandy, You are so right. "Drawing them out" with probing questions can be very difficult with some students. Some of the newer LMS platforms are making use of asynchronous audiovisual messaging, which I found helpful in this respect. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Natalie, Your ratio for an online classroom is right in line with many contributors to this forum. Do you find this ratio comparable to the optimal traditional classroom ratio? Thank you for your contribution. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Sandy, Well stated. This is an excellent template for the general course announcements. Do you have any particular guidelines you find especially helpful? Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

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