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

Hi Louis, Today's 'instant success' world does push the envelope for the educational community on many fronts. For many instructors and students the teaching and learning could be greatly enhanced by following your prescription. However, the political and business world is taking education in a different direction. With the pressure for faster and higher level acheivement (more and more 'efficient') postsecondary education - do you think online technology enhancements can move us in that direction? Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Hi Krystal, That coincides with what many other online instructors have indicated in recent years. Thank you for contributing your insights to this forum. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Justine, Excellent individualization for each student's needs. Do you prefer to accomplish this dialogue by phone, email, chat, IM, texting, or??? Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Louis, This upfront, human approach has been demonstrated as most successful in many instances. Do you find a great deal of success with it? Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Louis, That is a standard most instructors should be following most of the time. In my experience very few instructors adhere to this standard (a majority of the time) because of the effort and time constraints. Is that your experience? Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Hello Krystal, Your statement about more discussion with more students is a good point. Do you recommend any appropriate numbers for each of these two different types of courses? Thank you for sharing your insights. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Louis, Times (and skills) are changing - first penmanship gives way to keyboards and texting...now face to face dialogue to oline networking through blogs, wikis, discussion boards, etc. The cultural shift from pencil/paper and face to face dialogue switching over to computers, cell phones and the Internet is probably not unlike the enormity of the changeover from horse & buggy to automobiles early last century. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Hi Louis, The hybrid, synchronous class where some are present in the same room and others are 'skyped' into the class was a technique used in some of my graduate courses. It is an effective way to include those who are out of proximity, when needed. Additionally, the convenience of asynchronous intereaction seems to be an important part of the growing popularity of online classes. Do you think the 'anytime' feature may play a significant part to increase the migration of students from the traditional to the online classrooms? Thank you for your contributions. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Mark, Very good, I agree. In your opinion, what are some of preparation methods that are most different? Thank you for your contribution. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Mark, Very good. This method is used by many instructors, with positive results. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

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