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

Discussion Comment

Engaging Learners in Discussion

Great approach. Spark the emotions with an adversarial position. Getting the students to dialogue gets them to think - a key objective. Nice job.

Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

Discussion Comment

Will Online Learning Replace the Traditional Classroom?

There are many who would agree. Many more say "not within our lifetimes" but maybe someday. The technology is advancing rapidly. For instance, online PE might be a possibility in the very near future - look at the Wii activities, if a 'vitals monitoring' device was added. Also, simulators and 'sensor rich' artificial human bodies may eventually provide online 'lab stations' for a very futuristic classroom, without human face-2-face instruction. Seems like science fiction? Maybe.

Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

Discussion Comment

Faculty Expectations

Mohan, These are excellent overall expectations. Including late policies and parameters for consequences of unmet expectations is a key component feature. Food for thought: What are some appropriate, specific consequences for individual unmet expectations? (e.g.lack of participation in group work, missing deadlines repeatedly, etc.)

Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

Discussion Comment

Will Online Learning Replace the Traditional Classroom?

Donald, It sounds like we are from a similar epoch, as well as being of like mind. I couldn't agree more with your parting thought on this! Since online education is in its infancy and is changing rapidly, there may still be means by which we can get the valuable 'experience' passed on via this new instructional medium.

Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

Discussion Comment

Instructor Presence

'Exploiting' those tangential learning opportunities from the students is a a classic strategy also used in face-2-face instruction. Continuing to "stay with it" and being creative is key. Sometimes googling the topic, or taking it to ASK.com can provide you with some of those tangential opportunities. Hang in there!

Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

Discussion Comment

Assisting the Online Student

The offers for assistance you indicate are excellent and somewhat comprehensive. There is obviously a great deal that can be done. Sadly, there are still those in the 'second class' you identified. Nice job - very good posting!

Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

Discussion Comment

Instructor Presence

You are not alone. The experiences you identified are common among veteran teachers. The ability to interject at the 'right' time is an art. Getting the adult learners to generate the conversation in the desired direction is much more difficult than just dumping the curriculum content in to the conversation. Nevertheless, as it occurs, you will see the learning to be much more robust for the students. Think about questions and questioning techniques for your classes that can elicit guided, (but open ended) answers that beg additional input from other class members. It's fun to watch the conversation unfold when… >>>

Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

Discussion Comment

The Optimal Online Student-Instructor Ratio

Sound rationale. Thanks.

Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

Discussion Comment

The Optimal Online Student-Instructor Ratio

Donald, Your process is impressive and very useful for long-term improvement in earning/time ratio. Having more fun and increasing your income - definitely win-win. So are you purporting 30-35 or 22-28 as the optimal number of students per math class section? We often have different content areas indicate variance of optimal class size. For instance, English composition classes seem to come in @ less than 20 as being optimal. Any thoughts?

Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

Discussion Comment

The Responsibilities of Teaching Online

Responses within 24-48 hours have become the de facto standard for many formal educational online classes. You are absolutely correct that getting back to the student in a timely manner is of utmost importance. Additionally, in that 'timely' response there may be an opportunity to "ask the class to seek an answer" and possibly gain participants in the conversation, thereby expanding the possibility for insights on the topic. thoughts? ... class?

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