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

Mahmoud, Most online instructors agree that approximately 10 students is a good minimal number. Your upper range of 40 is higher than most online instructors indicate, but it is definitely manageable under appropriate circumstances. Thank you for your contribution. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
ANN, Very good. This seems to be the optimal ratio of choice for most online instructors. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Mahmoud, Yes providing guidance for the student to pursue learning from other members of the cohort and providing additional reference material are helpful. Additionally, since the learner looks to you as the instructor, you may want to provide specific feedback for improvement. Very good. Thank you. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Andrew, This is a very good response to the learner. Easing their frustration and assuring a path to success. Excellent. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Brian, These are pedagogically sound solutions. Very good. Thanks. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Brian, Many students will do best using the tools that are aligned with their strengths. Unfortunately, they often have a greater need to use the tools with wich they are unfamiliar. Individual recommendations in one-to-one audiovisual sessions are often effective as a remedy. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
John, Yes, rubrics can be very powerful cognitive organizers to assist students in the accomplishment of the learning objectives. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Thomas, The increased time and attention to accommodate individualized needs for those needing more assistance and guideance is something many instructors identify. This area of debate may have many variables to discuss that increase, or decrease, the 'task-specific' responsibilities of the online teacher. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Thomas, Your identified technique seems to be an optimal approach toward facilitating student-to-student engagement and expanding the learning to real-world application. Very good. Thank you for sharing this perspective. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Thomas, Very interesting. This is one scenario I am hearing about more often; The corporations will control and/or own a large portion of the universities. Dr. S. David Vaillancourt

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