Virtual Learning Network

Michael Barbour is an Assistant Professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, where he teaches Instructional Technology and Qualitative Research Methodology. Michael’s interest in K-12 distance education began after accepting his first teaching position in a rural high school. Having been educated in an urban area, Michael was troubled by the inequity of opportunity provided to his rural students and began a program to offer Advanced Placement social studies courses online at his own school and other schools in the district. For more than a decade now, Michael worked with numerous K-12 online learning programs in Canada, the United States New Zealand, and around the world as an teacher, course developer, administrator, evaluator, and researcher.  His current research interests focus on the effective design, delivery, and support of online learning to K-12 students in virtual school environments, particularly those in rural jurisdictions. Michael is also the lead researcher for the annualState of the Nation: K-12 Online Learning in Canada study over the last five years. He currently resides in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.