Distance Education and Virtual Schools

The first thing that really caught my eye was how big these virtual schools have become. Actually, untill now I had no idea that they even existed. But now that I do know they exist, I am really surprised how big a thing they are. It seems strange that so many kids are taking high school online because I had never thought about it. I knew about online college courses, but using that method for high school didn't seem plausible. I suppose this is due mostly to the fact that I took high school through the "normal" way that most kids do. Actually going to a building and classes. However, after exploring some of the virtual school's websites, they seem like a really cool idea. Especially in today's technologically advanced world.

Some cons of virtual schools are as follows:
Virtual schools obviously have the loss of face to face contact between students, teachers, and faculty members. I would think that this loss of interaction between peers and mentors would hinder a students social development. How are they supposed to gain good communication skills and become comfortable around people if they take classes online and are not subjected to actual teachers and peers like students who attend traditional high schools. I would need some more study to see if students really do develop social problems.
Another con is the amount of responsibility that is placed on the students and the parents. In this type of school, with students not being in direct contact with teachers each day, the students must be held responsible to learn the material and to do the work. Can we really trust that the students will do all that is assigned, and more importantly is it even their work that is submitted? Perhaps they just have someone else do the work for them, or they search the internet and plagerize. Either way, it becomes very difficult to determine for certain that the work turned in is the student's. Now the big question becomes whether or not it is the parents who are really responsible for getting the students to do the work? Personally I believe that the parents must take on a big load of this responsibility, and granted it is good that a parent takes interest in their student's learning, this constitutes much to great of responsibility put on the parent.
One more con would be the students actually being able to learn the material. I admit that I have very little knowledge about exactly how these virtual schools have the students learn, but in my mind I see information being put online and books assigned for students to read and learn from, and then homework assigned from these sections. So while it is a great way for students to work at their own pace, I find it hard to see how they can really learn material by themselves.

Not to be all negative, here are some pros:
Virtual schools allow students to learn from anywhere in the world and at any time they want as long as they have a computer and internet connection. This means that students could be in school while on vacation, or any trip that they go on including club sports, concerts, etc. It also means that students could go to a library or a coffee shop or whatever environment suits their learning style and makes them comfortable. Students also have the option of learning at whatever time of the day suits them. A person might perfom better at night or in the early morning, and with virtual schools this is not a problem. This brings up another pro of virtual schools, the fact that students can learn at their own pace. Students are responsible for their learning and they can take the time needed to understand the material. This is a great benefit as it ensures that the students really understand the material.
Another pro would be the increased revenue brought to the school district. Every student that is enrolled in a virtual school counts towards the district that the virtual school is set up through. This in turn generates a tremendous amount of revenue for the district because of the increased number of students. This allows a school district to provide its students with many opportunities that some other districts might not be able to.

Teachers must have certain skills if they are to teach in a virtual school. One skill that really stands out to me is good communication skills. Teachers must be in constant contact with their students to answer questions and actually teach the material. They must not forget to respond to someone, and they must be very clear in their communcation in order to avoid confusion among students. Teachers must also have a good base knowledge about technology in order to properly use virtual schools. These environments are not your typical classroom. In order for teachers to provide students with an engaging curriculum, they must be able to create advanced technology that students can interact with. Therefore teachers must be able to use office products, email, powerpoints, photoshop, movie maker, web 2.0, and various other technologies.

In doing some research it seems as though most virtual school teachers are very qualified though. Every website states that teachers will be certified in the state they are teaching in. They also state that most of their teachers have an average of fifteen years experience, and that 74% have their masters degree.

Another interesting point about virtual schools I found was the curriculum that is offered. It was very easy to browse all the classes that were offered in various virtual schools. The classes seemed to cover all the basics, and offered both honors and AP classes for the higher achieving students. There were also some interesting and exciting electives that the students could take, such as digital photography and digital video. There was also a tremendous amount of foreign language classes available.

In exploring these virtual schools and observing how the world has been focusing more and more on technology these days, I really can see virtual schools becoming almost equal in popularity as traditional high schools. The reason for this being that I don't see the cons outweighing the pros. In today's world of reform education, virtual schools meet most all the ideas and concepts associated with it. In light of this, I think that it is necessary for me to learn more about virtual schools and technology just in case the opportunity presents itself to teach for one.

Conept Mapping

Concept mapping is a great resource for classrooms. One way they would benefit my math classrooms is in note taking. By using a mind map, the structure of how to solve or work through certain problems would be easy to follow. The mind map would allow for a great visual representation of moving through the problem solving stages. It would also provide more detailed information that could be read through for students to gain a better understanding.

Concept mapping is also a quick way to summarize ideas and concepts. They are easy to create and help organize thoughts in a manageable way. In this regard, concept mapping is great for discussions as students can jot down their thoughts in an organized way that would make it easy for them to remember their thoughts, record answers and comments from other students, and allow teachers to see exactly what students were planning on discussing if they did not get a chance to share.

I would personally like to gain more experience with concept mapping. This is because I am a visual learner and believe this would benefit me as well as my future students. I am always interested in finding new ways of documenting notes and information so I can easily look over notes and recall what they were about. It is always a challenge making certain points stand out over others in note taking, and I believe concept mapping is a great way to battle this.

I think concept mapping would be easy to learn the basics of. However, in order to apply it in a really useful way that integrates all of your content, I believe it would take a lot longer to master all the variations that are possible using the software. As of now it seems overwhelming, but I think through some simple exploration it would not be as bad.

Teacher Web critique

I really want to be able to utilize a class website in my future teaching.

• One way I would utilize a class website would be to post homework and resources for the homework. I would use this almost like a continuing WebQuest, where students would have to use these resources to finish homework and it would connect them to the outside world.
• Another reason to use a class website would be for the announcements. This would enable me to communicate quickly with students and let them know about sudden changes. It would also enable them to consistently check when things are due instead of having to wait unitll class.
• A final reason to use a class website is so students and parents would have access to their grades and the feedback I would be giving them.

Class websites can enhance student learning by connecting them to a vast array of resources and materials that will connect them to the world. Through the website they would be directed to interesting websites that would expand their knowledge on the content. This would not just be a WebQuest, but rather lead them to new information that might be interesting to them. Another reason that a class website would enhance student learning is that it keeps students up to date and involved with class room material. Students would always feel connected to the class and me the teacher.

There were lots of different page types in the teacher web system. My favorite ones were the grading page and the email/announcement page. The grading page was awsome because it allows students to quickly view their grades and some feedback on their assignments. This would keep students involved in their learning and help them improve quicker as they can see where they had problems right away and correct those. The email/announcements page was really interesting. It allows the teacher to make an announcement post and also to email the announcement to all the students. This would force students to keep up to date with class notes and changing dates.

Over all, I thought the teacher web would be a great resource that I would love to use when I start teaching.

Blogs and Wikis in Education

Blogs and wikis are everywhere. Doing a simple search for "educational blogs/wikis" brings up thousands of results. Most of these results are either the same sites, or somehow connect all together. The result is a massive collection of educational resources that are in a way all linked together. It truly is amazing how much information is out there.

There are a few interesting classroom uses for blogs and wikis in the classroom today that I would like to incorporate in my classes. Blogs and wikis as a place for student and teacher reflection is a big one for me. Allowing students the forum to write down their thoughts and feelings about a subject and either recieve feedback from peers or read and comment on other's thoughts seems like such a great tool for learning. After all, learning from your peers is one of the best ways to form true understanding of material. Wikis can also be a great place for teachers to personalize with their students. Wikis allow students and teachers to post photos, homework, ideas, comments, etc. They are basically one giant collection of thoughts and ideas, which is another great way to get to know teacher and student. Blogs and wikis also offer the ability to add gadgets and features that make learning really interactive and fun. This is a great way to keep the students interested in the material and the blog/wiki.

RSS readers and aggregators are another option for teachers to use in the classroom. These are programs that can be downloaded from the web and significantly reduce the time and effort needed to regularly check websites for updates and news. These provide a consolidated view of news headlines, blog posts, podcasts, etc. These would obviously help students stay up to date with both local and world-wide news, connecting them to the outside world. These would also create a tremendous flow of new daily knowledge for the students. Even if it isn't directly related to the material, they will be learning something new every day that connects to the real world. They might also end up using this technology outside of the classroom for their own interests as well. This is a simple step, but an important one in getting students to involve the classroom with their own lives.

The pros of blogs and wikis are obvious, as you can read from the above paragraphs. However, there could be some drawbacks. For one, all students probably don't have computers at home. This would make it hard to make the entire class web based. Also, there are so many options and so much information out there that it might be overwhelming for teachers to get started with. How do you find exactly what you want?

No matter what, in today's technology driven society, blogs and wikis will continue to emerge as great educational tools for teachers. I personally think they would be great resources in my future classes.

Multiple Intelligences: Thoughts and Reflections

Mutliple Intelligences. . . . . I am hearing this everywhere in my teaching and learning classes. Obviously that must mean it is an important topic that requires some investigation. So I have done a simple MI inventory and discovered my personal preferences, and I want to share my thoughts and reflections on this new information.

I am a very strong visual learner. Visual learners tend to have great spatial awareness, strong imaginations, and visual acuity. In other words, we like to picture and "see" material in our heads before acting. We also enjoy being able to manipulate our environment and understand how to complete a task better after seeing it done. I would therefore like to make my classroom visually stimulating, by decorating the walls and making the classroom a fun place to be. Letting the students move around and interact with the classroom is another objective I now have. Making a conscious effort to use videos, drawings, pictures, and demonstrations to communicate material is also a high priority for me.

My next strongest area would be kinesthetic. Kinesthetic learners are also quite sensory driven. However, they also show good coordination and are tactile (show good motor skills). Expressions are made through the body more often by kinesthetic learners too. Alot of comparisons can be made to visual learners; kinesthetic learners like working with the environment, and prefer hands-on learning activities. These learners will stay focused on a task for extended periods of time too, as they will try to master material that they understand. Integrating this information into the classroom involves providing an abundance of hands-on activities such as physical constructions and demonstrations of the material. Incorporating rhythm and music into learning is another goal of mine to target kinesthetic learners.

My last real strong intelligence would be logical. Therefore, I prefer linear and concrete reasoning. I tend to break down concepts to its specific components and piece it together in a way that flows and makes logical sense. Logical learners also seem to enjoy working on complex tasks, as it stimulates scientific thinking and producing a logical response. Logical learners tend to seek order in everything they observe and do; there has to be reason behind everything. They also reason through problems very scientifically, and enjoy manipulating functions. In order to target the logical thinkers it will be important to present some beginning criteria in order to provide some structure for them to base their work off of. Setting achievable short-term goals will cause these learners to understand why they are working on this because there is an end point that must be reached. Encouraging debate is another way of stimulating the logical learners, as they will be forced to express their thoughts aloud.

Well there you have it! These would be my three strongest intelligences and my relections and thoughts about them. I realize I have only talked about adjusting the classroom for these intelligences, and I want to make sure that I will not only tailor to my intelligences as this would obviously leave other learners out. Instead, I plan on reviewing the information on MI's much more so as to be prepared to teach to all types of learners.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

Welcome

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