Hello,
Welcome to this 21st century blog where we will discuss the endless possibilities that exist through online learning. The days of the traditional "four walls with desk" and teacher lecturing at the head of the class will soon give way to virtual schools. I am curious to hear what your thoughts are on the topic, so please share!
Glad to be the first person to post to your blog, Eric. Just met with a sales rep from e-chalk this morning, and it reminded me that there are so many products currently under development to support online learning, and most very similar to one another...the saturation of these products can lead to consumer confusion and later frustration. I would hate to purchase a product, spend hours customizing so it meets our needs, use valuable resources toward providing professional development, and then a year or two down the road discover something better has hit the market ... and we are "stuck" with a now outdated product that would take too much time, energy, and resources to move away from without frustrating teachers and students....my office then risks appearing to be fickle and lack insight if we even dare suggest a move to a newer product so soon. So, choose wisely - you may have the product for a few years to come!
ReplyDeleteReed Hastings, the founder and chief executive of Netflix, used the Web to make it easier for us to rent movies. Now Mr. Hastings, who is also a former high school math teacher, is using the Web for a less entertaining, more educational cause — teaching math to children.
ReplyDeleteJason Kempin/Getty Images, for Sunshine Sachs
Reed Hastings says he thinks the spread of netbooks in schools will create huge opportunities for online learning software.
On Tuesday, Mr. Hastings will announce that he has financed the acquisition of DreamBox Learning, a start-up that uses online games to teach math, by Charter School Growth Fund, a nonprofit investment fund for charter schools.
Mr. Hastings says netbooks will be ubiquitous in schools in a few years, creating huge opportunities for online learning software.
“I think we’re on the edge of a real inflection point where the hardware becomes so cheap that Web learning is really throughout the schools,” he said. “But what I noticed is there’s really not that many people working on the software.”
DreamBox was started last year — I wrote about it at the time — and creates personalized lesson plans, hidden in games, based on which concepts children understand or need to work on.
“What makes their product so impressive is it adapts to each student’s learning, and that’s the Holy Grail of this field,” Mr. Hastings said.
He donated the the money to buy the company to Charter School Growth Fund. The acquisition price was not disclosed. He also invested $10 million in DreamBox to expand to more schools and subjects beyond math. He will become chairman of the DreamBox board, while continuing his role at Netflix, and DreamBox’s co-founder and chief executive, Lou Gray, will leave the company.
Mr. Hastings, who taught high school math in Swaziland with the Peace Corps after college, has been an education philanthropist and charter school advocate since his first company, Pure Software, went public in 1995. He has also served as president of the California State Board of Education.
My teaching situation is unique in that I have multiple grade levels and multiple subjects in my online classroom. I also do not provide the direct instruction of the curriculum, it is provided by a virtual instructor. I do, however, provide direct instruction when students do not comprehend the method of instruction provided by the virtual instructor.
ReplyDeleteThe blog I created is called Online Learning. The purpose this blog will serve for my students will be to participate in educational discussion as it relates to their learning style. Students will be encouraged to voice their opinion on online learning and explain pros and cons of online learning. Students will be encouraged to research the topic and back their post up with research findings. This ongoing activity will be beneficial for my students because it will expose many, if not all, of them to a professional blog. It will allow them to interact with me outside of the school setting, enhancing my rapport with them. It will force them to research and then articulate their findings in an intelligent manner. I also think it will envoke a sense of "maybe I can be a teacher one day and do this" or at the least, facilitate a sense of shared learning with the teacher.
Eric,
ReplyDeleteI just saw a special last night on the Atlanta news about the very topic. Because of the economy, schools in Metro Atlanta are continuing to lay off teachers. Thus, class sizes will be greatly increased for next year. To combat this, some school are using computers not to aid in teaching, but to actually teach the students. I like using technology as an aid, but not as full instruction. If a student has a problem, he or she cannot ask a computer for help. Hopefully schools will see the need for both teachers and technology
Your situation sounds very unique and something that can be very beneficial. I am curious to know what age groups you are teaching and how they respond to online learning. Being able to interact with your students outside of the school setting should prove to be benificial to the learning process.
ReplyDeleteI have 9th - 12th grade students. I strongly recommend freshmen not take an online class due to the immaturity, but I occasionally get one or two that can handle it. I think every school district should have some form of online learning, its the way of the future. Even the Ivy league schools have offerings online. We owe it to our students to prepare them in every way possible for life after high school, and online learning is a step in that direction.
ReplyDeleteCheck out this video that talks about virtual learning. Great stuff.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.speedofcreativity.org/2009/05/10/making-the-case-for-blended-learning-thinking-about-designs-for-modern-learning-spaces/
We, as educators, face a myriad of challenges as we look at ways to implement 21st Century skills and technology into our classrooms. One of the first challenges is having access to technology. Depending on what state you are in or what school district you are apart of , it may be feast or famine. “And some states are still lagging way behind others. Vermont, for instance, is just getting its e-courses going. Some big states, like New York, don’t have a state virtual school, and Delaware just quit its funding for pilot programs” (Gustke, 2010). There may even be challenges in the school if the funds and resources are available for new technology, but the principal chooses to allocate the funds elsewhere. They say it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. The same can be said for principals and other educational leaders who refuse to see where this country is headed technologically and refuse to see the benefits of infusing the technology into the educational system. “Unfortunately, many administrators, although they are beginning to recognize the need to revise their districts media skills instruction, lack the resources, and more importantly the vision, to bring the new literacies into the classroom( Miners and Pascopella, 2007). As educators, we owe it to our students to prepare them to the best of our ability for the 21st Century and beyond.
ReplyDeleteIt is critical that all educators become technologically savvy. It is impossible to instruct, facilitate, and implement lessons and activities incorporating technology and 21st Century Skills when we are not well schooled in those areas. “The new literacies encompass much more. Their utility lies in online reading comprehension and learning skills, or 21st Century Skills, required by the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT’s), including content found on wikis, blogs, video sites, audio sites, and in e-mail. They require the ability not just to “read” but also to navigate the World Wide Web, locate information, evaluate it critically, synthesize it and communicate it- all skills that becoming vital to success in this century’s economy and workforce” (Miners and Pascopella, 2007). Because so many of us in education have been doing “education” the same way for so long, it is hard to imagine virtual schools, using cell phones as a part of class discussions, and using blogs or wikis to communicate with teachers and classmates, but it is where education is heading; with or without many of us. “Students are spending 27 hours a week online at home and an average of 15 minutes a week at school” (Miners and Pascopella, 2007). But wait, are we not supposed to start teaching by building relationships with students and getting to know them? I find that difficult to do when we are not even speaking their language, the language of technology that is. Educators must embrace technology and see it for the tremendous asset it can be to education.
The Partnership For 21st Century Skills website is an incredible website. As and educator, it was like visiting the candy store. There is so much information that there is no way it could all be consumed at once.
ReplyDeleteI really like the Online Tools section because you can register and submit video showing what a 21st Century classroom looks like, so its not just words on a page, you can see the skills in action. Teaching in North Carolina, it was also very interesting to see, under the State Iniatives section, The North Carolina Business Committee for Education website. It has information about the state standards, assessments, professional development, and state resources.
The site is a must see for all educators, parents, and students.
Please visit the site at www.p21.org
In reflecting on this class: Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, I have a great sense of accomplishment and appreciation. I have been introduced to some innovative 21st century skills that will allow me to engage my students in new and creative ways. In this class I was able to create and maintain my own blog and wiki, and plan, produce, and present my very first pod cast. Having the opportunity to work with these new forms of technology has given me the confidence and knowledge to take what I have learned and implement them in my classroom. The technologies introduced in this class will assist me in being a change agent for technology in my school. “We are still at the beginning of a radically different relationship with the Internet, one that has long-standing implications for educators and students. The coming years will be marked by a flood of new innovation and ideas in teaching, most born from the idea that we can now publish and interact in ways never before possible” (Richardson, 2006). I am energized and excited about the possibilities that exist with the impact of technology on education.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to my remaining classes in this program: Integrating Technology into the classroom. I enjoy the opportunity to explore and manipulate technology. A program such as this one also allows me the opportunity to dialogue with educational professionals from all across the country who are as passionate about helping students achieve as I am. In all of my classes, I am learning as much from my classmates as I am from the actual class. It is invaluable to hear what other educators are doing across the country to reach students. I anticipate keeping in touch with many of my classmates and using them as a resource for many years to come.
Two goals that I have moving forward are to push toward every teacher in my building using either blogs, wikis, or pod cast as a part of their learning environment. My other goal is bring more awareness to blogs, wikis, and pod cast county wide. I feel my first goal will is very manageable, with the help of my administration. I plan to facilitate one of the in-service meetings at the beginning of the year to show teachers the value of implementing blogs, wikis, and pod cast in their classrooms; and maybe add some sort of incentive for teachers who do actually use one of the technologies. My second goal will be more challenging simply because it addresses a much larger group of educators, but it is still doable. My point of contact for brining awareness to the use of blogs, wikis, and pod cast in the classroom to our district will be the director of virtual learning for the district. I have a very good working relationship with him and will be able to advise me as to how to best go about accomplishing my goal.
As with anything, If the desire is there, the goals will be met. I am excited about my new knowledge and look forward to not only using it, but also sharing it with my colleagues in school and around the district.