Final Blog - Virtual Schooling and 21f

Section 21f of the 2013 School Aid Act, allows Michigan  further teeth in its'commitment to insuring that students are able to have opportunities to be exposed to meaningful online experiences.The state has continued to show leadership in the advancement of online learning activities for all students. Michigan was the first to truly setup guidelines for how students would have a "meaningful online learning experience (MDE,2006) and this gave districts a beginning road map of how they could proceed in enacting this initiative to positively move towards 21st century teaching and learning.   A definite plan of action allows districts to look at what they might need to do in order to comply with state requirements; in terms of looking at budgets, present technology infrastructures,  teacher knowledge of technology, and  other changes that might  need to be made.

 Along with requiring that beginning with the class of 2011, all students  must have an online experience before graduation , Section 21f actually appears to have more requirements to what districts are required to do in 2011. The good thing about Section 21f is that it  allows students and parents more choice as to how,  when, and where instruction will occurs.  There are many benefits to a district having online learning opportunities.  For instance, online learning can provide students with a broader, richer learning experience, allow learning to be available to students who might be sick, injured, or have a physical disability, it could offer advanced coursework, or recovery, and what about those students who might live in rural communities where courses that are needed are simply not available.

• In a rural setting, Section 21f could really be of great benefit to students who would not otherwise be able to pursue a course of study because it is just not available to them in their tiny district.  I remember watching a PBS special about farm towns and how many were having a problem with losing their schools due to funding issues.  Virtual schooling would allow such students to continue in and actually expand their studies to include a broader range of subjects of interest.  

• The issue with being a principal and having  an overbearing parent is one that occurs often in my district, where parents get upset for many reasons.  Being a good listener and hearing the parent out is  good start.  If the parent is truly insisting on removing the student, and if the district offers an online chemistry class, I would support the parent in getting their child enrolled in an online class.

• Whenever a new student arrives to a class, I feel that you should begin some sort of assessment of student need.  Because it has been determined that this student is performing below grade level, it would be wise to begin addressing the student's needs by devising a plan involving online remediation and practice that supports the student the areas showing low performance.  This would hopefully help  the student to be able to perform at grade level.  Further, parent involvement is going to greatly help in this student reaching positive results, as it will be important that the parent support the student in making sure that time is provided at home for additional studies.

• The problem of a district embracing online learning,  and attracting students from other districts is an issue that is bound to be difficult if there is no plan of how facilitators will have release time from the traditional setting.  How will a facilitator plan for online instruction, as well as, for face to face instruction.  This is going to be an issue with many districts, my district included, where there has to be a plan of release time, maximum amount of students per facilitator, and maximum amount of subjects per facilitator, and so on.  Perhaps instruction could be broken up where some teachers present the face to face, while others facilitate online instruction, and perhaps rotate after so many weeks or months.

• A student with a long-term illness could benefit from being able to access instruction online.  What Michigan has done with Section 21f is made it clear that all students should have the opportunity to access instruction "anytime, anywhere, anyway, any pace."  There is no reason why a student with leukemia couldn't participate in there choice of online instruction when they are able to.

•  Whether or not Section 21f is perceived as a good thing to happen, a pitfall or a problem is probably dependent on the readiness, flexibility, willingness of the various districts that must deal with this new Act.  My district is not ready yet, as my school is still considerably behind in what the state is requiring as standard for online learning.  My school is just at the stage of getting students accustomed to using Net Books, doing simple research, and group projects from information found on the Internet.  However, the district does offer high school students an opportunity to participate in what's called a dual-enrollment program with the local community college.  I think most of the K-6 schools are doing what my school does, and some less, so we have a long ways to go.  I really don't think my district is that unusual, In recent readings some of the experts were say that K-12 is still very much emerging, and has a long ways to go.  Of course, there is the issue of teacher knowledge of technology, as well as, those who may not have gone through a teacher program not really understanding pedagogy.  Again, there's a lot to consider as districts must consider what they will look like, and what issues must be solved on the way to being able to offer online instruction.

Virtual Schooling Final Project

• http://youtu.be/je8zOYhcgPY?hd=1

Response to Week 13

Response to week 13

1.    Would you have appreciated the opportunity to take online
     courses when you were in school?

I would have welcomed an opportunity to take online courses, had I been a situation where they were offered.  Unfortunately, when I was going to college for my first higher learning, Blackboard was not as extensive as it is now and we used it more for sharing and sending documents to the professors.

2.    What/How is online learning utilized in your current situation?

In my current position as a teacher, online learning is limited in my school.  But, teachers are beginning to use technology, though most have not gotten to the point of blending online  with face to face activities other than what is offered through reading and math programs in the school.   

3.    What types of students/learners are engaging in online courses where you work?  How do they fit with the descriptions from the readings?

The middle students use the computers more than the other students, and they are allowed to access online activities that are connected to their new reading, science, and social studies programs.  Students also work on projects that require them to work in groups and research information to complete and prepare presentations to present to the class.  They also have lab time in the computer lab and this is where they are learning to use 2.0 tools.  My school is still in the developmental stage of using technology, and perhaps by next year there will be considerable growth in using more 2.0 tools, and more online learning. 

My response to reading 10 Myths About Virtual Schools

Since reading "10 Myths About Virtual Schools," I have changed my thinking on a few things.  But larger, is that I have changed my mind on  most of these myths since the beginning of starting the IT program at Wayne State.

Myth 1- Virtual schools are a separate delivery system.  I had no idea there were so many students (500,000) enrolled in some form of virtual schooling in the United States, so it's not separate, it's a part of the traditional system.  Another surprise was the amount of virtual schooling going on in the State of Michigan,  Michigan Virtual Schools, a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with K-12 to bring online learning opportunities, aligned with state standards offers credit recovery, enrichment, college equivalent, and language courses. Another statewide initiative is LearnPort  a web-based professional development system. Clearly, Michigan is now an important participant in the advancement of virtual schooling.

Myth 2 - Online schools are mostly for gifted and talented students.  In fact, online schools are now supporting all kinds of students, including special education students (this growth was pretty surprising), rural students,  and urban students.  Students taking recovery courses are a larger group than students taking advanced courses. As technology advances, it gives students more choices as to how they will be serviced in their learning.

Myth 3 - Online schooling does not offer students enough interaction.  Again, what online schooling offers student is the ability to interact with other students, and teachers in a more timely fashion; as they work on projects in teams, and this is really how businesses often solve problems; so it's giving them real world experiences.  At the same time, it allows students who would normally be too shy to respond, make responses freely online.

Myth 4- Online learning is isolating and students are socially disadvantaged.  This is not true because online courses, again, offer lots of interaction among students to engage, solve problems, and complete assignments, but online and off, if there is a face-to-face component.  The flipped classroom idea  is increasing, as instructors of traditional schools understand the value of merging the best of both worlds.

Myth 5 - Teachers who teach online have easy jobs.  Not so fast, I might have thought so when I first started in my program, but quickly realized this is just not true.   A lot of instructional planning, deciding what technology makes the best sense for the goal of the assignment; what student needs what kind of support, the management part, what if it's flipped, there's no way online teaching is easier.  But I think that once you are more familiar with the process of being an online teacher, and the technology, you can use it to help you be more organized.

Myth 6- Online course have to be developed from scratch.   I have recently found out, while doing a class project for the IT program, that part of the benefits of learning how to teach online is that it introduces you to the idea of it's okay to re-purpose, share, and borrow.  Once you start looking there is so much information out there.  You have to develop a feel for what's a good idea or not, as the door opens to resources that can be used, literally from all other the world.

Myth 7- Online courses are easier than face to face courses.  Again, I may have believed that online courses were easier than face to face courses.  But the truth is that if a course is offered for credit it is placed under the same state requirement that any other course would be. Students must show through active participation, passing assessments, assignments, that they have attained the appropriate level of proficiency in the particular area.

Myth - 8  Students are more likely to cheat.  This one was never really a consideration.  Students cheating has always been the least of my concerns.  I believe that if students are supported well in preparation there really isn't a need for cheating.

Myth-9 Online schools are about technology.   This one I learned early in my studies, but I will respond anyway by saying that technology are tools to enhance learning by making it possible to advance the availability of information  that  students can learn anywhere, anytime, in different contexts.  A student who lives on a farm can have access to the same availability of information as a student in an urban area.

Myth - 10 Online courses represent an "add-on" to already burdened school systems and teachers.
 I;ve had some thoughts on this and tend to think and agree that technology offers an opportunity for teachers to use online resources and tools to engage students, that technology isn't going away, and that the old way of teaching hasn't been very successful for a long time.

K-12 Online Learning, My Experiences

K-12 Online learning is already happening in my district, but only  recently in the high school dual-enrollment programs.  The dual-enrollment programs have to do with allowing high school students to take needed courses of study in the regular high school curriculum in the high school, and also; in a community college, where they are able to take courses working towards their first two years of college. The community college that my district has the dual-enrollment relationship with recently announced offering online courses to students who enroll in the program.  Clearly, online learning is growing, as this looks like a blended, or hybrid form of online learning; where students go face to face at the high school, and online with the community college.   I think this is an excellent idea for high school students, as it could motivate those who want to work a little harder and move along a little quicker towards their goals.  I was once offered a dual-enrollment position at a community college, but had to decline because I had already accepted a position with my current district in an alternative high school program. Of course, that was before the community college started offering online courses to the high school students.   I really hate that I missed that opportunity, but I am that person who, when I make a commitment, I like to see it through.  Hopefully, I will be able to participate in one of the dual-enrollment online programs in the future.
My district doesn't really offer a true online learning program at this time.  However, I  truly believe that I am in the right kind of preparation for the future, and will eventually be able to utilize most of what this program has taught me, either where I now work, or in another capacity in the district.  I believe that it is just a matter of time before my district begins to offer more online programs to students of varying grades, particularly a blended format, starting at middle school and higher.  In doing so, they will need more staff who understand how to merge pedagogy and technology together to form wholesome K-12 online curricular that positively impact student learning. I am very optimistic about the future of online teaching.

Week 8

The G.G. Worley article, “Project Based Learning through Global Learning Communities of K12 Students"

This is an exciting approach to learning that I have heard about previously, and even talked about to other teachers, but still haven’t galvanized the ideas, technologies, and supports to try it.  I think, however, that to bring to my school some form of project based learning through global communities would really heighten our student’s learning experiences.  I know that this is something I must figure out how to make happen.  I realize a lot of doing such a thing is having the right technologies at hand and good planning, and coordination.  After reading this article, I find that there are lots of suggestions on what you can do, more importantly, there are important suggestions on how one should proceed in grouping students to work on such projects.  Further, I like how the article clarifies what is meant by cooperation and collaboration, as they are quite different, the first referring to  dividing labor among members to get a task done, and collaboration has to do with pooling efforts to solve problems.  Students need to develop both skills, and the experts in this article assert that one of the ways of doing this is through the experience of working in global communities to solve real world problems.  Another thing I’d like to note is how this article clarified the difference between problem based learning, which has to do with providing students opportunities to explore authentic, but simulated problems to find answers to often following a predetermined learn path (Williams,1992; Barron,1998). On the other hand, project based learning has to do with learning that is structure around an essential question where students are allowed open-ended questions in the development of a project.  Finally, the digital suggestions were worth  looking into, and think this was a good read to help encourage teachers to think beyond the classroom and start thinking about ways to have their students experience global learning.

Building and Refining my PLN

February 22, 2014

Building and Refining my PLN

 

 Some Useful Interesting Blogs and About Wikis, Wikipedia, and UTube

 

Because I am presently a resource teacher under special education services for middle school, I have interest in looking at how other teachers/districts put together their webpages.  I don’t have a specific resource room website up yet, this assignment was a good opportunity to motivate me to look at some of them in terms of what information they have and how it is presented.  Further, I found some great resources to use as references to be able to pullout and review, as a professional, when needed having to do with special education.  By making them a part of my rss feed, they are always right there when I need them and I don’t have to go fishing through books to find the information.

 

1.    http://whh.wayland.k12.ma.us/cms/one.aspx?objectId=9146889

 The Wayland Public Schools of Massachusetts has a nice site that includes a resource room page.  What I like about it is how they, yes, explain what resource is, but they also list all the peripheral special education staff; including the teachers, counselors/psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational/physical therapists.  They explain what everyone’s responsibilities are, as well as, a “Did you know” section. This would be a good idea to transfer to my school.

 

2.       http://www.resourceroom.net/older/resourceroomtips.asp

Resource Room by Susan Jones, M.Ed. is a site that is full of helpful information for a resource teacher. Along with having excellent advice on being organized, she continues to remind you of things that will make a difference like being proactive, staying on top of IEP responsibilities, and establishing communication routines early.  This site covers a lot of ground including the implications of distance learning and students with disabilities.  It’s a good site to review from time to time.

 

3.       http://www.spedxpress.com/category/special-education

 

Spedexpress is another good resource for both parents and teachers, published by Dr. Hill, and explains   many of the disabilities that students might have, the different types of placements, a questions and answers section, as well as, offers behavioral interventions; and other advice such as how to support a grieving student.

 

4.       http://www.teachingblogaddict.com/p/welcome-to-tba.htm

The Teaching Blog Addict is a resource community put together by teachers and offers resources for how one might use technology in the classroom, informs of different technologies, lists common core, how to be more organized, curriculum support, as well as, all kinds of ideas on how to improve blogging, including information on feedly.  It also invites your contributions if you want to publish an idea.

5.    http://powermylearning.org/

 

Power My Learning is another resource site for educators and this one is also open for parents, and students to join.  It offers tons of activities, and allows teachers to build classes, and monitor assignments.  Parents can also get involved with student learning, and monitor assignments.  I registered and tried out one of the activities, and feel that this is going to be an excellent site to use in the classroom for interactive skill building.  There are activities for all core subjects, including math, language arts, science, social studies, music and art, technology, and world languages.  However, I don’t know if all of the activities are free.  This was probably my favorite because of all the offerings.  However, it’s brand new, and will it last.

 

6.       http://www.middleweb.com/

The MiddleWeb is another teacher resource specifically for grades 4 through 8, and offers all kinds of resources from advice on student behavior to books and articles, bloggers, and all kinds of activities.  It is a good resource  for teacher teaching any subject area, and appears to be a little more organized than some of the other such resources that I looked at.

Judging the Quality of Wikis and Non-vetted Sites

Views on the use of Wikis

With regards to wikis, I find them to be quite amazing as to how one simply has to  register to have them, and there becomes available a quick space to allow for collaboration, community, and links instantly.  I don’t know how the school administrator (tech guard) will respond to loading a wiki on the netbooks, but I can’t wait to see if they will be acceptable loading.  The students will gain from being able to work collaboratively on projects online that are not necessarily connected to a textbook series, but will be able to research more of their own resources and bring to bear more of their own ideas.  As students democratically compose, edit, and link information, they grow in multiple ways, including the give and take of respectfully sharing.  The only drawback I would possibly consider, at this time, would be that during crunch time, you must be patient and perhaps wait your turn while others work on the wiki; as only one person can work on it at a time.

Views on the use of Wikipedia and Utube

I feel that Wikipedia and UTube are good resources that can be used to help bring students closer to understanding a topic, a part of content, or an idea.  They are perfectly okay to use as a part of researching something that will bring about more knowledge and understanding.  By this I mean, don’t let Wikipedia, Utube, or for that matter any resource be the gospel of research.   I think that rather than banning these resources, and my district doesn’t allow the use of UTube; we should teach students to be conscience of, and vigilant in searching out many resources of the same or similar ideas, and compare and consider all, before forming an opinion.  For a quick idea of what something is or isn’t , Wikipedia is a good start, and I find nothing wrong with searching out a Utube video for a visual example of something.   Kahn Academy is an excellent example of using videos to support students in acquiring knowledge.  Yes, it’s a much bigger, more organized project, but the videos are used in basically the same way that a single production video is used.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Discovery Education, but there have been instances when it hasn’t been available for reasons I care not to mention.  I say teach students to not rely on any one source of information.

How have I been doing with using the new tools?

The thing about this class is that the professor sort of makes me look at and figure out how to use the tools that are introduced through his of the lessons.  So, I admit I have learned how to use Twitter, I have actually started doing a little Twitting.  But I still must admit that I have yet to learn more of the bells and whistles of Twitter.  I’m still in the novice stage.  In regard to RSS feeds, it’s about the same, as I’m getting better because I’m beginning to understand how it really works.  I noticed that Netvibes doesn’t necessarily like widgets.  I see how this could be a big help in the classroom with organizing resources for students to go online and retrieve when necessary.  I am beginning to like this idea a whole lot, and I’m completely sold on the wikis and can’t wait to start one of my own.

Tweeting the Experts

www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/

Theguardian Teacher Network - This is a huge professional network for all professionals with a mammoth teacher network wing.  It is interesting how that I found theguardian Teacher Network and realized that the series: Inspiring teaching discussed the 5 top technology tools for the English classroom and one of them just happen to be screencasts.  I tweeted about just having completed one.  What I really like about this site is all the useful information offered for teachers, including career and job information listed in the recruiterzone.  Also, I couldn’t believe all the resources offered for the classroom. 

www.ncld.org

The National Center for Learning Disabilities - seeks to improve the lives of all with learning difficulties and disabilities by educating parents, working with schools, acting as advocacy and impacting policy.  The organization offers resources for both parents and teachers, and those with learning disabilities, as well as, holds events to bring attention to the important work that is being done to support children, adolescents, and adults with learning disabilities.  I am now following Dr. Sheldon Horowitz@LD­_Expert.

www.edweek.org

Education Week – This is a good way for educators to stay on top of what’s happening in the industry, particularly, as we tend to often isolate ourselves in our work environments.  EdWeek mentioned how some school districts turned snow day into e-learning days, and I wonder how many schools in Michigan did so.  I Tweeted about how I think it is important to stay abreast of trends in education using such resources as EdWeek.

 

http://powermylearning.org/

Powermylearning – is my absolute favorite resource for the classroom through I have a concern because it is very new.  This web-based site makes thousands of online learning activities available to teachers, parents, and students in one place.  I Tweeted about how much I already feel this site is very useful; as it covers all subject areas.

  

Week 4 SAMR Model

Week 4 (SAMR) Model

The SAMR Model is interesting as a tool to help support teachers, grades 6^th through 8^th, whose classrooms I push into as resource to bring more technology into their lessons.  I work with several teachers in the building as a resource teacher to help special education students who are on my caseload,  but who are in general education classrooms  be more successful.  As such, I am always trying to find ways help to students access the curriculum, and one of the teachers I work with a lot has finally agreed to let me help her bring more technology into her classroom.

Substitution:   In reference to substitution, our students have net books that they are able to use to complete much of their reading assignments on through the SRA online programs offered through the reading series.  So, though they have textbooks, they can actually read the story online if they wish.

Augmentation:  In the case of my students, and perhaps, some of the other students who may have reading issues , the SRA program also  gives students the option  to listen to the story being read to them; as they read and follow with their eyes.  This way, it supports them in word recognition and they can spend more mental time comprehending what the text is about.  Also, they can play it over as much as they like.

Modification:  Another change since our school has taken the new reading program is that students are able to use a program called Accelerated Reader and Math to practice skills on the computer, they get feedback through short immediate assessments, and are able to move to higher levels based on their assessments.  The students seem to enjoy working with the online Accelerated program, and are beginning to show more responsibility for wanting to improve their levels.  I should also mention that with the SRA reading program, Imagine; students are required to take their weekly assessments online.  The good thing about this is that they are able to see immediate feedback as to how successful they were, and students appear to enjoy taking these assessments online.  This works well with students on my case load because they can listen to the story before assessing, and have been showing good improvements.

Redefinition:  Using the net books, has allowed students to begin to get accustomed to working in groups to complete an end project.  Whereas, before every student would be required to complete an assignment or project independently, like a book report, or research paper; now they are working in teams to where one person may be responsible for researching one thing and another something else.  In the end, they come together in consensus as to how they will put their project together.  The person who is best at keyboarding types out the project and sends it to the printer.   What’s missing is having a sharing platform like Google docs, as we not there yet.