K-12 Virtual Learning

While the country is trending towards an increase in online learning, there are still ups and downs in the process.  Districts are still in the learning process of online education.  Many districts are equipped with the tools and the desire to put together a successful program but don't have the know-how or background to handle successful implementation...yet.  As time continues to pass and more and more districts put together successful new online programs, districts will develop blueprints for success.  These blueprints are necessary and trial and error is the current way of the school district.

Scenarios develop and come about constantly.  My district is no different.  We have had to offer AP courses online in the past because of a lack of enough interest to dedicate a teacher to the class.  Districts will never want to turn students away or fail to offer classes due to staffing or course filling issues.  As my principal and superintendent now put it, public schools are all about public relations.  Its become a customer service industry and to deny students the opportunity to take a class for these reasons could lead to district jumping.  Not only this, but students deserve the right to challenge themselves and/or develop skills that they feel are relevant.  Students also need the opportunity to succeed.  While Mr Siko might have been a great chemistry teacher for some students, not everyone gets what they need from a certain teacher.  Very few of us can truly be highly effective teachers.  Some students do not respond to me and those students deserve a chance to succeed elsewhere and if my school doesn't offer that opportunity, they need to go somewhere.

There is also the scenario on the opposite side. Many educators understand the new standards for evaluation and how our effectiveness is dependent upon student success.  Transfers are not differentiated in evaluation, ironically, because we are expected to differentiate our instruction to allow everyone success.  Not every online course is successful, because not every online program is effective and backed by research.  Every school needs to develop a good program for these students, not just for the students' sake, but for the teachers' sake and the district's sake as well.  Successful online programs coupled with successful traditional programs will bring good PR and bring students and the dollars that accompany them.

Ultimately, 21F and its requirements basically just makes demands on things that smart and successful districts would do anyway, offer what other districts may not.

Virtual Schooling: Clearing Up Myths

Well, after reading the material from Michigan's state-wide K-12 virtual learning snapshot and reading through the top ten myths about virtual learning, I recognize that I may have formulated my opinions without enough of the facts.  While the list of myths we received was given without the research cited, I'm sure some searching would provide the backing. My assumptions were made based upon what I thought virtual learning was/is.  I have some experience in online classes but I've never really considered what it would be like to teach a class like science in high school.

I was surprised by a couple things with this week's readings.  First, from the myths, "Myth: Online courses lack interaction.
Truth: Students typically have more one-on-one interactions with their teachers and fellow
students in online courses, especially when team projects are assigned. Teachers report getting to
know their students better, and students who are shy or do not think well “on their feet” tend to
contribute more in online environments. Students are often actively interacting with both
resources and others in online environments."  I would assume that interaction is regular but not always as effective as my students would need.  I'm not sure what the effectiveness is exactly in the classes from the data.  I still believe that students may need more than just discussion time. I suppose as long as the online interaction can be done with more than just talking, it can be effective.

My next surprise left me disappointed in myself.  I was unaware of the fact that Michigan has now or ever has had a graduation requirement that includes online coursework.  In 2006, a requirement was made by legislators that requires students to have one class of online coursework in order to graduate.  I know we offer classes online in my district but I had no idea that there ever was a requirement that students must take one of these classes.  I still don't know what class my students take to fulfill this requirement, but it is something I will be looking into this week.

K-12 Virtual Schooling

As a student in online courses currently, virtual schooling is not a new concept to me, however, I feel like it should look differently or be approached a bit differently in a K-12 course.  My current experience covers IT curriculum online; this is a natural association.  Using online tools makes great sense with an online course.  K-12 curriculum does not always lend itself to the same ease and smooth transition for students.

A blended curriculum could be a way for students to have opportunities their school may not offer.  This would allow them to have traditional instruction while taking a course or two virtually that is not offered in their school.  To my knowledge, there are a number of programs for virtual schooling right now and it seems that that number continues to grow.  More students are taking advantage of these opportunities for growth and development and as they do, I expect traditional schools to lose students all together.

While this can be a great tool, I also imagine there are drawbacks.  Offering a core course like science online has its advantages in that instruction can be viewed on a more flexible schedule and can be viewed over and over.  It also means that more tools can be referenced with testing occurring at home.  I also expect it can be a difficult task for some students to be unable to interact completely with their instructor.  Sure, questions can be raised, discussions can take place and face-to-face conversation can occur, but I also would imagine that some students may need more than a conversation.  Some of my students require explanation with modeling and manipulation of real-life examples simultaneously and I picture that as difficult when collaborating online only.

Virtual schooling is also a tool that students can use to catch up on credits or use if they are behaviorally not a good fit in traditional schools (eg expulsions or long-term suspensions or home bound due to hospitalization or illness).  This gives them an option for completing curriculum without causing or being involved in further issues.

I don't pretend to know all of this information, this is simply a viewpoint or assumption I have made.  Hopefully in the near future any misconceptions can be identified and clarified.

Wikipedia in the Classroom?

I have heard teachers for years debate the validity of Wikipedia.  As a site it is frequently used and usually the first thing to pop up on a Google search.  My district blocks the use of you tube...sometimes.  YouTube is also an overly accessible site with a lot of useful information and a lot of distracting information.  Very simply, I welcome the use of both in my classroom.  For my students I always say that Wikipedia is an excellent source and a great tool to look thing up quickly and accurately.  The only time I would discourage the use of Wikipedia is on a research paper.  This site may not be looked upon as fondly by others.  On the other hand, Wikipedia cites its own sources very well and using links to those sources could be an excellent way of researching topics within a subject area.  The frequency with which Wikipedia is checked and corrected by experts makes it a very accurate source of information.

YouTube offers excellent educational videos as well.  I generally urge my students to use YouTube at home for tutorials but recommend they use videos posted by well known sources such as Khan Academy or National Geographic, etc.  I often include links to these types of tutorials on my Fusion [school] page.  I think upon searching for videos, the most frequently viewed educational videos would be accurate and relevant.  This goes on my assumption that if a video is poorly done and not accurate, few people will have viewed it and it won't be very high on the search list.

Long story short, Wikipedia and YouTube are both welcome in my classroom.  I urge students to be careful about where their information comes from and always double check with another source if the information is for research or test prep.  Great sites, great information.

Teacher Blogs

I've chosen to follow a few teacher blogs for a varitey of reasons.  Not only are they helpful in terms of insight, but they also provide a number of resources for teachers to use.  The first blog I added is http://www.freetech4teachers.com/.  This blog offers a ton of information regarding educational technology for use in schools, web 2.0, etc.  It also is helpful because of the frequency with which it is updated with extra information.  Several posts are available daily.  The second blog is  http://sciencestuffbyamy.blogspot.com/.  It gives some insight into science classrooms.  It also offers a lot of science resources and pictures and discussions regarding the effectiveness of the resources in class.  The third blog I chose to add is http://www.edutechintegration.net/.  This is not as frequently updated as the other two but it offers links to a lot of great sites for science education and web 2.0 tools.  It is something I can use as a bookmarked page to use to test some new tools.

I've decided to try and follow some teachers and teacher educators on Twitter.  First, I followed Jerry Blumengarten (@cybraryman1) who focuses on bringing the Internet to teachers by blogging about web 2.0 resources and other digital technologies.  Carol Tonhauser (@cmt1), EdTech Facilitator at University of Alberta, gives you practical ways to bring technology into your classroom.  Josh Allen (@j_allen) tweets to help teachers effectively implement technology in their classrooms. He also offers a lot of technology-based resources to use with students.  "If technology is an event in your school, you are doing it wrong."  @TeacherBeat is the site for Education Week and provides insights and updates on teacher news and politics.  @edutopia – Edutopia: “Inspiration and information for what works in education”; a great resouce and something to add to the blog section as well.  Edutopia offers great ideas and sources for ed technology and how to implement certain tools in the classroom.

So far this semester, I haven't used twitter much at all.  I find that I've fought the urge to join for so long that giving in will seems like giving up. I however haven't fully considered the uses professionally for Twitter.  It is something I should begin to use a little more, at least to follow others, if not tweeting my own insights.  My Feedly has beem used as an early morning headline list.  I browse through and read what looks intriguing.  At that time of day, however, it seems the sports feeds are at the top of my list.  I need to start looking at my feedly at lunch or after work.

SAMR Model

The Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition Model offers a method of seeing how computer technology might impact teaching and learning.  As a high school chemistry teacher I've been able to see how computers effect learning and teaching first hand.  Using this model, there is a variety of tools at the disposal of teachers and students. In my classroom I've used computer technology within this model (without knowing it).

Substitution:   This portion of the model refers to using computer technology to do the same thing as was previously done with a traditional piece of instruction.  There are two examples I can use from my classroom.  The first example is something I wanted to do to a much greater extent than I am currently doing.  My school recently was able get every student the opportunity to have a Nook HD+.  With this knowledge I planned to completely replace traditional notes with PowerPoints or Prezis on my class web page to allow students more time to explore the scientific method.  Unfortunately, having a Nook was made optional and roughly half of my students declined the opportunity to use this technology.  I have however, used presentation software throughout the year to replace traditional whiteboard notes.  I also have a curriculum web that I may use for my next unit with all notes and assignments online with video tutorials and PowerPoint presentations.

Augmentation:  This portion of the model takes a common task and uses the computer as a tool to create some functional benefit.  We use student response software for quizzes and daily warm-ups allowing students to have immediate feedback and for the teacher to not need to grade assignments and waste time that could be used for instruction.

Modification:  This portion of the model begins to take computer technology and incorporate student collaboration to complete common classroom tasks.  In my classroom we have taken concepts like acid rain and used a webquest to create a presentation.  Students work in groups and collaborate to create environmental reports.

Redefinition:  This portion takes computer technology and uses it as a collaborative tool to create original presentations and perform tasks that were not doable prior to the computer technology.  The previously mentioned webquest on acid rain takes groups and forces them to create questions and present original solutions to a panel that can use those solutions to make real changes.  The internet is used as a research and tutorial tool.

Generation Edge

While the common notion is that today's students have certain inherent abilities and an aptitude that is far beyond that of previous generations, I have seen a lot of variation and exceptions to this idea.  While the Generation Edge student is starting to make its way into the high school classroom, the intelligence and aptitude of each of them vary widely.  The videos and articles describe a student that multitasks and wants to be engaged with a group and technology.  While it seems true and apparent to me that my students like to be engaged in technology, the engagement doesn't translate to academic media.  Students have the ability to navigate social media sites and view and create videos to post on sites like Instagram, YouTube and Vine, but find it difficult to use those same skills toward any type of academic situation.

The truth is, many students have the ability to do exactly what the articles describe.  They have the optimism and high expectations that drive them toward success, but there is also a large number of students on the exact opposite end of the spectrum.  These are the students who can't find a connection to any material, who find a way to be completely inept with the same media with which they are "experts", who complain about the fact that everything is boring, but aren't willing to try anything out of the ordinary.

I found it difficult to read all the way through Prensky's article about digital natives without both agreeing and disagreeing with every word.  I find myself in the fringe generation, living my entire adult life with all these digital tools but also spending most of my K-12 life adding new tools as they became available.  I read comments like:  "This doesn't mean changing the meaning of what is important, or of good thinking skills. But it does mean going faster, less step-by step, more in parallel, with more random access, among other things. Educators might ask 'But how do we teach logic in this fashion?'" and I have trouble understanding how true the comments are.  While I see a group that likes to believe they are good multitaskers, I wonder if they just believe it, because they've been told that is part of their generation.  I wonder this because I can see the effects of their attempts and dividing their attention.  I see that listening to music can help them focus, but I also see that allowing this means time is spent finding a song, then finding another song, etc. to the point where splitting their attention means less time focused on the task given to them.

In the long run, I recognize that the profession of teaching is changing as the tools and students change.  I won't try to fight to keep the "old world" ways, but I do question the validity of believing that students now can't learn the same way or use the same skills that were used 15 years ago.  Sure, jobs are being created every day that didn't exist the day before, but at the same time there are many jobs that will remain and require skills that we're being asked to overlook, or move through quickly because our Edge students, in all their multitasking, information overload glory, simply aren't capable of learning unless it is fun.  I feel the focus needs to be more on identifying a relevance for the student, than moving more quickly and less structured through material (that I don't have a choice in teaching because I am told by a set of standards what is important and relevant to them).

While this sounds like a whole-hearted disagreement or session of pouting about the changes required of teachers, its more of a recognition that change needs to be made, but an uncertainty of how to make the changes.