Friday, April 17, 2015

Week 14-15

In discussion with my principle, we both agreed that the schools are struggling to keep up with the technology changes that are occurring in the state. The school’s main reason for this is resistance by the teachers to the changes that are happening. Many teachers feel that they cannot teach students without being in a face to face environment. Another issue is finances. Technology is expensive and so is training on the equipment that is being used. Most districts need to pass bonds in order to get the technology that is required. Our school is awaiting a technology bond to see what direction we will go next. The hope is to begin to have a one to one technology plan. The next step is to begin to get teachers to start using and becoming more comfortable with the technology. The hope for our school is to have a web learning portion in every class. However, when talking to our principle that date that would be started by is not something he has thought about yet.

Scenario 1 I think a rural school district would benefit greatly by offering online courses. The students would have more options to chose from when selecting courses. The school would not have to worry about having enough students enrolled in a course to make the face to face class run. It may allow the district to share responsibilities of running the course with neighboring districts to help reduce the work load that the teachers and staff would have. Maybe the online classes could be run by the county to help all districts within that area.

Scenario 2 I think the idea of not wanting a specific teacher is not a reason to move a student into a different class. I understand that sometimes there are teachers that not all students will get along with. I also understand that all teachers do not teach the same way and some teaching styles may not be best for all students. However, by moving a student into a different class simply because they do not like that teacher is not really preparing them for college or for a job. Let’s face it, everyone has to deal with people that they may not like or may not get along with as a college professor, a coworker, or even as a boss. Teaching the student to complain and avoid challenging situations does not prepare the student for life after high school.

Scenario 3 Situations like this are a great example of why we need to pretest and post test students. This way they can measure what they new before they got into the class as well as what they knew when they left the class. This will give a true representation of what the student learned or did not learn within the time they were with that teacher. Without pretesting a student’s grade does not measure what was taught by the teacher. Not every F student did not improve in their knowledge level while with the teacher, and not every “A” student improved their knowledge level while with that teacher.

Scenario 4 In this situation I think that the stress that is put on the teacher by not being able to have direct contact with a particular student is one that can make things very difficult. I think the teacher would need to work hard to embrace virtual communication tools such as email, Google hangouts, Skype, twitter, or facebook. I would hope that the district would not make the teacher teach all the regular classes as well as an online class. The teacher of an online class should teach one less class throughout the day to give them time to work on their materials and thing s that are necessary for the class.


Scenario 5 I think that online classes would be very beneficial to home bound students. It would make the current home bound situation much easier. The student would have access to the things that they need and not have to rely on one tutor to help them learn the material. The student would also learn from a person that was directly responsible form teaching that material and not a tutor that is working as a mediator between the actual teacher and the student.

12 comments:

  1. Great job! I liked your response to each scenario I answered each scenario for myself. I have to I agree 100% with your comment on scenario #3. While in the classroom I always gave pre and post tests. I thought it was an excellent way to measure what the student learned. It also kept me on track, so I would not get off track in teaching the course objectives.

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    1. Thanks! I feel pre and post test are the best way to really measure growth. I never thought of it like staying on track but I can see how it does that for me too

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  2. While I agree with you that all schools are struggling with the implementation of adding online learning to their curriculum, I think the struggles are different across the board. School funding is not equal across districts and I think some districts are better able to provide the technology improvements and training for teachers.

    I think as more and more teachers learn and experience online learning they will be the change agents that move the online / virtual schooling forward.
    I think schools will continue to take their requests to the communities for support, through funding by a bond. However local Municipalities are finding it difficult to keep up with the need for technology as well. The request for funding from both schools and municipalities is a factor which is very much a reality.

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  3. I think you describe some important points that tells how online learning can accommodate students in various situations. Its funny how school districts fight hard to keep their funds for projects separate instead of seeing how they can utilize their resources better on a larger scale. I wonder what would be the outcome if schools use their funds to expand and integrate technology on a large scale no matter if the student was in a rural, suburban, or city environment?

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  4. Scary thought Blair. I would hope that the upgrade would only need to be done once. Then the district would only have to maintain. I think much more funding is going to become free because of technology, such as online text, less need for hands on materials. One can dream...

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    1. I hope your right Mallory but you know everything revolves around the all mighty dollar, so I can see things get very expensive before the free thing starts to happen

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    2. I hope that schools take the lead and begin to see how they can connect with businesses. A few years ago a friend was working with a school district. He applied for and received a grant with Sprint. The grant qualified his school / classroom cell phones for student to use for an online course. The entire course was done by cell phone, it was a pilot course that was offered during the summer.

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    3. Judith that AWESOME!!! I think that in cases like this the pressure is placed on to the teacher to get things done. Then the summer aspect, many district do not like to pay someone extra even for something so fantastic.

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    4. Mallory I agree that some district are reluctant to pay teachers for the extra services. Teachers have a lot to deal with in the classroom and I think parents and administrators don't understand the challenges teachers face every day.

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  5. I understand what you're saying, but the largest mountain is purchasing equipment that is capable with the upgrades. These manufactures are always upgrading with new versions every two years.

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    1. Yes, you are correct the upgrades are usually every two years. I know that most districts qualify for e-rates on technology. I think schools could expand and apply for grants to help with the costs.

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    2. Some of the tech that I use makes you purchase the new upgrade its not just given. That is definitely something that districts need to be aware of when shopping around.

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