Distance Education and Virtual Schools

Over the past 2 days, I have looked at various Virtual Schools. Honestly, I am very happy to have done so. Before yesterday, I didn't even know that there were schools like this out there. WAVA was the one I looked at primarily and I was quite impressed. Not only did the school ship out all of the materials the student would need, including books and even microscopes, but there was no charge for the students to take classes "virtually" opposed to in the traditional classroom. I think the 5 best things about virtual schools are:
1) There are less distractions among students because there is no interaction amongst them.
2) Virtual schools can meet the needs of different types of courses through both the teaching methods, as well as the curriculum offered.
3) The students ( and parents ) can chart their own course, this is good because they will be able to have a course that adequately challenges them.
4) They have a very large variety of difficulty in their catalogue, so students can become as prepared as necessary for college education.
5) WAVA is an example of a virtual school system that is free, you can’t beat that.

There are of course, drawbacks of virtual schools, 5 of which are
1) There is less social interaction with students in own grade, social skills may not be adequate for their age.
2) High school students usually spend their whole day at the computer for classes.
3)Students don’t get to talk face to face with a teacher everyday.
4)Students need to be independent, highly motivated, and have parents that are highly committed to their learning
5) Students need someone to stay at home with them, so its not working parent friendly.

I think that a the skills of a teacher teaching in a virtual classroom are very similar to that of one working in a traditional classroom. The main difference being that a teacher in a virtual classroom would need to have more experience working with different computer programs and technologies. But other than that I would believe that they should be hard working, and motivated. They should also have high expectations for all of their students and be able to challenge all of them. The same skills a teacher in regular classroom should have. One way it seems that students gain their social interaction, is via field trips. WAVA made sure potential students knew about the options of going on field trips. I think that this idea isn't that great because students in this setting may not want to go on field trips anyways.

I think that in 2-3 years, schools like this will have a much high enrollment, causing that of traditional classrooms to go down. I think that this is a positive because it puts all of the students in the optimal setting for their academic potential. Some students just don't function as well in a high school setting as they would at home. So schools like this promote more production for them. This type of classroom seems great to me, mainly because of that.

Teacher Web Reflections

Describe at least 3 ways how you see the use of a class web site could be used to support your future teaching. Provide specific details for each example.I plan to use a class web site for multiple ways after the teacher web project. I know I will definitely post the homework assignments on the site. If I have access to technology that I can record my lessons and blogs, then I will put the pod casts on the site. Also there are good ways to assess where students are at mentally with your subject. I will therefore have weekly questionnaires similar to the ones we had to complete on project work days.
Identify what you see as the top 2 ways students could use a class web site to enhance their learning and provide some justifications for your selections.
The top 2 ways to use a class web site for students in my opinion is to have student assessments like we have done. I know it’s not much for their learning at the time, but it allows the teacher to give students struggling more help. Plus you can prepare to challenge students doing really well. Another good thing that students can use it for is to listen to podcasts or watch videos of the lesson, giving them more help preparing for tests.

Think about the page types and features of the Teacher Web system. What do you feel where the 2 strongest features or page types within the Teacher Web system? Why do you see these as the strongest?

I definitely think that the essay answer pages, and the grade report pages are the 2 strongest features of the teacher web system. The essay problems for the same reasons discussed in question 2. I think the grade reports are nice for students because they can check their grades and see how they have done assignments. This keeps them from being blindsided by a grade halfway through the semester, and having to spend the second half catching up.

Engaging Students with Concept Mapping

On Monday I went to http://www.inspiration.com/ and looked at different ways to use concept mappings in the classroom. I thought this was a very good idea because I know that I am the type of learner that enjoys seeing things explicitly broken down into parts. I found four different ways to use in a mathematics classroom.
You can use them for breaking down any complex math concept or specific things like addition of fractions, prime factoring, or probability. I think the best way to use concept mapping is for probability because it allows the students to see every different combination possible, which is perfect for students before they actually understand the reasons for different combinations. Another way I plan to use concept mapping in my classroom is through the use of prime factorization for numbers. I actually remember doing this in school and it was a great way to show me how you can break down large numbers into smaller primes in ways such as that. I also used it quite a bit when I was tutoring at my community college, showing students how to break down things like x5y3 so that when taking the cubed root, it was much easier to determine what factors out. In conclusion I think that concept maps can be used in any setting, or subject because most of the time they are just your thoughts put out in a sequential order or connected somehow

Blogs and Wikis in Education

This week, we were to look at different blogs and wikis, along with RSS readers and aggregators. In doing so, I was able to learn a number of things that I will be able to implement in my classroom.

When looking at different blogs and wikis, I saw that teachers were using them in very interesting ways. One teacher, one who teachers computer science, taught her students about how wikis work, and to assess their knowledge on wikis she had them make a wiki to prepare for a class that they were having trouble with. Other teachers told stories of how they would use their blogs for students to check what homework assignments they may have missed, or even to get links to websites that will help them on their current lesson. One other teacher talked about using their wiki for collaboration between students on projects, and for teachers to give each other notes for classes they are teaching.

When looking at RSS readers and aggregators, I noticed that they were practically the same thing. I think that I will be able to use these very well in the classroom, since I plan to have a blog and/or wiki for my students to access. I will have students subscribe to my blog and/or wiki and other sites I feel are appropriate for them and to make sure that they are doing so, I will ask them to write a review of a blog post, weekly.

I think that there are many good reasons to use blogs and wikis in the classroom. It is a good way to give student announcements for anything that may be coming up, along with tips for homework questions. Students can use wikis to collaborate with each other on homework projects. There are though some cons to these items. Some students will be distracted while in class using the computer, so there is no telling how involved they will be on the project. Also, outside of the classroom not all of the students will have the ability to access blogs or wikis, so putting too much emphasis on that in the classroom could result in some students getting left behind.

Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom

On Monday, I took a test that measured how well I am in each of the nine multiple intelligences. As it turned out, even though I am a math major, I scored higher in both interpersonal and intrapersonal than the logical section.
Some of the core characteristics of the intelligences that I have strengths in are as follows. Interpersonal intelligence means that I’m good at working with others, I offer and accept input, and I am a good leader. Intrapersonal intelligence means that I am very aware of myself, my feelings about things, and ethics.
Students who share the same intelligences as me enjoy doing a variety of things. Interpersonal learners like to work in a group, enjoy sharing about themselves with others and they display a winning personality. Intrapersonal learners are comfortable with themselves, communicate their feelings, and set realistic goals, we also follow our instincts.
When it comes to supporting these types of learning in my classroom, I plan to appeal to the interpersonal learners by letting students interact during learning, providing them with the opportunity to choose their own groups, and allowing competition as motivation for higher achievement. For the intrapersonal learners, I will have the students set goals for themselves, allowing them to reflect on their learning by writing in a diary, and making analogies in class.
Technologies that stimulate these types of intelligences are pretty simple. For interpersonal, things like class discussion, post it notes, message boards, and post-it notes will stimulate them. For intrapersonal, things like diaries, surveys, and digital portfolios will stimulate their type of intelligence.
I think that recognition of the many different types of intelligence in the classroom is vital in order to be able to teach everyone. If you just try to teach the way you learn the best, it won’t be beneficial for everyone. So by paying attention to everyone’s different intelligences, you can try to teach in a way that will work for everyone. Maybe you won’t be helpful for everyone in every lesson, but over time you will reach everyone.

Welcome

TA DA! I did it.