Virtual School Novice Badge

I would like to earn the Virtual School Novice badge. I feel that I completed all the requirements for this badge. Here are the links to my blog posts.

Intro

http://ebmooc12.blogspot.com/2012/09/intro.html

Topic 1

http://ebmooc12.blogspot.com/2012/09/topic-1.html

Topic 2

http://ebmooc12.blogspot.com/2012/09/topic-2.html

Topic 3

http://ebmooc12.blogspot.com/2012/09/topic-3-activity-1.html

http://ebmooc12.blogspot.com/2012/09/topic-3-activity-2-and-summary.html

Topic 4

http://ebmooc12.blogspot.com/2012/09/topic-4.html

Topic 5

http://ebmooc12.blogspot.com/2012/09/topic-5.html

Topic 6

http://ebmooc12.blogspot.com/2012/09/activity-2-i-do-believe-that.html

Topic 7

http://ebmooc12.blogspot.com/2012/10/topic-7.html

Topic 8

http://ebmooc12.blogspot.com/2012/10/topic-8.html

Topic 8

Activity

I read the article, “Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies.” You can find this article here http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf

 This article took research from 1996-2008 and put it into one article. This article found that the research suggests that online students did a little better than students who took brick and mortar classes (Means, ix).  The article also said that until 2008 there really were not any students that looked at student success in online vs. traditional schooling. I found that to be an interesting fact, but then again, maybe there were not that many online schools until 2008.  The article goes on to explain that actually students in blended learning did better than students who were entirely learning online and students who were entirely learning face to face (Means, xv).

I think that it is important to remember that students typically start off going to a brick and mortar elementary or pre K and therefore are more comfortable with this approach. I think it would be very hard to suddenly just switch and take all classes online. I think this is probably why students do better with a blended learning approach as opposed to an entirely online learning environment.

Works Cited

Means, Barabra Y. T. (n.d.). Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: a meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. US department of Education.

Summary

After reading this weeks MOOC topic it seems that there are not many studies out there that really decide if online school is better than brick and mortal schooling. I think that is because not all students learn the same way and not all students are good test takers. Every child learns differently, so while online schooling might work wonderfully for some, for others it would not. If you are not a motivated student, then I do not think online schooling would be a success for you.

I did like how this week’s topic also mentioned the benefits and challenges associated with online learning.  One challenge that was not mentioned though was socialization. I feel that younger students really do need to learn how to socialize with their peers in a face to face manner. I think that so many young people today do not know how to have real conversations because most of their interactions with each other are through text, social media, or email. 

Topic 7

Activity

I do not work at on line school, so I found this activity to be hard. I just went ahead and graded my online graduate class, however, I could not answer all the questions, because I do not know all of the behind the scenes stuff.

Code	Factor name	Critical Success Factor (level 5 statement)	Relevance (1-5)	Score (1-5)	Reasons
R4	Usability	All systems usable, with internal evidence to back this up.	5	5	Course den is easy to use
R6	e-Learning Strategy	Regularly updated e-Learning Strategy, integrated with Learning and Teaching Strategy and all related strategies	na
R7	Decisions on Projects	Effective decision-making for e-learning projects across the whole school, including variations when justified.	na
R10	Training	All staff trained in virtual school system use, appropriate to job type - and retrained when needed.	na
R12	Costs	A fit for purpose costing system is used in all departments for costs of schooling both face to face and virtual.	5	5	I believe tution is the same for online classes as it is for face to face.
R13	Planning Annually	Integrated annual planning process for the virtual school department integrated with overall school and course planning.	na
R16	Technical Support to Staff	All staff engaged in the virtual school process have "nearby" fast-response technical support.	5	5	I can call tech support and they are very helpful
R19	Decisions on Programmes	There is effective decision-making for new virtual school courses across the whole school.	na
R22	Leadership in e-Learning	The capability of leaders to make decisions regarding virtual schooling is fully developed at departmental and school level.	na
R29	Management Style	The overall school management style is appropriate to manage its mix of educational and business activities	na
R35	Relationship Management Upwards	The school has effective processes designed to achieve high formal and informal credibility with relevant government and public agencies overseeing it.	5	5	West GA goes through accredation regularly
R53	Reliability	The virtual school e-learning system is as reliable as the main systems students and staff are used to from their wider experience as students and citizens,	5	5	Course den is always working.
R58	Market Research	Market research (to assess demand for virtual schooling) done centrally and in or on behalf of all departments, and aware of e-learning aspects; updated annually or prior to major programme planning.	na
R60	Security	A virtual school system where security breaches are known not to occur yet which allows staff and students to carry out their authorised duties easily and efficiently.	5	5	I have not had any issues with course den sharing my personal information
R91	Pupil Understanding of System	School pupils have good understanding of the rules governing assignment submission, feedback, plagiarism, costs, attendance, etc. and always act on them.	5	5	The syllabus for each class states the rules
R92	Pupil Help Desk	Help Desk is deemed as best practice.	na
R94	Pupil Satisfaction	Frequent (ideally annual) Pupil Satisfaction survey which explicitly addresses the main e-learning issues of relevance to pupils and their parents.	5	5	There is always a survey after each online class.

 Summary

I found it very interesting that a lot of Europe’s online schools were started for students with hardships. I think this a great way to get those students the education they need. Maybe the US should think about having an online school for only students with these hardships (pregnant teens, sick kids, etc).

I agree that in order for online schools to be successful they need to all have certain factors. One of the huge factors is that the school must be user friendly. If the online school or course is hard to navigate then the students might give up and drop the course. Also, in order for online schools to be successful they do need teachers who are leaders. Online schooling is still relatively new, so the teachers need to realize that they are the “guinea pigs” and things will not always go as planned. 

Topic 6

Activity # 2

I do believe that facilitators are important in online learning.  Based on the information presented I would say that the facilitators are like guidance counselors. Students can go to these people when they have a problem in the course. I think it is important to have someone the students can actually see to help them with their issues. Most students in k12 settings are used to seeing their teachers face to face, so online learning might be hard for them at first. I believe that a facilitator could help bridge that gap. While, they are not teachers, they are a familiar face that can help the students with their issues about that class.

Summary

I never really thought about rural schools needing online learning more so than suburban schools, but after watching the video it makes sense. Rural schools do not really have much to attract teachers to come teach at that school, so specialized teachers would be hard to recruit. Therefore, online learning is perfect for these schools. The students can learn from a teacher who is far away, but qualified and they have a facilitator who they already know help them with the class.  I did not really know the difference between the teacher and facilitator until this discussion. I now know that both are equally important for the students to do well. 

Topic 5

Resource 1- Research into online teaching using groups by Dr. Susan Lowes

I have to preface this post by saying that I really do not like online group work.  After reviewing the powerpoints it appears that group work is a standard. I do understand that when you are in the work place you do have to collaborate and therefore it is important to learn how to be a successful group member. I did not realize that there were three different ways to categorize group work: parallel, associative, and collaborative.  After seeing the definitions for each I realized that yes, I have done all three of these.  The study goes on to show that even though one of the tasks was supposed  to be collaborative the students ended up just splitting up the work and turning into a parallel task. I feel that is what all students do.  I know that in my online classes whenever I have had group work the very first contact is someone saying, “Ok who wants to do what?”  I think that although the idea behind group work is a good one (teach people to work with others), it isn’t really practiced. People do their part of the group work and then wait for the others to finish and in the end they throw it all together.

Resource 2- Studying the preparation of preservice teachers for K-12 online teachers

Based on this article a study done in 2009 found that only 1.3% of universities were going to offer virtual school field experience (Kennedy). That seems crazy to me because online schooling is becoming so popular. Teachers need experience teaching students face to face and through online platforms, because there is no telling where they may get a job.  The article also goes on to state the a student’s field experience in the virtual school should be a semester long, just like their face to face field experience. I think this would be a bit much. It is hard enough as it is to graduate in four years. If you had to devote an entire year to field experience you would probably take 5 years to graduate. Maybe schools should offer virtual field experience for half a semester and the other half could be face to face field experience.

Kennedy, K., & Archambault, L. (2012). Design and development of field experiences in K-12 online learning environments. Journal of Applied Instructional Design, 2(1), 35-49. Retrieved from http://www.jaidpub.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/KennedyArchambault-3.pdf

Summary

I did learn that there are different types of online group work and that most students do end up just splitting up the work load, rather than collaborating. This seems to be about right, based on all of my experiences with online group work.

It seems that not many colleges are preparing teachers to teach k-12 in an online setting. I feel that this is doing a great disservice to any aspiring teacher. More and more schools are going to follow the online trend and teachers need to be prepared to accept this challenge. There are not many brick and mortar schools hiring at the moment, so for many teachers, online teaching s their only option. 

Topic 4

Activity

I looked a sample math class from Open High School of Utah. I used the rubric provided by the iNACOL.

The rubric has many different parts and since I was not actually in the course, it was hard to evaluate all of it. But I did see some of the things that were on the rubric.

A1- This course did have clear goals and objectives

A3- The course content appeared to be rigorous

A7- The course requirements are made with the goals in mind

B2- This course does have different lessons which are in a logical order

B3- The course does have different activities.

B7- Math requirements were appropriate

B11- There are enrichment activities

C2- It appears there are methods to assess student’s mastery

C3- After every lesson there is an assessment

C4- After students complete the assessment (review) it tells them what they need to re study

D3- Course is very easy to navigate

D4- rich media is provided

As for section E- I cannot see anything for course evaluation. I am sure there is an option to evaluate the course, but as a sample student I cannot see it.

Summary

After reviewing the rubric I learned a lot about what a successful online course should look like. I really enjoyed being able to take a sample course through the Open High School of Utah. I believe this school looks like they really know what they are doing in terms of online learning. The only thing I could not see was if students were able to provide feedback on whether the course worked or not. I think this is an important part of any class.  Without feedback you would have no idea how to improve your course.

Topic 3 Activity 2 and Summary

Activity 2

Based on the readings I do not have any unanswered questions. However, I think that many parents determining whether or not to have their student take classes online would still have questions. There is no proof that online schooling as a whole is better or worse than face to face schooling. This might leave parents confused. I think that it is up to each individual school to do their own research and prove that their school would help a particular child. If the school can make a convincing case to parents that their school works, then parents would be fine with their child attending online schooling.

Summary

After reading this blog I learned that is important to not ask “if online learning is working”, but “under what circumstances does online learning work?” I think this is a very important take away, because not all online schools work for every student. There are many factors which determine whether a child will be successful in an online school. With that being said there are also many factors that would determine if a child will succeed in a brick and mortal class. It is important to remember that some brick and mortar schools are successful, but not all are.  The same is true for online learning.  You can’t really compare the two because it really is based on each individual institution, the teachers, and the students.