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. 

Topic 3 Activity 1

Activity 
This report to me says that the current state of research in online schooling is a little undefined. I think that because online schooling is such a new concept that many people have not had enough time to fully research it.  While reading this article I was surprised that researchers look at schools to see if they train the students. I never would have thought about this, but the article is correct, just because  a student has a computer, does not mean he or she knows how to use it for online work.  The fact that some online schools work and some don’t was confirmed to me based on this reading. Not all online schools are created equal, therefore, you cannot determine whether online learning works. Rather, you can determine whether a particular online school works for students. 

Topic 2

Activity

I choose to answer #1:  What lessons can we learn from the historical antecedents of K-12 online and blended learning?

  I believe it is important to remember where we came from. Distance learning has come a long way. I think that the historical antecedents go to show that distance education changes very quickly. What is the norm now will not be the norm in 5 years. As new technology is created, new distance education will also be created. I believe this shows us that it is very important to always be ready for the “next thing.” You can’t get too comfortable with the way things are now, because technology is ever changing.  I believe that distance education will keep changing as long as new technology is being invented. I think that is part of the charm of distance education, it is not the same thing year after year after year.

Summary

I found it interesting that distance education was around even before the internet. I had no idea that some people listened to the radio for school. It appears that even before the internet was a possibility distance education was around. Therefore, I do not see distance education going away any time soon. I think that is important for people to understand. Some people who are not in favor of distance education might have to change their way of thinking, but it is here for good. 

Topic 1

Activity #1

http://laurelsprings9.reachlocal.net/?utm_source=ReachLocal&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=NAT

Laurel Springs in an online private school, where all instruction comes from online learning. In addition, this school has online clubs and activities. This is a private virtual school. This school is also partly College and university-based. The University of California has approved some of the courses for credit.  

http://www.k12.com/ha/home

Hoosier academies actually has three different schools. Two of these schools are blended learning and one of them is online school.  This is a state based school. You do not have to pay tuition to attend this school, it is a public school.  They have two campuses where students can have blended learning if they wish to still have some of the brick and mortar classes. They also do offer a fully online option.

http://www.gavirtualschool.org/

The Georgia Virtual School is a state-sanctioned school as well as being a statewide supplemental program. Students can enroll in this school to supplement their normal brick and mortar setting.

http://www.cobbk12.org/cobbvirtualacademy/

This is a district-level supplemental program. Students must attend a brick and mortar school in the Cobb County District to attend this school. In addition, this is just to supplement what they are learning in the brick and mortar setting.

http://www.foresttrailacademy.com/

This school appears to an online school, where all the information in shared online (there are no face to face meetings). It states that all you need is a computer and internet access in order to attend this school. It appears that students can work at their own pace and not ever have to be in a brick and mortar building. This is a private online school. Students from all over the country and world can attend this school.

Summary

I learned that there are many, many different types on online schools. I had no idea there were so many classifications. I just thought online learning was online learning. However, there is so much more to that. You can have blended learning- which is where the class takes place both online and  in a face to face setting. Then there are fully online courses. Within each of these two groups there are many other factors that determine just what kind of blended or online learning is taking place. 

I think it is important to the know the different types of online learning because different people have different needs. When I was getting my masters most of my classes were blended learning classes where I had to go to campus 3 times a semester. This worked for me then because I did not have a family. Also, it was a nice transition from undergrad (where all my classes were face to face) to an online learning class. Now that I am getting my specialists there is no way I would be able to take a blended learning class. I have a 4 month old now and this does not allow me to drive to campus even if it is only three times. Some students would do better with a fully online class, while others, can still benefit from seeing their teacher a few times. I think it is important to offer both types of classes to all students. 

Intro

My name is Emily Brown and I am participating in the MOOC for my specialist class at West Georgia. I hope to gain a better understanding of K12 online learning.