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Today I read, "Top Ten Predictions for 2011 {With Proof}." in the January 2011 issue of Tech and Learning Magazine. The articles author Ellen Ullman makes two interesting predictions in regards to Distance Education. First of all, she predicts that rather than schools continuing to spends large amounts of money on paper copies produced by publishers, teachers will be encouraged to work within global communities to find content and learning strategies for use in instruction. Ullman's prediction is backed up by Scott Floyd, an instructional technologist in Texas. Scott is encouraging faculty in his school district to do just this. Ullman believes that the only real limitation to this strategy is time. Teachers are limited on time as is, and finding time to filter through the massive content available online in search for material that will fit their classroom situations can be challenging. I see myself turning to online resources over ordering textbooks and I certainly wish I had more time to search and explore more online resources.
The second prediction that Ullman makes is that more elementary and secondary schools will be using distance education to teach students outside of the classroom. A school district in Ohio has already planned on have two full days of electronically delivered instruction. These two days will take the place of a normal school day when weather conditions prevent students from coming to school. Each teacher in the district has developed electronic lessons for their classes. When the e-day is called, students will log on to the districts website to access their lessons for that day. the goal of this project is to equal or surpass the learning that would occur during a typical day of school. Personally I would be interested to see what the results of this project are.
This makes sense to me, especially in light of my final project. I'm creating lessons plans using online material because most of what I'm finding online does a much better job than a college textbook (for my particular subject...not making a sweeping generalization).
ReplyDeleteAnd I really like the idea of younger kids having e-learning days, though it brings up some issues with access. Not all families have access or can afford access. It's a huge assumption to make and mostly depends on the school and where the school is located.
I believe publishers have certainly been involved with the online content part. I think this may be a great marketing strategy for many of those companies that already provide resources for educators - I know the availability or option of paying for online content in conjunction with printed materials is growing. If you find companies you trust already and they spend the time sifting through all the options available and find the best to share, that could certainly free up the teacher to spend time with the students in stead of doing the sifting/evaluating themselves.
ReplyDeleteI would also be eager to see the results of the Ohio experiment. I agree with Mike that access is perhaps a major hurdle, so I'd like to see how that has been accounted for. Another variable is when those e-learning days are. It is currently not in our typical practice to prepare for 'weather days' as a regular part of our classroom prep. What if you prepare the digital day and there is no bad weather? Or, there is more than 1 or 2 days of bad weather in a row & you only have content for one day? Or, what if you plan for the bad weather day to be Wednesday, but the storm moves faster than anticipated and hits Tuesday - but you have not laid sufficient groundwork for the students to do the e-learning day materials? Yes - - - I certainly would like to see more of the behind the scenes work on this project.
I would think that publishers are joining the distance learning bandwagon. It's amazing to find what's out there.
ReplyDeleteMy only concern for the bad-weather day, is the power going out. Where I live, the power goes out on really bad-weather days. This would affect the students' ability to access the Internet. I like the idea though, and am sure that the answer to that concern will present itself when the problem arises.
Chad
The Ohio experiment also takes coordination with the parents. If both work outside the home,arrangements would need to be made in advance. I love the idea of having an e-option and wonder if the selection of days could be driven more by the students/parents or asynchronous. Of course, that would take more preparation on the teacher's part.
ReplyDeleteMy nephew is currently in a district where there are A schedules (Days) and B schedules (days). I don't know which ones which, but on one of these days he is registered with an online high school. In these courses he is taking his required courses and on the alternated schedule he is at school doing electives.
ReplyDeleteMy sister and her son have found this particular schedule wonderful. One reason why this as been so helpful to them is my nephew has some behavior and mental issues and it has allow him to have two to three days of not dealing with outside influences that seem to trigger some of his problems.
My nephew is actually a twin and his twin is enrolled full time at his high school. My sister feels that the one doing his school work on-line is doing as well as the one at school. So far it was worked wonders for them.