Week 12 Discussion ( Part 2)

I cannot say that I have been completely on top of the developments in online education over the past few years, but I am definitely not in the dark about it.  Per my discussions with my own administration, I have become privy to how the landscape in changing and how it will affect me.  A few years back, my assistant principal informed me about the emergence of blended learning and just recently my principal and I had a brief discussion on how the online component will affect our weekly schedule.  Still, there is A LOT of specifics that I need to be on board with before I welcome the change that is certain to come.

As for the myths of online education, I knew that pretty much all of them were false.  I actually laughed out loud at the notion that “online teachers have easy jobs”.  The amount of prep work involved in teaching an online course scares me!  I found the “Q and A” portion of the Summer 2006 edition of Converge very compelling since it was almost 8 years old and the first question posed asked how schools would look in 10-20 years.  A lot of the responses are coming to fruition, especially in my school.  We appear to be implementing a blended format, with Fridays at school being optional or mandatory for struggling/apathetic students.  I like this idea especially because seniors in high school waste a lot of their time during that 8^th semester.  If they had an online component to learn at their own pace, they would have more time for other things like cooperative jobs and career building opportunities.

From the readings, the biggest thing that surprised me was the availability in regard to online instruction in the state-by-state breakdown from the 2011 edition of “Keeping the Pace”.  The numbers were surprising to me because those were the ratings 2 school years ago and they were higher than I’d thought that they would be today.  All in all, it is a super exciting and super stressful time to be an educator.

Week 12 Discussion (Part 1)

Outside of the information I read about for our wiki project, I have a very baseline understanding of online learning in Michigan.  Being a teacher at a private school, we offer both college preparatory and advanced placement courses.  In addition, we are currently in the process of becoming an International Baccalaureate school and are set to offer that curriculum in the 2015-2016 school year.  Essentially, our student body have plenty of options to choose from.  Subsequently, some students are taking online courses over the summer if they receive failing marks, but those students are few and far between at my school.  However, I know a lot of students in the public districts are opting to supplement their education with courses on Michigan Virtual Schools.  These courses are self-paced and are more flexible for students in regard to scheduling.  Now, I don't personally know of anyone in the K-12 ages that are currently taking this route, but from my limited research, this appears to be the direction of education.  Also, I know that virtual courses are designed for all levels of students, including advanced placement.  Other than that, I've heard a lot of speculation in regard to the future of K-12 online education in Michigan, but nothing concrete.