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 8th 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.
Shaun, I really know how you feel about this being a very exciting as well as stressful time for educators. I am glad that when I came into education I was introduced to online education from the very beginning and I can see how educators are going to have to change with the times. Some schools are giving students the option to only come to school three days a week and they can do the other two days online . That has become something students as well as parents are very interested in. As they utilize the combination of traditional and online, I think online will begin to get more and more days out of the three traditional days until class is completely online.
ReplyDeleteHi Shaun. It is fascinating to me to see where things started. For instance, how your AP talked to you a few years ago about how Blended Learning may look. I also agree with your hesitation on "jumping in". I didn't have that luxury. Last year my Principal came to me with an idea and I ran with it. I started the Blended Lab last year in November and we had some really good results. However, it could have been a much better program had I knew more about it. This year I over see the Lab while two other teachers actually run it so I have gotten a different perspective. All in all it has been a very positive experience for our students as well as staff. I can only imagine what it will be like in 5 years or even 2 years.
ReplyDeleteSometimes trial and error can be a good way to approach things. Good luck in fine-tuning your blended lab.
DeleteThe online component does offer a great experience for students to seek internships and co-ops. Some students would definitely take that opportunity if it were available to them. A community service option would also be a good idea also for time not spent in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI definitely believe a lot of schools will look like a blended learning environment in 10-20 years, which is why a lot of schools are moving in that direction.
I am really looking forward to it, Erica. The blended idea sounds like the best of both worlds. The community service option would be tricky to figure out, but a novel idea nonetheless. Some high school students would be better served to take a community service course over an elective that they don't want to take.
DeleteI don't think discussions have been able to really uncover a lot of what goes on-or should go on with online education. Apparently my school district (and the state agrees) that throughout the course of four years at our school the kids will get a semester's worth of online coursework.
ReplyDeleteI am interested to hear how your school approaches optional Fridays. That sounds great for some students who want to take advantage of their teenage hours, which never seem to match what the 7:30 - 2:30 of high school.