Virtual Schooling K-12

Many people support virtual schooling as a way of targeting students who are not comfortable in "traditional" learning environments, and while virtual learning may be helpful for some, a balance must be achieved between virtual and face-to-face learning. It's even stated in this video by those who support virtual learning that students cannot have an entirely virtual learning environment. 

Table 1 on page 69 of the article above shows percent completion rates of students in virtual K-12 schooling. These percentages are overall very low. This, combined with the extensive growth of students in these virtual programs, brings forth a certain skepticism about the effectiveness of entirely virtual schools, which were once regarded as being full of highly motivated and advanced students likely to go on to four-year colleges. 
On a personal note, my girlfriend, Kaila, went to ECOT for virtual schooling for her junior year, then returned to public school for her senior year. Upon her return she had to take in her transcripts to get credit for her ECOT classes, and her counselor told us that Kaila was one of the first students she had seen to return from virtual schooling with credits. This says something about the rate of success students have in all virtual learning environments. 

Overview: 

• The number of students enrolled in online K-12 schools has increased drastically in the past decade 
• Overall completion rates for these online courses are frighteningly low in some cases 
• Rather than going entirely virtual, we need to find a balance in our education to achieve success 

Works Cited: 
Michael K. Barbour, et al. "Academic Performance, Course Completion Rates, And Student Perception Of The Quality And Frequency Of Interaction In A Virtual High School." Distance Education 34.1 (2013): 64-83. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Sept. 2013. 

This article details studies done concerning overall student performance in Virtual High School based on different factors such as student-teacher interaction. The article compares previous ideas with newer, up to date information. The analysis and general reliability of the data used is also addressed within the article itself. I find the information provided to be helpful in determining that completely virtual schooling is very challenged in creating meaningful personal interaction and is very unlikely to be a good option.  

Edutopia. "Education on Demand at Virtual High School." Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 8 Jun. 2012. Web. 30 Sep. 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58omxbtlINI 

This video demonstrates some benefits of using virtual schooling alongside brick and mortar schools. Students have the ability to take courses they otherwise couldn't take, as well as take courses at their own pace. However, it is important that they have a facilitator and it is stated in the video that it is not a good idea to try and have an entirely virtual learning experience. This comes from Edutopia and looks at an actual school environment with testimonials from real students. I definitely agree that while there may be substantial benefits to online/virtual learning, there must be a balance for students to have the most success. 

Technology: How it Helps Special Needs Students

Technology: How it Helps Special Needs Students

As I was trying to decide what this blog should be about I was discouraged with this feeling in my mind I began to feel exactly what Special Needs students feel with many subjects so I thought why not...


This is me looking into how technology helps these students.

In my research I found this site   

As the mission for this Common Sense Media website creators say;

"As a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization, we provide trustworthy information and tools, as well as an independent forum, so that families can have a choice and a voice about the media they consume."

With this site I saw that this website it allows for options how to apply the difficulties such as these categories... 

Browse the Guide by Category:

Browse by level:

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced

Browse by level:

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced

Browse by level:

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced

Browse by level:

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced

Browse by level:

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced

Browse by level:

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced

One great example of how technology has influenced or changed the education of Special Needs students the ED Tech Newsletter received this statement on March 28, 2013 from Wendy Burkhart an Assistive Technology Coordinator for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District... 

 "Successfully educating a special-needs child has always hinged on matching him or her with the best assistive learning device or application available. Fortunately, what's available has expanded and improved by quantum leaps over the past five years as traditional assistive technologies have converged with consumer technologies, giving the ­district's ­special education department a "much ­bigger toolbox to work with,"

Another great idea that has come to my knowledge is the ECOT online learning school. It is more like homeschooling for students off the internet, if anything I could only hope that this schooling system would have the Special Needs in mind. The website school originally advertised that it is a good alternative to children not learning due to bullies. However now the web-school advertises that it is good to just teach students of any capacity. 
  
A commercial of the ECOT School


A Link to the Article off of the ET Newsletter Website...


Also in the article ED Tech newsletter the article How Technology Is Helping Special Needs Students Excel by Heather B. Hayes it is listed what Special Needs students gain from assistive technologies these students

• achieve greater levels of independence;
• gain confidence;
• more willingly reach out to their teachers and peers to ask questions and collaborate;
• self-advocate;
• challenge themselves; and
• seek out new opportunities.

Even whackier is some of the apps and options out there using technology... 

"These include speech recognition, screen-reading tools, Braille displays and text-to-speech solutions for the visually impaired; and sound amplifiers, closed-captioning applications and video conferencing technologies that facilitate sign language and lip-reading for the hearing-impaired. Students with motor and mobility ­disabilities also can use speech recognition tools to turn speech into sharable text, e-books to eliminate page turning and ­portable eye-gaze devices that are powered by blinks."

 This is a great video for the thoughts of educational apps, websites, and games for the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learner...

Works Cited 

Bowser, Gayl. "Power Up!" Power Up: Apps for Kids with Special Needs and Learning Differences.   Common Sense Media Inc., 2013. Web. 23-24 Sept. 2013.

• This website is a resource for teachers, and parents with tools and ideas for helping their children and/or students with their learning or physical disabilities. Or as I stated before through their mission statement, "As a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization, we provide trustworthy information and tools, as well as an independent forum, so that families can have a choice and a voice about the media they consume."
•  Many of the contributors are either teachers, psychologists, or people within the fields of helping and assessing children's knowledge and learning patterns. The website is very clear on the struggles and difficulties of any child struggling in school. Since this website new by publication year one could safely say that the website is updated anytime there is new media available to students; this includes movies and television shows. 
• I can say now looking through this website that there are means out there to better understand technology and how it helps Special Needs students or for that matter any student struggling. I would say that this website targets Special Needs students and how they learn, the suggestions and activities are not exclusive to just these students but  to all students in need of a little extra help in school. 

Hayes, Heather B. "How Technology Is Helping Special-Needs Students Excel." EdTech Magazine. CDW LLC, 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 23-24 Sept. 2013.

•  This article is an analytical article about how technology is helping Special Needs students. Mainly the article discusses how technology has made great strides to make learning and communicating easier for Special Needs students simply by the popular demand of all consumers. Since all consumers want easier ways to communicate and do tasks on computer media systems. Many times these educational magazines are always asking the questions that teachers, administrators, or superintendents are not asking, addressing them before that point pf question, (otherwise the magazine or newsletter would not make money).  This article is informative. 
• Heather B. Hayes' biography states, "Heather B. Hayes has been covering technology, business and education topics for more than 20 years and has written more than 2,000 published articles". So needless to say after twenty years of education topics she would know a thing or two about the education system and what is needed at any given time through research and many interviews with people in the field. The article is written within this year so yes it would be considered new and accurate, granted in the six months since it has been published I am sure there are more advances in technology. 
• In reading this article it gave me a since of humility towards the world of technology and what it has done for Special Needs students because before my research and even finding this article I felt cynical and angry that technology left these students behind now I see that just from popular demand of consumer needs everyone needs or just thought of ease with learning or communicating in general and select companies went as far as to design technology for hearing and/or vision impaired students of any age. 

Wiki’s in the Classroom for Collaborative Learning

Wiki's in the Classroom for Collaborative Learning

When I was first learning to use wiki last semester, I was very frustrated. I was completely lost on how to develop and create a page.

        So I did some research, a wiki is a website or blog space that is collaboratively edited by a group of individuals. When creating a wiki page any individual who is invited to participate in the wiki has the right to edit and add creativity as well as any other thoughts to the page.

In my class last semester there was a group project. In this project we were assigned a time period in education history. This project showed me how to add and edit information. As well as adding a voki. Voki's are avatars that help motivate students, and gain lesson comprehension. 

I believe that wiki's are a great learning tool for all students and teachers.

Teaching with Wiki

This is a great video to show that making a Wiki for classroom collaboration can be fun and exciting. Wiki's make students more organized and more willing to express themselves.

Wiki's allow students and teachers to:

• Use technology in meaningful ways in their classrooms
• Collaborate with peers
• Publish writing and other creative forms of work
• Receive feedback both inside and outside of the classroom

     "Working together on a wiki becomes a way for students to understand the processes by which knowledge is generated, evaluated, and revised by groups of individuals  in business, government, and many other fields" (Maloy 229).

-Wiki's are a web 2.0 tool.

-A web 2.0 tool is about "revolutionary new ways of creating, collaborating, editing and sharing user-generated content online" (Web 2.0).

-Wiki's can be used again and again in classrooms, from teacher to student

-Wiki's are easy to set up, easy to manage as well as easy to use

Overall, I learned that Wiki's can provide an abundant amount of information. Teachers and students have all tools necessary to make a classroom interactive and interesting for all types of learners, whether the student be a verbal, visual, or auditory learner.

Works Cited

Maloy, Robert W. Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. Print.

• This text book gave me a lot of information regarding Wiki's in the Classroom for Collaborative Learning. Maloy and the rest of the authors who contributed in this book did a nice job on covering content. My information I received came from pages 228-229.

Teaching with WIKI. Film. 29 Sep 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdOKUeT0O-o>.

• This video was a good introduction about what a wiki is, and why they are used in the classrooms.

"Web 2.0 Tools." Discovery Education Web2013 :. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. <http://web2012.discoveryeducation.com/web20tools.cfm>.

• Using this resource was a way for me to realize what a Web 2.0 tool was. Before I researched the meaning, I had no idea what the term meant.

Face to Face Vs. Internet learning k-12

   How effective are Internet versus Face-to-Face courses for K-12 students?

                   

                   vs.

There are many opinions on what is right for a child when it comes to schooling. Is sending your child to a public school the best thing for them or keeping them home and sending them to an online school? Each option has their positives and negatives when it comes to educating a child.                                                   

YouTube. Dir. David Spark. Perf. Bill Gates. YouTube. YouTube, 06 Aug. 2010. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.

         This youtube video is of Bill gates giving information on his beliefs on online schooling and traditional schools. He speaks about budget, how some parents use the traditional school as a baby sitter. Bill gates is a knowledgeable person and has the right to give his opinion on online schooling. The video is from a conference in 2010 so the information is only 3 years old.

         "Online versus Traditional Schools From a Student's Perspective."AccreditedOnlineCollegesnet. Accredited Online Colleges, 2012. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.
             This website explains pros and cons of both online and traditional schooling. The website does not mention k-12 specifically but did include some positive thoughts. This website was written by a university that uses online classes so it could be bias. The reader has to decide what information to use and what not to use. 

Pros: Internet classes are easy to access               Cons: Internet classes dont give the 
          Can be taken at home                                       person to person interaction (social 
          Good for people with social problems            networking)



http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.net/online-versus-traditional-schools-from-a-students-perspective/

Virtual K-12 Schools

Virtual K-12 Schools

This image was taken from:  BROWARD VIRTUAL SCHOOL   www.bved.net

Looking for an educational environment for your child that has fewer distractions, more personal attention from teachers, and a flexible schedule? How about more involvement in your child's education? With Virtual K-12 schooling, the program is designed to adapt to your child's learning styles, schedules, and needs. Through this program the learning coach is the parent who is able to motivate and keep the student on task.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE8KPErxtY8

• Teachers are responsible for overseeing and managing student learning, and ensuring that students are meeting all academic progress and accountability requirements.

• All students must participate in state assessment tests.

• All students must meet attendance requirements.

• Any eligible student may enroll, regardless of income, race, academic ability, or special needs. 

http://www.k12.com/facts-about-k12-public-virtual-schools#.UkipbrymXp4

Here is a glance at what a Virtual School lesson is like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nAKwhZyXnw 

• Some students just need a new, innovative way of learning. 
• Not every child learns the same way - Virtual schools help to focus on the child's strengths and weaknesses and helps to create a better, personalized understanding for the student.

Annotated Bibliography:

"Facts About K¹² Public Virtual Schools | K12." K12 | Online Public School, Online High School, Online Private School, Homeschooling, and Online Courses options. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2013. <http://www.k12.com/facts-about-k12-public-virtual-schools#.UkipbrymXp4>.

• This website has all the information on Virtual K-12 schools. The website goes into detail to identify what virtual schools are and what they accomplish. It clarifies the academic standards and the accountability taken on by virtual schooling. It shares that the roles of a virtual teacher is to evaluate students' work, create a strong partnership with the parents, provide instruction, guidance, and support to the student, among other similar responsibilities. The website even indicates how the virtual schools are funded. There is also a link to the K-12 blog.

 "Meet Marcus: A K12 Day-in-the-Life - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE8KPErxtY8>. 

• This YouTube video features a young animated student named Marcus who allows the viewer to take a walk with him through his life as a virtual school student. Marcus appears happy and satisfied with the attention and focus that has been placed on him and his academics. Marcus even gets to interact with other virtual school students from around the world. During one of Marcus's lessons he is granted the opportunity to interact with a real astronaut while learning about NASA. Marcus is thrilled and aspires to one day become an astronaut himself.

Virtual Field Trip vs. Real-Life Field Trip

What is a virtual field trip? 

Imagine standing in front of your high school class and teaching about the Holocaust or trying to explain to first graders how a dairy farm works. You can use all the books and visuals you find at the library, but you know a field trip to a museum or a farm would teach more than you standing in front of the classroom. Enter a virtual field trip (VFT). Students can explore, interact, and communicate with the museum or a farm, or anything that the teacher can arrange without leaving the classroom. Whether thru video conferencing or a teacher wielding a video camera prior to a lesson, you can take a field trip from your seat.


Mr. Rogers giving a virtual tour of a dairy farm

Whosaskinnydog. "Mr. Rogers Visits the Cows." Online video clip. YouTube.  YouTube, 12 Sept 2010. Web. 28, Sept. 2013.

Mr. Rogers gave children who watched his television show a virtual field trip to places around his neighborhood. While he used a VHS, he really was ahead of the times in bringing the field trip to the students. I can remember the excitement of discovering where he was taking me while I sat in front of the television. I still remember when he took me to the crayon factory, I just didn't realize I had over a million classmates with me!

Click here for more Mr. Rogers's virtual field trips at PBSkids.org.

Kirchen, Dennis J. "Making and Taking Virtual Field Trips in PreK and Primary Grades." NAEYC (2011): 22-26. web. 28 Sept. 2013. 

virtual field trip naeyc.org

This article explains how to plan out a virtual field trip as well as why it would be appropriate over a real-life field trip. The author, an associate professor with experience in early childhood education, believes that a VFT is no different than a normal field trip and only differs in presentation. The article explains how a VFT doesn't replaces the hands-on experience of a real field trip but can be an excellent resource tool to supplement a lesson. The article was written in 2011 and stands appropriate today. I like that the author explains of how to create a VFT, especially for young children.

"Fussen Town, Neuschwanstein, and Hchenschwangau Castles, Germany." AirPano. n.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.

AirPano allows you to control a panoramic 360 view of a variety of places. Besides viewing the landscape and scenery, you can view upward and over castles, islands, and so much more. The site is growing and AirPano hopes to continue to bring more of the world to your classroom or living room. 

360Degree-VirtualTour - Neuschwanstein-Castle-Germany
 http://www.airpano.com

Other sites that offer virtual field trips:
The National World War II Museum

Teacher/Student Social Networking

Teacher Conduct Outside of the Classroom

   How teachers conduct themselves outside of the classroom has been a controversial subject for many years.  There have been many stories of teachers having inappropriate relationships with their students.  Phone calls, texting, and even physical relationships are happening with students and teachers.  Now, with the use of social media, it has become an even bigger problem.  



   Social media websites can be a very useful tool in the classroom when used appropriately. For example, a teacher may set up a face book page for her students to work on a collaborative project with students from another school. There is , however, a problem when these websites are used for personal teacher-students contact.   According to a New York Times article, "At least seven school employees have been arrested in the past few months in relation to sexual offenses involving students.  School chancellor Dennis M. Walcott is pushing to fire teachers accused of such offenses" (Chen, McGee pg.1) 

   Since this investigation in the New York City schools began, there have been rules and guidelines established for teachers concerning social networking with students.  Teachers are allowed to establish professional Web pages for academic use only.  Teachers are not allowed to "friend, email, or otherwise communicate with students via the teacher's or student's personal web page." (Chen, McGee pg.1).

      The guidelines encourage teachers to use privacy settings on their personal web pages so students do not have access to them.  They also state that a teacher should not post anything on their web page that they would not want their students to see in a classroom.  School employee unions disagree. Chiara Coletti , a principal union spokesperson said "we are concerned that out principals will ne expected to bear the burden of monitoring  social media activities that are in fact, almost impossible to monitor" (Chen, McGee pg2). 

      In addition to social media web pages/ networking, cell phone use between teachers and students has become a major concern as well.  There are many New York City teachers under investigation for inappropriate contact of a student using cell phones. For example, "Soliber Martinez, a teacher at Pablo Neruda Academy in the Bronx, exchanged 1,824 text messages in three weeks to a male student...The boys mother told investigators that Ms. Martinez professed her love for him, which she denied.  Ms. Martinez, who did not have tenure, was let go." (Chen, McGee pg 3).  Teachers need to use common sense.

  

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/nyregion/social-media-rules-for-nyc-school-staff-limits-contact-with-students.html?ref=nyregion (ctrl +click to follow link)

  

   Works Cited

Chen, David W. and McGeehan, Patrick, "Social Media Rules Limit New York Student-Teacher Contact."  New York Times, May1,2012.

   This article shows how student/teacher relationships, via social networking, need to have guidelines and boundaries. The article covers all aspects of communication between teachers and their students that range from physical relationships, phone calls and texting, to social web pages such as face book and twitter. This article was written to show that there are steps being taken to stop inappropriate student/teacher contact. The authors Chen and McGeehan are not teachers or administrators. Chen has worked for the New York Times as an investigative reporter since 1995.  This article was very helpful as it not only covered the topic of teacher conduct and social media, but also how the teachers unions reacted to the guidelines set by the state .This article was written in May of 2012, and covers the past five years of activity in various school districts in New York. Chen and McGeehan are very detailed in their article by citing quotes and giving dates that the alleged incidents took place.  I feel this article exposed a very important subject, that not many people are comfortable talking about.  I also think that more school districts should be monitoring teacher/ student contact. Teachers need to be responsible for their actions , not only in the classroom, but outside as well.



http://youtu.be/x5x-fN6t2Q0  "New York City Draws Line Between Teachers and Students on Social Media", Mashable , May 2.2012.

   This video has a strong  correlation to the article I used.  I actually chose the video first, and then got the article after.  This video summarizes the four page article completely and thoroughly while highlighting key points such as quotes from the article from the NYC Department of Education.  While some guidelines are presented in the video, it gives the basic message to use common sense. This video was part of Mashable.com.  According to their website,"Mashable is the largest independent website dedicated to news information for the connected generation"  (www.mashable.com)  After looking at the date this video was published, I realized that it was the day after the article I chose came out.  I felt that this video was made to summarize how New York City is cracking down on inappropriate teacher/student contact.  I think this video is a very accurate.  The video displays the actual document that was composed by the NYC Department of Education.  Although I have never used Mashable before, I feel that they are a credible source for quick information about current events.  In a few short minutes, this video was able to give key information about the topic I chose.