Online Learning: What Next?

Link to Article

EDU 6240: Distance Learning (Professional Reading #1)

          There are countless benefits of classes moving to an online structure. For example, online learning courses offer students more flexibility when it comes to time and place of learning - students can now take classes at any time of day or night that they choose. While many chief academic officers at colleges and universities were skeptical of online learning at first, now more than 70% of them say it is critical to their long-term strategy. They've found that outcomes of distance learning courses are equal to or better than those of traditional, on-the-ground courses. Today, more than 5 million students (25%) of all college and university students are enrolled in distance education courses, 11% of students are enrolled exclusively in online courses, and 14% are enrolled in some traditional and some online classes.


          Almost all schools with enrollments of 5,000 students or more, and 80% with enrollments of fewer than 5,000 students now offer distance education. Many of these institutions are adding these courses to help diversify their revenue streams and earn profit with little to no financial risk. What also makes these courses so unique is that they provide institutions with the ability to expand their curriculum, they allow easy access for students to new majors, and they allow students who wish to study abroad a chance to complete required courses from their home campuses.


          One thing that stuck out to me while reading this article was that it didn't mention anything about course subjects for online courses. While I believe some courses apply themselves greatly to being taught online, others do not. For instance, I teach 7th grade math. After I read this article I asked one of my classes if they would like taking an entire math course online instead of me teaching it and all 23 said no! Granted, they're only in 7th grade and this article focuses more on colleges and universities, but I think even at that level math courses would be pretty difficult to take and understand in an online format.


          Another thing I liked is how this article talked about studying abroad and the benefit of online courses. In this case, I think distance education is an awesome thing because not only can students take their required classes to graduate in a whole other country, they can be learning new customs and traditions they wouldn't normally be exposed to while they do it. On the downside, this also made me a little upset with myself that I didn't think about studying abroad when I was in college :(.. 

EDU 6220 - Digital Citizenship Article Summary

Personal technology has rapidly evolved into a necessity in Western society. Nearly 1 in 10 children are receiving a mobile device, such as a smartphone, by the age of 5. Therefore, ensuring that children understand the implications, consequences, and best practices for engaging with technology and social media is vital to protecting their well-being and to their developing workplace skills. To help with giving young people the tools and ethical code to make good choices we have digital citizenship. Teaching digital citizenship keeps young people and their futures safer and allows for positive communications and relationships to grow. Providing students with basic skills early in their education will help them become proficient and comfortable in the digital world.

               In order for students to develop good digital citizenships skills, schools need to provide guidance. In most schools, guidance around personal technology comes in the form of acceptable use policies, which detail what is disallowed on school devices or internet connections. However, students also need to be taught that “what goes online, stays online,” and that the internet keeps record of everything a user posts, even after it’s deleted. Protecting themselves and others before clicking needs to become a reflex.

              A good digital citizenship curriculum encourages parents to also become active participants in teaching and understanding how digital citizenship can help their children engage safely. Schools should invite parents to seminars and to participate in the development of the curriculum so that lessons are consistent at home and in school. All in all, a digital citizenship curriculum must be a core part of all schools at every grade level in order to train students to be safe, well-informed, and responsible digital citizens.

              I am currently in my fifth year as a middle school math teacher and I can honestly say I have never taught or even thought about teaching digital citizenship in my classroom. I guess I just always thought they should know by 7^th grade what is appropriate and not appropriate to do with their devices. However, after reading this article and listening to some discussions in class, I am beginning to realize I have a huge role in making my students responsible digital citizens. One thing that my district is doing that I really like is they are holding an open forum or information session at the high school centered on drugs and alcohol and what parents and the community should know. Although this doesn’t necessarily relate to digital citizenship, I think they could do the same thing related to good use of technology in school and at home. We could have one night a month where parents and students come to a central location and learn about different digital citizenship topics. In my own classroom, I would also like to begin incorporating technology “tips and tricks” into my weekly newsletters that I email out to parents every Friday.

 Reference:

Dotterer, G., Hedges, A., & Parker, H. (2016). Fostering digital citizenship in the classroom. The Education Digest, 82(3), 58-63. Retrieved from http://library.aurora.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1824551273?accountid=26354

RSA #3 (Technology Obstacles)

Link to Article: Technology Obstacles

               Teachers all over the world are facing significant obstacles in their attempts to implement and integrate technology in their classrooms. Regrettably, a lot of these obstacles have gone unchanged in the last 50 years. Through the combination of research, historical documentation, and practitioner perspective, technology integration falls into five categories: time, expertise, access, resources, and support (TEARS).

              Of those five factors, time is the largest obstacle. Teachers need time to collaborate, plan, prepare, and use the technology, time during and outside of school to attend trainings, and time to personally explore, digest, and experiment with technology. As far as expertise goes, teachers must attend hands-on, meaningful, systematic, developmental, and ongoing training. Furthermore, access to computers, computer labs, and other technologies also hinder technology implementation. Adequate staff development, the purchasing, maintenance, and upgrade of software, and the electrical configuration of classrooms is all taken into consideration. According to Leggett and Persichitte (1998), “Time, expertise, and access are often interdependent on resources.” The last critical factor is support. Administrations can best support technology integration by articulating a vision for the implementation, defining a plan for the implementation, and providing a role model of adoption and utilization.

              I found this article to be very interesting because it was written back in 1998, and we are experiencing the same obstacles today in 2017 as they did 20 and even 70 years ago. I feel this goes to show how difficult it can be to actually change these obstacles and turn them into positive attributes. Technology integration is always going to take time to learn and implement, but I think the expertise factor can begin to be addressed with pre-service teachers. College students with education majors should be required to take courses related to using technology in the classroom to help in their future careers. Course that teach them the basics and all the tool available to them. Yes the district they end up in may not have the resources yet, but at least if they decide to go 1:1, these teachers can help train and prepare other staff members.  

Resources:

Leggett, W.P., & Persichitte, K. A. (1998). Blood, Sweat, and Tears: 50 Years of Technology                               Integration Obstacles. TechTrends, 33. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/wFuaCv

RSA #2 (Teachers & Technology)

              Link to Article: Teachers & Technology

              With new media technologies changing the face of our world, the Internet, interactive television viewing, smart phones, and video games are developing at a pace never seen before.  As a result, many educational reformers suggest mastery of these technological tools in academic settings to help prepare students for post-secondary education, workforce employment, and global citizenship. According to Wallace (2012), “With the billions of dollars dedicated to instructional technologies in U.S. schools over the past thirty years, there has been a corresponding expectation that teachers should be using it in the classroom to prepare learners for the world they will be living and working in.” However, in reality, a lot of teachers are not integrating technology into their classrooms because of numerous barriers.

              There are many factors that deter technology use in the classroom: first-order barriers – equipment, resources, and support; second-order barriers – skills, and attitudes; and third-order barriers – school structure and culture. These barriers are unavoidable, unpredictable, and ever-adapting as new innovations are introduced to the classroom setting. First-order barriers are surface-level, behavioral, and dependent on concrete resources such as time, money, and materials. On the other hand, second-order barriers require greater personal investment because they challenge a teacher’s core beliefs and identity in the classroom. Finally, third-order barriers include how a teacher negotiates physical resources and pedagogical beliefs within the school environment. “When barriers layer one upon the other, teachers are faced with persevering through the stumbling blocks or yielding to the status quo” (Wallace, 2012). 

              I really like how this article separated the different barriers of implementing technology in the classroom into three different categories. It goes to show that some barriers cannot be helped by teachers, while others can totally change how a teacher teaches. Out of all three of the categories I think my school and my own teaching style would fall into the second-order barriers. Our school has the resources, all our students are 1:1 now, and the money to provide Internet and technological tools to our students. Our district strongly believes in innovation and using the technology we have available to help our students learn better. However, from all my years in schooling I was never taught how to use technology in a classroom because we didn’t have it available. Therefore, to shift how I learned and how I teach using a whole new approach, would take a lot of planning, time, and passion.

Resource: 

Wallace, K. (2012). Teachers & Technology: Identifying Uses, Barriers, and Strategies to Support Classroom Integration. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/KmqtwB

RSA 1 (Effectiveness of Online Educational Technological Tools)

Link to Article: Online Tools Article

              This article details and examines the usefulness of online educational technological tools for teaching and learning in higher education and the challenges that lie ahead. An online education is an education that is received using a variety of technologies and is considered a “distance education” with an internet-based delivery. Online education is rapidly expanding by leaps and bounds across all aspects of education – from corporate training to higher education to PK-12 educational settings. As a result of online learning, teacher effectiveness in meeting students’ learning needs has improved, and students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills have been enhanced as well. According to Mbuva (2015), “by 2007 the increase in online education had grown from the 2.35 million online students to 3.9 million students who were taking online classes” (p. 115).

              Some of the technologies that have been proven effective in driving teaching and learning to higher heights are Blackboard, Moodle, Desire 2 Learn, Angel, WebCT, Skype, and Webex. These Learning Management Systems are part of the information communication technologies (ICT), which have constituted e-learning and enhanced teaching and learning in higher education. While the advantages of convenience, time efficiency, accessibility, dynamic interactions, and creativity help promote online learning, there are several challenges that still lie ahead. For example, equity and accessibility to technology, hidden costs, technical problems, a need for self-discipline in students, and lack of adequate training for faculty to name a few. In the end, Learning Management Systems, when used as online educational technological skills, are enhancing education and making teaching and learning more meaningful and easily communicated than ever before.

              While I certainly agree that e-learning is quickly become a trend in our world today and that there are several advantages to receiving an online education, I think it also limits face-to-face communication, collaboration, and relationship building skills. I think a major part of school is students forming relationships with their peers and teachers. When teachers have established relationships with their students, the students feel more comfortable making mistakes and they just create a more welcoming environment. I also believe it limits students’ skills of communicating and collaborating face-to-face with one another. They’re so used to texting or emailing someone that some have forgotten how to have an actual conversation!

Resource:

Mbuva, J. M. (2015). Examining the effectiveness of online educational technological tools for teaching and learning and the challenges ahead. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 15(2), 113-127. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/rG4V5U    

Exploring Integer Addition Lesson Plan

For the entire lesson on "Exploring Integer Addition," including the podcasts, screencast, digital assessment, and rationales, follow the link below!

Digital Media Lesson Plan

Lesson 2 Notes

Exploring Integer Addition Exit Slip

Lesson: Exploring Integer Addition Exit Slip

Intended Audience: 7^th Grade Students

Type of Assessment: Digital Exit Slip using Google Forms/Quiz

Objectives: After completing this exit slip, students will be able to solve problems involving addition of integers on a vertical and horizontal number line. Students will also be able to create real-world scenarios related to integers, solve problems related to real-world integer scenarios, and solve multi-step integer addition problems. (7.NS.A.1)

Rationale: The purpose of this assessment is to see how well students understood the notes, podcasts, and screencast related to exploring integer addition. The exit slip is composed of 10 questions with question types including multiple choice, short answer, and true/false. This is to help ensure the validity and reliability of the assessment. The question types are not only recall questions, but also application of knowledge questions to help promote higher-order learning. For example, there are some questions where students need to solve an integer addition problem like (-2) + 5, but there is also a question that has students using a number line to set up a multi-step equation involving integers using what they learned from the lesson. Each question also gives feedback at the end of the assessment. The corrective feedback for each question helps students progress towards their goal of whether they’ve mastered the content or not, and it provides them with the skills they may need to go back and revisit.

Exploring Integer Addition Exit Slip