What did you learn this week that struck you particularly important or interesting? Has your thinking changed as a result of what you learned this week?
This week, I had a deep dive into the models of online learning in state virtual schools and in the management and operations of online programs. Frankly, though my job is closely knitted to education in US, being a Singaporean, I have little knowledge about the US education system. Thus, ploughing through "Keeping Pace" was tedious, for there are many alien terms that I need to check out before reading futher... state schools, charter schools, federal, for-profit, run by consortium, legislature, appropriation, multi-district, SEA, LEA... ... mind boggling!
I like the "attributes of online programs" by Watson and Gemin. Going through the "issues" and "variables" under each attributes is like reading a rubric. This has somehow made various aspects of online learning measurable, which is certainly useful in helping the management team of online schools make informed decisions. Furthermore, the 5 areas (curriculum devt & course quality, teacher mgt, student support, technology and program evaluation) can been applied to running a physical school, not just online schools!
Finallly, I would like to point out one thing that struck me most when I researched on Michigan Virtual School - "You can learn virtually anything" as long as there is access to computer (of a certain specs) and to the Internet.
So, given improvment made in managing and operating online schools and gorwing enrollments over time, I think one key factor that make or break this momentum is connectivity. Online learning is bascially made possible by internet connection and computer. And, to have a good experience learning online, I guess a good connection and a computer of "decent" specs are required. As such, what happens to those districts with poor connectivity? How would online learning reach out to people who cannot afford computers? So, they will not get to enjoy the benefits of online learning?
In my job, I visit many developing countries. In fact, governments propose to set up project to promote online learning, especially in rural areas or areas which lack teachers in specific subjects. And, in such projects, the key determinant is again connectivity. Just today, as my colleague made a presentation on using web apps, etc., the very challenge of connectivity is again, brought up. I wonder if there is any resolution to this challenge? Or, is the answer simply, no connectivity, no online learning and no cloud computing....
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This is absolutely a big issue. In the IB courses that I look at, there are students in places like Indonesia and Cuba who really struggle to get access and often use dial-up. This then raises the question of how best to design your courses--to make them usable by the students with the least access (so no Flash, for instance, and therefore no simulations) or not. This then raises the issues of literacy, because those with the least access tend to be the least literate and yet the speediest load time are for text. So it's a balancing act that you might want to watch out for as you look at different courses.
ReplyDeleteFor your research project, you might want to interview different schools about their philosphies on this subject--if they have them!
Ops, actually, I've yet read up on the class schedule to know what the research project is about :( Looks like I'm quite behind time... shall do it this weekend. But given that I'm rather unfamiliar with the US education system, there is going to be a lot of things I need to research on in order to relate better to the context in some of the articles!
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