Week 12 Case Study: Virtual School

I do not know who should be responsible to pay for students who attend virtual high school. It makes sense, with all the benefits a virtual high school can offer that a face-to-face one lacks, that state governments should provide that option, especially for students with disabilities. However, state governments already provide high schools and resources within the schools to help students with special needs. With this in mind, it is logical that students should have to pay tuition for a virtual school, similarly to attending a private school. I do think, that perhaps a solution would be to charge a tuition, but for government financial aid and scholarships to be made available to students who cannot afford the tuition.

I do not think that every school should be required to have a virtual school component. Some schools, especially smaller schools, can hardly afford to offer a variety of programs within their school, let alone incorporating a virtual option. A virtual high school component should be an optional part of public/private high schools, but not required. Schools can, however, look into partnering with another school or alternate virtual school that can be recommended to students with special needs.

As we, as educators, want to provide all of our students with equitable opportunities, I think all parents should be informed of the option for virtual school. This could be done through a newsletter, the counseling department, or an individual teacher. Whatever method of communicating this option is best for the school can be used to alert parents of the alternative schooling. In keeping with classroom equity, the high school may need to accommodate students' needs for internet, a computer, etc. However, this should be a very viable option.

I do not think that teachers need a degree in teaching online courses, because they are already required to take classes, such as this one, that equip them with the basic knowledge needed. I do think, however, that some sort of training should be required before teaching an online class. A special degree seems to be more than necessary, but some training in specialized teaching (online) is necessary and best for student success.

I really like what the case study brought up as a benefit to virtual education. Generally, technology like this is focused on students with disabilities or gifted students. Virtual schooling can help any student whether they have a special need or not. Something as simple as more flexible school hours providing time for a student to work and help out his family can make a big difference. I wonder, if virtual high school as an option was made affordable for any student, if we could see a decrease in drop-out rates. Often, students do want to learn, but environmental factors get in the way and influence their ability to learn, even if they do not have any "disability." This does directly relate to the question about who is responsible for providing/financing virtual school as an option. I really do not know, but it is obviously an important question to consider as we consider all the potential benefits and pitfalls of virtual high school.

My favorite tool is the ipad (I now want one). There is just so much you can do with it. A close second, would be the pulse smart pens. However, I like the ipad because it has similar applications on it that allow a lot of the same capabilities as the smart pen.

I would not use the flip camera. There is not really anything about it that makes it better than another piece of technology. A digital camera or even something like an ipad has the same quality of video recording along with much more. The only benefit I see that the flip camera has over other similar technologies, is that the thumb drive is right there, making it easy to load to a computer. Other than that one plus, I think it is a waste of money and technology resources.

To use most of this technology, I would want to practice with it to master it and decide the best way to use it in class. I would use the smart board and wolf vision tomorrow, because I feel like I am most familiar and comfortable with these. The smart board is very basically a way to combine a white board and a projector connected to a computer. I could easily incorporate that into a classroom tomorrow.

I would use the smart board as a way to brainstorm paper ideas with students. After we brainstorm (and I write the ideas on the smart board) I could save the ideas to my computer and compile a list for students. Students would not need to take notes, but could instead be fully engaged in coming up with ideas while I take notes for them. Given more time, I would love to come up with more ways to use much of these technologies in my own classroom, because I think they have a lot of potential benefits.

Week 10 Case Study: Podcasting

As a teacher, preparing for podcasting does not require as much for my end of it, but would require preparing students for it. Because of programs such as Vocaroo and Podomatic, creating a podcast is not hard for me to do: I simply need internet access and a microphone. Preparing students for podcasting may be much more difficult, though. First, before preparing for podcasting, I must determine how useful it would be for my classroom. Secondly, it is very dangerous to assume that every one of my students will have access to an mp3 player, ipod, computer, or any other device on which to listen (or view) a podcast. The biggest requirement I see is simply making sure that it is a feasible means of learning for all my students.

There are many potential detriments to consider in regards to podcasting. I have no way of knowing that students actually listen to the podcast; they could be missing instruction, and I have no way of knowing that. Also, the availability of listening whenever they want eliminates the need to come to class, causing a loss of interaction. On the flip side, the availability to listen to a lecture that is missed could be a benefit if students are absent. Another benefit is the use of podcasts to communicate with parents or substitute teachers.

If a teacher uses a podcast, students are obligated to decide whether they want to attend class in a traditional way or if they would rather listen to the podcast later. Choosing to utilize podcasting puts more responsibility on students. I think students are also obligated to inform the teacher if there is a way to use a podcast to best promote their success. Is the podcast a really helpful study tool? Is it easier to take notes with because it can be paused? Questions like this are important for students to think about in order to help the teacher help them.

I do not think that in a high school (or lower) class attendance should be optional. I can see perhaps taking that into consideration for college students, but if attendance is optional in a high school class, problems will arise. I feel that implementing podcasts as an alternative to in-class lectures is very dangerous and should not be considered for primary or secondary education.

I think the best way for me to integrate a podcast into a classroom is to record lectures and only make them available to students when they are absent. When a students is absent from class, they are expected to make up work but still miss out on so much instruction; a recorded podcast can help with that problem. Also, pre-recording a lesson for a sub to play in class could be really beneficial. When I was in high school, a sub meant it was an easy day to do a generally meaningless task to fill the hour because the substitute may not have been or felt qualified to actually teach. By recording the lesson for my students, class time is not lost or wasted just because I cannot be present.

Podcasts

1) Vocaroo and Podomatic are both super easy to use; however, Podomatic required many more steps. If all I wanted was an audio recording, I would choose Vocaroo, rather than Podomatic in order to save time. Podomatic, on the other hand, offers the availability to upload photos, etc., giving me more control in how my final podcast functions. If it would benefit my podcast to have visuals, I would use Podomatic. Both are, as I said earlier, very easy to use, so I could see myself using either tool.

2) A podcast could be very helpful in communication within a classroom in a number of ways. It could be extremely valuable to a substitute. For example, the sub could listen to step by step instructions for finding something for class while actually finding it rather than having to keep looking at typed or hand-written instructions.

Also, parents and students alike could listen to (or view) podcasts through a class blog, etc., for information on what is happening in class. This is more effective than the newsletter idea, because it prevents the newsletter from getting lost on the way home.

A podcast would also be a great way to teach a lesson if a sub was not prepared. Rather than leaving the sub with a list of instructions for an alternative lesson, I could record my instruction (that a sub may not feel comfortable teaching), and students could listen to it in class. I could also record classes so that absent students have an easy way to catch up on what they missed.

Podcasts have lots of potential uses, depending on the imagination of the person using them to benefit communication.