Distance Education

1) 5 Pros of virtual schools:

1) Students can go at their own pace
2) Students can set their own schedule
3) Teachers are available online to help
4) Students with health issues who cannot go to public school can go to school online
5) Many virtual schools provide laptop computers for their students to use

5 Cons of virtual schools:
1) No interaction with peers and other students
2) No personal interaction with their teacher
3) For auditory learners, online courses could be extremely difficult
4) Student have to have internet access in order to attend
5) Lack of other perspectives through a social environment

2) Readiness of students to participate in distance delivery:
Students would have to have free time every night to spend studying, a quiet and safe area in which to use their computer and the stamina to continue with their studies. The most important thing is evidence they will try their best and not blow off school. Since there is no one to hold them accountable, many students might slack off.

3) Teaching in virtual schools:
One must have a teaching degree, fill out an online application and submit personal references to the virtual school to become a teacher. It is also required through many of the schools that the teachers contact their students through email, web chats and telephone calls on a daily or weekly basis.

4) Virtual Schools might be useful for some classroom teachers, but I do not think I would use them in my own teaching. They are basically different ways to home school children and I do not think home schooling is as beneficial as public school. Students need to have social interactions with their peers and teachers to have a complete education. Online virtual schools have some functions that may be useful such as interactive web field trips and such. Students can view interesting places which teach them things they would not learn if they could not view it. Like I said before, these things are interesting and may be useful for some classroom teachers, but I would not use them.

Engaging Students with Concept Mapping Activities

1. Concept mapping could have great influences on student learning within a classroom. Difficult concepts to understand such as complex math topics, plate tectonics, or the formation of the United States can be displayed with this technology. By setting up the map with arrows, colors and descriptions, the student may gain an understanding of the main points of the topic and not feel overwhelmed as if I explained it verbally. Students often feel overwhelmed when they are given a lot of information at once. Concept maps allow a great summary tool to display the information in the simplest way possible to eliminate this frustration. These maps also help to ensure that all learning styles are being taught to. The visual learners will benefit from the pictures and visual cues connecting the ideas, the auditory learners may benefit from the addition of sounds and explaining of the map, and the kinesthetic learners may learn best by the sorting of items in an interactive concept map. The maps may also benefit the student learning by displaying visual examples of the concept. If learning about bears, the map would include pictures of different types. The students could learn what different types look like and internalize that image for future recognition.

2. I do not think it would take much time to feel comfortable with concept mapping. I tend to get frustrated with the smallest tasks so I would be a struggle for me at first. The amount of effort it takes for the smallest task, say including a picture from the internet, seems to be way higher than it should be. That is my own personal problem though. As compared to other technologies, this program is very user-friendly and I'm sure I would have minor problems with it. It would definitely be worth the effort to learn how to use this technology. It is always important to use variety in one's teaching, so testing this out in a classroom would be beneficial.


Here is an example.

Teacher Web Reflections

1. A class website would be a useful tool in my future classroom for many reasons. I could provide links to related websites that compliment ideas and concepts discussed in class. For example, if we are learning about the planets and space, I could provide links to the NASA website and other sites with real pictures of the planets taken from space shuttles. These sites would enhance the student learning through pictures and a grasp of the real world application. The WebQuest is a useful tool. I would use WebQuest in my classroom for certain assignments that are often confusing to teach. If I want to explain how to do a project, I can easily write the steps out in a efficient manner through a Webquest on a teacher web. The third way in which I would use a teacher web is with the homework page. I would support student learning by providing their homework information on the teacher web and informing their parents about it. The parents could check online to see if their children had homework and help them progress in their studies. This process overall helps me as the teacher by ensuring that the students are completing the work to improve as a learner.

2. Students could use a class web site to enhance their learning through the use of technology. It is important that students understand the different technologies used in the world today and they will gain experience with them through the class web site. They will learn how to access sites with streaming videos, type with efficiency, use search engines for research, and navigate through different pages on the internet. All these skills will aid them in their future studies and place in the fast moving world of today. Another way in which the class site will enhance their learning is through the web resources page. The teacher can provide useful links to educational and fun web sites that help students learn. Such sites include NASA for kids, White House for kids, National Geographic for Kids and even fun Web 2.0 sites such as Webkinz. This sites have multitudes of educational information, games and pictures to aid in student learning and they are easily accessible through the class site.


3. I believe the two strongest features or page types within the Teacher Web system were the ability to write test questions using a variety of different question types and the class grading system. Teachers can write multiple choice, short answer, true/false and essay questions and choose whether or not the students can see their results. The site can email them straight to the teacher or the students can see the results for their own improvement. It is really easy to write the test questions with this layout. You have free range as a teacher to be creative with your assessment and easily grade them. The class grading system is extremely useful as well. Students and parents always want to know the updated grades as soon as possible. With this application, they can easily access the class grades through the class web site without asking me as the teacher. It saves time for everyone involved. The teacher can set up the grading system so students have to enter an ID to check their grades. This ensures privacy amongst the class which is very important. The students can then see the grades for all their class assignments as I update them.

Blogs and Wikis in Education

1) There are many interesting ways in which to use blogs and wikis in an educational atmosphere. An example of this would be blogs that are meant for teachers. There are many of these such blogs that are written by teachers for other teachers to read and get ideas from. These blogs can also be used for other teachers to communicate and help one another with any classroom problems that may arise. This seems like a very useful tool, especially for new teachers who may need extra help with their classroom.

There are many examples of wikis that are open to communities. Sort of like a community center where the citizens can see online calendars of events in their town. Anyone can add events, so this is a great way to see a variety of events in your own back yard. People can upload photos of local events and help to plan new events. Maybe the town wants to clean up an old lot to make a local vegetable garden. They could introduce the idea on the local wiki and the rest of the community could brainstorm ideas to get it done. Students can read this to learn about what is going on in their community.

Another example is to use wikis for a specific class. There are many example online such as "Adams News Wiki" which is actually run by a class of middle school students. It teaches them how to use technology while allowing other students around the world access to what they are doing as a class. Parents, other students from their school, and even other teachers can read what the class is doing. They can upload pictures of projects, turn in homework assignments, or other educational things. It is a great tool for the students as well as those who wish to read it.

2) RSS readers/aggregators can be used in classrooms to update students on certain breaking news. Maybe the class is doing a unit on global warming. The teacher can set up an aggregator that displays news articles having to do with global warming. The students can stay informed about current events surrounding that topic which helps them gain a real-world grasp of the concept. When doing a unit on the Iditarod race in Alaska, the teacher can put the race website on an aggregator to update with the standings. The students can see who is in the lead by the hour.

3) Two pros of using blogs and wikis in the classroom include:
- Students gaining experience and confidence with technology. The more they use it, the easier it becomes to navigate through different tasks. In our generation the interent is extremely important. If students can comfortably use these technologies from an early age, they will have a more successful future.
- Students gain a better understanding of real-world applications and how school relates to the rest of the world. If they are doing a unit on butterflies, they can go on an educational wiki and read about another class doing a similar unit. They can compare their projects and maybe do a joint project on a larger topic. They could map the populations of monarch butterflies in a certain area of the world.

Two cons of using blogs and wikis in the classroom include:
- The teacher has no control over what is written on them. Perhaps the class is reading an educational blog for a whole semester and is learning a lot about a certain subject. That blogger might decide to write something that is inappropriate or not connected to their lesson. It could be distracting to search through the blog to find relevant information related to lessons in the classroom.
-If the teacher/students are relying on information from the blog/wiki for a daily lesson and the internet isn't working, they will be out of luck. Blogs and websites shut down for a variety of reasons and there is no guarantee that it will be working on a certain day. The school network crashes sometimes as well. If the students are updating their information daily and they are unable to one day, they may mess up their whole project.

Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom

1.
The intelligence that I am strongest in is intrapersonal. In fact, I scored a 100 in this category so I am extremely strong with it. I am also very strong musically. Some core characteristics include affective and ethical awareness, self-regulation and metacognition for my intrapersonal intelligence. Being ethically and affectively aware means I am aware of my feeling and attitudes as well as my principles and morals. Self-regulation and metacognition go together because they mean I can monitor my thoughts and thought processes. For my musical intelligence, the core characteristics are heightened listening ability, seeking patterns in all things, expressing experiences with patterns and thinking musically rather than verbally. The characteristics that best show my learning style are all of the intrapersonal ones for sure and the heightened listening ability and seeking patterns. When learning, I am constantly aware of my thought processes and attitudes about what I am doing. I hold very strong feelings about everything I experience so I have a mental dialougue running through my head. If there is any music around me I pick that up over everything else. I could be in a room full of screaming people with many distractions, but I can hum the song that is playing in a corner of the room. Seeking patterns is something that I do to make sense of things. It is a natural thing for me and I don't even think about it before doing it.

2.
Students with a intrapersonal intelligence are comfortable with themselves, express strong like and dislike towards activities, sense own strengths and weaknesses, show confidence in their abilities, set realistic goals, follow instincts, express sense of fairness and relate to others based on sense of self. Basically, these students like to take charge of their own learning. They do best when presented with activities involving student choices. Students with musical intelligence are particularly drawn to sound, pick up on patterns, enjoy moving to rhythm, pick up phrases in foreign languages easily and respond to cadence in language.

3.
I will support students with intrapersonal intelligence by providing different options on projects. Instead of saying all students must write a 3 page esssay on a certain topic, I will provide different options such as drawing a storybook, orally presenting, or making a collage. Providing these students time to reflect on their learning is also important so journal writing will be a part of my curriculum as well as self-assessment on their projects explaining why they should recieve a certain grade. For students with musical intelligence I will try to include music whenever possible. If learning about another culture, I will play music from that culture to the class. I will encourage them to find patterns in their writing and lessons we are doing in class and to further expand on those patterns. Simply playing music while we are working on projects may help these students to succeed in their learning. Learning foreign languages, and how to read music are other activities that will encourage this intelligence.

4.
Technologies that support intrapersonal intelligence include journals, diaries, surveys, voting machines, learning centers, class discussion, digital portfolios and self-assessment. Technologies that support muscial intelligence include pattern blocks, puzzles, musical instruments, headphones, digital sounds, multimedia presentations, and CD ROM disks.

5.
Since I am of strong intrapersonal and musical intelligence, I will struggle to present things to students in manners that are not supported by these two styles. I may not have a strong understanding of interpersonal, kinesthetic or verbal intelligence but must find ways to connect lessons to students that are strong in those areas. Including projects that connect to all intelligences is the key. Activities that involve going outside and looking at plants connect to the naturalist where using lots of diagrams and pictures would benefit the visual students. Refraining from one simple style of teaching is the way to go. Since I am aware of how the different intelligences learn and act in a classroom, I can now shape my teaching methods to accommodate all nine of them.

Welcome

Hey there.
My name is Sarah and this is my blog. I have created it for a teaching class at Washington State University. Woot woot.