Distance Education

Distance Education

The websites we looked at in this assignment were quite interesting and informative. Before this, I had not thought too much about distance education, then upon learning more about it, I came to realize that distance education has helped to shape my education.

While I experienced distance education at a collegiate level, it is now readily available for younger ages and also for online alternative high schools. When professors use blackboard or WebCT or similar designed programs, they are allowing for students to communicate together on topics and discussions. It is a very useful tool for students to help teach and enlighten their peers while still demonstrating what they know and think as an individual. These sites are also valuable for student teacher connections. Teachers are able to post announcements and assignments on sites like this to keep their students up to date and understanding of what is expected out of the class.

Distance Education also allows students of all ages to take a class that may not be offered at their traditional school, or does not fit into their schedule. These online classrooms are similar to traditional classrooms in that students and the instructor are able to communicate and sometimes even interact with digital video technology. The difference is that as a student enrolled in an online class, you may never meet you instructor or peers face to face if video technology is not available.

Students who struggle with the traditional school setting may greatly benefit from an online based school like the ones we have looked at. Washington State has its own insight school designed for exactly this purpose. It allows students to achieve and learn at their own levels and on their own time.

Distance Educations could be considered an alternative to homeschooling. This gives the same individual learning time that homeschooling does, yet provides interaction, discussion and participation from other students doing the same thing. Online schooling allows students to continue to build their social foundations and communication skills more that homeschooling in that the students are discussion and relating to their peers via the internet.

While distance education can be a very powerful tool, it also has its downsides. Students who learn best though example and hands on work may find this style of learning to be a great challenge. When the classroom is completely virtual, you loose the visual aids and demonstrations given by the instructor. Perhaps this is why we see most distance programs offered at an older age.

Students who is kept on a fairly level playing field in terms of academic materials and resources. When computers and the Internet become involved we start to see evidence of the digital divide taking place. struggle with technology or do not have easy access to technology do not have that same advantage as those who do. In a traditional classroom, the teacher provides most of the supplies so the class as a whole.

With online schooling, real life experience can be factored out. In a traditional classroom, students have to learn to deal with differences between themselves and their peers and instructor. They also learn to deal with distraction. When students turn to an independent, individual learning program, they loose those real life examples.

This relates to the next con I found when it comes to distance education. Student’s social network is limited. With online classes, there is typically a space for students to discuss questions and the material with other student’s, however this is not the same as a face to face style study group. With programs like these, they are not able to work though things and ask or respond to questions in real time. It is more of an email discussion it seems.

Overall, this assignment was very interesting. I feel that distance education can play an important role in even a traditional classroom. It is also great for students looking to expand on their learning and take a course outside of the traditional curriculum they might be learning. On the flip side however, distance education can limit the type of students in the class making it difficult for all students to participate in these courses. Also, they limit student’s interaction with other students. Face to face interaction with people who you agree with as well as people you disagree with is an important life skill and is often limited with some of these distance programs.

Emerging Technologies Project

Through this project,I learned a lot more about the current and upcomming technologies avaliable for use in our classrooms. It is pretty amazing how many ways technology can be incorporated into the classroom and used to enhance and further develop a child's learning and understanding on a wide variety of topics.

The first emerging technology I found to be interesting was a project spectrum from google. This project was interesting because it focused on developing and increasing the learning of autistic students. The project allows students with autism to take advantage of their visual and spatial gifts. This allows then to succeed in something that they are naturally good at and allows them to develop a sense of pride and success.

Another emerging techonolgy that we have been using, especially in this class is blogging. By posting blogs students are allowed to reflect on and comment on assignments, readings and classroom activities. It is a way for both students and teachers to communicate in a safe and educational mannerj regarding studetns thoughts and understanding.

Apple has also been developing a useful technological advencement in classrooms. They have begun to incorporate more of an individualized learning style. They are working to create more computer carts for schools where every student has access to their own computer for classroom activities as well as individual learning. This gives students access to computers at a young age so that they can begin to learn to use them and they can be useful instructional tools in their educational future.

Finally, I found that WSU has set up an online school for k-8. I found this site to be very interesting and a potentially useful tool for homeschooling parents. For younger children, I do not forsee them using this site for themselves because it requires them to gather materials and prepare for lessons and they would be too young to do that. Parents on the other hand can use the activities and projects to further enhance their childs learning and experiences. The downfall that I can see to this type of learning is that there is not any interaction with other students or group work required, that is unless a group of homeschooling parents collaborate to teach their students as a small group.

Overall, there are many types of emereging technologies avaliable for use both at home and in the classroom. This project had really helped to develop my understanding of avaliable resources to use as well as different methods to teach students of all learning styles and abilities.

Engaging Students with Concept Mapping

In competing the concept mapping project, I learned a lot more about the various ways that concept mapping can be applied into the classroom. Students can use the maps to organize their ideas for a project or paper, break down large ideas into several smaller ones or to demonstrate knowledge of a specific area or topic.

Concept mapping can be helpful in engaging students in their leanring in that it is a visual activity to organize ones thoughts and ideas. For students who struggle with forming thoughts and things in their heads, the concept map provides a way for them to visually and actively place the information in a pleasing and organized manner.

Concept mapping may change the way students can demonstrate that they understand a concept or topic by mapping out the information. They would have to recognize the main point of the concept, then organize the supporing information and details around it, connecting them to the main idea and other supporing details.

Blogs in Education

Using Yahoo, Dogpile and AskJeeves, I ran a search for Educational Blogs. The results that I found were all very similar regardless of which search engine. Most of the pages that popped up were the most popular Educational Blogs that are visited on the web, so it would make sense that they are commonly pulled up on these multiple search engines.
Today, blogs are being used for students, teachers and other educators to be able to interact with one another and better their own education and the education of their students. Teachers are able to communicate with other teachers in order to develop better lesson plans and learn from one another’s teaching methods. Also, students are able to access the educational blogs to further their education and get a better understanding of topics or lessons they are working on. The blogs offer information, exercises and strategies which may help students who are struggling to get a better understanding of the tasks they are asked to perform. Blogs are also resourceful to parents in similar ways that they are for students. Parents looking for tools and resources to further help their children’s learning are able to access these educational blogs and communicate with teachers and other parents and students who have experience with similar things.
RSS readers and aggregators are resources that sort information scanned and contained in multiple sites at once. They can sort the sites and resources found by title, brief description or by a combination of the two. I think that I would probable use both, but I like the way that aggregators sort the findings into a time-ordered list.

WebQuests

Webquests will be a very helpful tool when it comes to teaching and planning my own lessons. Before this class, I had not heard of them and would never have thought to use something like this in my classroom. I really liked the fact that it is avaliable all over the world, that way students are getting a more universal and equivalent education. I also liked how teachers are able to alter existing lesson plans and adapt them into their own unit and to fit their class. This will be a very nice resource when we are busy learning the ropes of the classroom and planning our own units. One thought that I had for a webquest would be in the area of social studies. You could use a webquest to teach students about their own state or to help them learn about the fifty states.

Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences in Technology

Technology has no doubt become an important tool in todays world. We use computers and the internet daily for both educational and communication related purposes. Though computers are used for a variety of purposes, their importance in the classroom is becomming more and more important. Technology is supported by many of Gardner's multiple intelligences and has become an essential learning tool for many students.

Verbal-linguistic intelligence is enhanced though the new and publications that are posted everyday around the world. Similar to how once newspapers increased ones knowledge of the world as well as their vocabulary, computers now do that too.

Science and math can be made colorful and interactive on the internet. Games are created to assist children in these subject areas that are as fun as their video games at home, but that serve an important educational role. Making these more challenging subjects fun by turning them into interactive games demonstrates the mathematical-logical intelligence.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligance is supported in technology in the way that games such as tetris and "pong" require some motor skill and ability to react quickly to the game. Also, science websites where you can "create" simple machines online and see how they work is also kinsethetic.

Students in todays generation have grown up with television being a major part of their daily lives. Because of this, students have become very visual learners, learning best from video, slides and powerpoint presentations. Techology allows for many different types of visual stimulation to occur in the classroom from a slide show to the cameras that can display printed images and reflect them onto the screen for everyone to see.

As you can see, technology is an essential educational tool and multiple intellegences are supported and developed through its use.

My first post

My name is Jessica Wrigley and though I did not initially come to WSU for the education program, I quickly realized that teaching had been a dream of mine for quite some time. When I was little I always had a school set up im my basement for my dolls and stuffed animals. I hope to go back to the west side after I get my degree and teach at the thrid or fourth grade level, perhaps even in the district that I attended elementary though highschool in.