Distance Education

Distance Education

After exploring the virtual school web sites, I discovered some of the pros of having virtual schools. One pro is that there are no set class times, so students can have the freedom to choose when to complete their assignments and readings; basically work at one’s own pace. Another pro is that there seems to be more and more reputable and accredited programs, so the availability is a pro for distance education options. Distance education programs also allow students to be in their own learning environment that works the best for them individually. Sometimes school settings are very difficult learning environments for students, so this self-directed learning environment could be an important pro. With distance education programs, students do not have to leave their home, which is a pro when considering bad weather conditions and other problems that get in the way of traveling. Lastly, students can complete their online course as long as they have a computer, which is a pro because this means that the course(s) can be taken almost anywhere, which is very flexible.
Along with the pros to distance learning, there are also cons. Some of the cons that I found are that, for one, there are no teachers available face-to-face. If a student’s learning style requires personalized attention from teachers, this could be very difficult for them. Another con is that distance education requires new skills and technology, so if somebody is not computer-savy and/or unwilling to learn new technology, then this may not be the best option for their education. With distance education, there is no social interaction except through emails and chats, which can be considered a con for many people. Distance education can also be troubling for those who are procrastinators, or those who need an extra push to get their work done, because this form of education is very self-directed. Lastly, there is not much support available for students and they are expected to find their own resources, which can be very daunting to some.
In order to determine the readiness of students to participate in distance delivery, students would need to be computer-savy or willing to learn. They would need to have a good understanding of technology and computers and would need to be aware of the pros and cons. In order for students to be read to participate in this form of education, they would need to be self-directed and proactive. I think that distance education would be very tough for young students in elementary school, because social interaction is very important at this age, as well as guided instruction from teachers.
In order to be able to teach in a virtual school, I would need to have some teaching experience. I would also need to have experience with computers and technology. I think that to teach in a virtual school, I would need to have a lot of time, because I think that this career could be time consuming and frustrating at times, considering technological difficulties that can arise. If I were to teach in a virtual school, I would want to have a lot of knowledge about computers, because if not, I think I would feel incredibly frustrated when something goes wrong with my computer.

Emerging Technologies Assignment

Emerging Technologies Project

T&L 445:03

Kristen Eirich

November 14, 2007

Gruenewald













Eirich 1

Emerging Technologies Project

The first emerging technology that I am reviewing is the use of mobile phone cameras in the classroom. These mobile phones are basically cellular phones with the camera capability. With mobile phone cameras, students can transmit the pictures and take them anywhere. These camera phones can allow students to collect evidence and scientific data, visually express ideas, identify things and people, and a multitude of other things that pertain to learning.
This technology could impact my teaching and preparation in both negative and positive ways. Camera phones could positively affect my teaching because they could be a way to effectively teach material, while allowing the students to have some fun and use their creativity while still learning. On the negative side, camera phones could create a lot of distraction in the classroom. These camera phones could be used by the students in very inappropriate ways, and could easily distract students from the material being taught. In order for students to get the full benefits of using camera phones in class, there would need to be very strict rules when using them, and very severe consequences if they are misused. Camera phones could impact how my future students learn by allowing a more visual take on learning. They could also impact their interaction and engagement in the classroom by comparing pictures, sharing different ideas represented through pictures, and basically approach learning through pictorial evidence that can be fun and interesting for students.
The next technology that I am reviewing is instant messaging in the classroom. Instant messaging is a tool that supports informal communication, and has been sought as a no-no in schools, because it has been thought of as distracting and useless. Like mobile phones cameras, instant messaging could be misused and abused by students. However, there are many ways that instant messaging can be very beneficial to teachers and students alike.
First, instant messaging can be very beneficial to hearing impaired students. This group of students benefit from instant messaging because it allows them to communicate in real time and use instant messaging as a tool to facilitate communication with their teachers without the help from a interpreter. This can lead to more engagement and interaction in the classroom. Instant messaging can also impact my teaching and preparation by creating easier ways to assess hearing impaired students and where they are in their learning development. Students with disabilities can be challenging for teachers because it can be hard to assess their learning. For students without disabilities, instant messaging could be useful for online discussions about topics pertaining to the classroom, and could also allow students to get automated feedback from assignments By using instant messaging in the classroom, teachers and students could have an easier time communicating and learning.
The last technology that I would like to review is the FLY pentop. The FLY pentop is a computer device the size and shape of a pen. The new "pentop computer" works with a special brand of electronic paper that lets students interact with their own drawings. Using the magic-marker sized device, students can write a word in English, then hear the word translated via a special voice synthesizer to Spanish; draw a piano keyboard, then listen to the notes played back to them by tapping the keys with the pen; or make a calculator that performs mathematical operations by touching the pen to a combination of handwritten digits.
The FLY pentop could benefit my teaching and my preparation because this device could help me reach out to the students who struggle through school, because they lack motivation. Al Johnson, a technology director for the Jefferson Parish Schools states, “It has so many applications, and we're providing so much--like calculators and workbooks--that we can condense it into one device..Whenever you can make a child feel like something is special just for them, they want to use it. It's a valuable tool (Murray, 2005).” With that, I think that the pentop could benefit students because it has organization features, as well as learning games available. I think that this device is so new and advanced that it would excite students and create a new eagerness to learn and build organizational habits.

Teacher Web

I enjoyed correcting my peers' teacher webs, and I think it gave me a lot of new, good ideas of what to add to my own. I was very impressed at how well my classmates did, and how creative they got, especially with the additional three pages. It was really fun to get to take a look.
One person did student of the week, which was done very nicely, and I thought it was interesting and clever. Another person did classroom pictures, and I thought that was also interesting and a great idea for a classroom website.
Knowing what I know now, I would be more clever and unique with my teacher web, and have more pictures; the pictures make the site much more interesting! I would also not stick to one topic on every page; for instance, I have an astronomy theme, but knowing now, it is more interesting to have a few different topics. I am sure this will happen as soon as I have my own class.
I honestly think teacher web is great, however I wish that for teachers, there was examples of fun ideas and activities for them to add to their sites. Sometimes I feel I lack creativity, but with examples I become very inspired and more excited about teacher web. That is the one thing that I would like to see teacher web do differently.

Blogs in Education

When I did a search for "educational blogs," I found that the three search engines I used were very similar in their results. I used msn, google, and yahoo. All three produced many of the same websites, however the sites weren't listed in the exact same order. I think that yahoo and google were more similar than msn, however they all resulted similarly.

After exploring a few of the links from my search, I found that blogs (K-12) come in helpful for teachers to share with other teachers their ideas and new technology that they have found innovative in the classroom. Another way that these blogs are being used is to share pod casts; ones that can be shown in the classroom, or even just for the educator's purpose. Lastly, I found it interesting as well as a good idea that blogs are being used to tell inspirational stories that occur in the classroom, and encourage teachers and students everywhere. Without these blogs, such worth-telling, uplifting stories would not be shared, when really they should.

I found that RSS readers provide news updates from a website in a simple form for your computer, and one reads these files in a program, which is a aggregator. An aggregator collects news from various websites and provides it in a simple form. These are both quite similar, and I could see myself using both to help cut-down time when searching for something specific on the web. When I am in my classroom, I think by using both the aggregators and RSS readers, it will help me better sort through information, and find the best sites for what I may be looking for at a given time. It could also benefit my students when they are learning, researching, or working on a project because it would cut down search time, and allow them to find good resources.

I think that by blogging and using RSS readers in K-12 classrooms could impact both the teachers and students. For the students, these blogs and RSS readers can create a whole new way of learning, a way that is innovative and efficient. For the teachers, using blogs and readers can create a whole new way of teaching, and gathering information efficiently. Efficient is one of the main impacts I feel blogging and using readers may have on education, because it can gather specific information from all around very quickly, and allows sharing of information, ideas, thoughts, and of course new and old information.

With blogging and using readers, there comes pros and cons. Cons of these in education are that so many valuable books that provide excellent and reliable information, get ignored. Libraries are today, still a great resource, and these new technologies can hurt these places. Another con is that blogging and using readers requires a computer, and there are many families in the U.S. that do not have much access to a computer, or it is very inconvenient. On another note, some pros to using blogs and readers in education are that new information, that may not otherwise be shared, now becomes available. Lastly, blogs and readers cut search time and make education (teaching and learning) way more efficient in the classroom.

Webquest

For my webquest, I would like to make the subject about astronomy. More specifically, I would like to focus on the different planets and the solar system in general. I think I could do a lot with this subject, and I am very interested in it as well.

Senior year

I am Kristen Eirich and I am a senior. I am excited to become an elementary school teacher, but will be sad when my college experience is over!