Virtual Schooling Presentation

Week 14-15

Each of the scenarios shows how schools and students struggle in different ways. I think that education as a whole will get to the point where online learning is present and open for everyone easily, but for now with the technology gap and lack of technology improvement funding, schools are doing their best to keep as close to up-to-date with trends and needs of technology and online learners.

I do not think that schools are ready for the changes in education that are going to be taking place. I honestly think that schools today are struggling to maintain the technology they have. I think that with the constant change in standards and regulations, it has left many schools unprepared for the future and the ever changing need for technology and online learning.  I think that the changes that will occur will be very slow. I think that many have unrealistic goals that the schools will not be able to follow through on. I do see small changes occurring and being about the foundation for online and virtual schooling for the future.

My school is currently working on a technology bond proposal. This bond will allow for the school to try and catch up on the current need for new technology within our district and within our building which needs many updates to provide the technology integration that they want educators to provide. There is a large portion of teachers that are unprepared or do not agree with online teaching which plays a major role in how technology is properly implemented for the students. Also, there are funding issues there are only so many things that can be accomplished with in a tight budget. This means that in the end things are being left untouched until funds can be found, which in all reality may be never. I know that in my content area, we offer hybrid courses and use technology for content education daily. I also know that many of our other content areas have been focused on incorporating more online course technologies. But as an overall, the idea and hope is present, but the follow through and guidance is still developing. There has been nothing set in stone yet and for now we provide the best educational setting possible for technology integration and content development.

What I Think I Know About Online Learning Part 2

After my readings and research, the things that surprised me the most was the growth and availability of online schooling. In my head, I always think of online schooling and courses as a new concept, but in truth they have been around and growing for some time now. The items that I included in Part 1 were accurate and were not found on the top 10 myths.

I do have some experience with online schooling from my nephew. He took off a year of on-site high school and participated in online schooling. I tutored and helped him stay on task and helped him with content understanding. In his case, he knew that he was going to unable to do it on his own and he had me to help him. This is one of the things that I think all students who are looking in to online school should consider. It is very important to have a support system in place and to not be afraid to ask questions of for help from your at home support system or from your online school support system. For him, online school was more time consuming and difficult then he originally thought it would be.

Also, I have done some research on online schooling and hybrid for my own teaching experience. I have had the opportunity to begin implementing hybrid course for my school district and have been constantly updating and improving the way that my own course structure works. My current education has helped a lot! I have seen many teachers that think that converting to online course layouts will make their course load easier. They soon find that operating a properly working online course can be very time consuming and continuing education on technology and resources is a task all its own.