Journal Assignment #7

Sharing Notes in the Classroom

By Mark Bailey and Steve Rhine

"One of the primary challenges teachers face is to structure learning in the classroom so that the material and process is meaningful and engaging for every student."

Through the use of such tools as SubEthaEdit and Google Docs a classroom dynamic is created "in which all students are continually engaged and collaboratively constructing understanding." Both tools permit for students and instructors to collaborate on a single document simultaneously which furthermore creates an avenue by which a deeper understanding could be achieved more quickly than having to wait 'til the next class session. There are four ways the tools could be used in the classroom:

1. Collaborative note-taking
2. Sharing of linked resources and graphics
3. Supporting small-group discussions
4. Assessing Comprehension

Often times students find it difficult to share notes for many reasons, but with the use of the tools this article introduces to its readers there can be less of a hassle for students to share their notes. Furthermore permitting for more successful and collaborative students.

Q1: In what classrooms would these tools be most appropriate to use in instruction?

A1: These tools would be most appropriate for high school and college-aged students. Any instructor who seeks to engage their students and to create a smaller gap between pedagogy and hands-on learning would find these tools an essential element to their classroom.

Q2: What is SubEthaEdit?

A2: This is a program most typically used in a college classroom. Also the program only runs on the Apple platform, but it's a program that "allows an instructor to create a document on a computer, and, through the use of wireless connectivity, it enables a large number of users to access and edit the document sinultaneously." All changes made to the document can be seen in real time and each person's edits are marked by their own color.

Journal Assignment #6

Virtual Success

Transforming Education Through Online Learning

by Julie Young, Pam Birtolo, and Raven McElman

Virtual Schools Offer Alternative

• No set schedules: Allow students to complete course work around their own personal schedules (work, family, and other commitments).
• No classrooms: Allow students to stay at home and do course work (especially convenient for stay-at-home mothers).
• Teachers are available 24/7/365.
• Students can relatively work at their own pace.
• The curriculum is delivered via the Internet, and teachers employ innovative instructional practices to offer an individualized learning experience for students.
• Results in students gaining time, more earning-pace flexibility, more engaging course materials, and more individualized attention from teachers.

New Skills to Learn

21st-century skills strengthens the foundation of competence in core subjects:

• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Studies
• Foreign Language

...And even builds an understanding of issues critical to community and workplace success:

• Global awareness
• Business, financial, and civic literacy
• Health and Wellness
• Life skills

Traditional Schools Get Low Marks

Survey results...

• National poll by the Partnership for 21st-Century Skills: 80% of U.S. registered voters say "the public education system is not preparing young people to compete in the global market."
• Survey conducted by Project Tomorrow, a California-based education advocacy group, found similar results: Only 23% of students polled said they "believed their school was doing a good job preparing them for future jobs."

Florida Virtual School (FLVS) Students Outperform Peers

The out performance can be highly attributed to the flexibility provided by online schooling and the teacher-student engagement that is able to take place. Students are able to move at their own pace. Teachers are able to receive a better view of where their students are struggling and then construct an individualized learning plan that will further help each student succeed.

Q#1: Is online learning for all students?

A#1: No. All students learn differently. While online learning is very innovative and allows for a lot of flexibility there are still those students who will benefit more from a classroom setting in which they are able to physically interact with a teacher and with their peers.

Q#2: What is a common thread between virtual and face-to-face education?

A#2: The "authenticity of the interaction." The student-teacher relationship is always essential in determining the effectiveness of the teacher and the success of the student. In both settings, as long as careful attention is being paid to that relationship success is possible!

Journal Assignment #5

Grow Your Personal Learning Network
New Technologies Can Keep You Connected and Help You Manage Information Overload

by David Warlick

"Harnessing these new technologies to create and grow our own PLNs is imperative for educators who want to stay connected to the changing world we are charged with introducing to our students."


The Many PLN Paths...

Pick Your PLNs
1. Personally maintained synchronous connections.

• Traditional network- includes the people and places you consult to answer questions, solve problems and accomplish goals.
• Tools: chat, instant and text messaging, teleconferencing, Twitter, and virtual worlds (ie. Second Life)
• Traditional barriers of geography, background, language and culture become transparent.

2. Personally and socially maintained semi-synchronous connections.

• These are conversations that are not exactly conversations.
• Semi-synchronous refers to the idea that collaboration does not have to happen in real time.
• Tools: mailing lists, wikis, Google Docs, Twitter, group discussion boards and comment walls in Facebook, and commenting on blogs, among others.

3. Dynamically maintained asychronous connections.

• Most often connects us with content sources that we have identified as valuable.
• Central tool: RSS aggregator- Google Reader, Netvibes, and Pageflakes.
• This technology has inspired a shift from a hunting-and-gathering information economy to the domestication of the information landscape.

Cultivate Your Network

As 21st-century educators we are often described in terms such as facilitator, guide, coach and curator. These are all terms y which learners are being connected to the world they are learning about. With this in mind, it is even more important for us, as educators, to be learning about new and emerging communication technologies and applications. The image above shows a variety of tools that can serve as strands of a single PLN.

"Preparing children for an unpredictable future means helping them learn to teach themselves. That is why lifelong learning is such a crucial part of the education conversation and why modeling a learning lifestyle is one of the best things that teachers can do today. So fire up your PLN and become the networked learner you expect your students to be."

Q1. Why is it important for educators to develop a Personal Learning Network?

A1. Young people who will make up the students in any classroom will already be immersed in the networks that are made available to them in the world. It is an awesome idea, and should be a requirement, for educators to become familiar with the technologies out there and then work with the one they feel most comfortable with so that when their in front of their students they are well prepared.

Q2. How many types of PLNs are there? What are they?

A2. There are three types of PLNs. They are as follows:

1. Personally maintained synchronous connections.
2. Personally and socially maintained semisychronous connections.
3. Dynamically maintained asynchronous connections.