Case Studies Blog Post #1

Frist of all, is it just me or was the voice of the narrator for scenario two very familiar?

Scenario 1: Brainstorm some challenges that students might face in each of the methods of meeting the State’s online learning graduation requirement.

Challenges to completing an online course:

• Lack of internet access at home.
• Lack of computer or tablet to use with online course.
• Lack of computer skills to complete course requirements.
• Some courses require the use of technology such as Wolfram-Alpha, which has a learning curve as well.
• Students are used to the constant reminders and prompts of teachers to help them keep track of what is due when and which assignments should be a priority. Online classes may not provide this.

Challenges to completing 20-hours of online learning in a traditional, face-to-face, course:

• Lack of availability. How many schools in Michigan offer course that include 20-hours of online learning?
• What meets the definition of “20-hours of online learning”? I observed a middle school teacher that required her students to complete 20-hours on buzzmath.com or some similar site. Does this meet that requirement?
• Similar issues with access as the online course.

Include technology infused lessons in all required Michigan merit curriculum courses.

• Same issues with access to online resources as the previous two but even more so because now the teacher and the students need to have access to online resources, in the classroom, on a regular basis. For some school districts, which have implemented a one-to-one program where every student has their own device issued to them, this is not an issue. However, not all schools have the funding for this and are still limited to the use of computer labs which are often difficult to schedule.
• Even in schools with one-to-one programs, many teachers are not yet use to integrating the use of technology into their lessons plans on a regular basis. Yes, once the one-to-one programs are initiated, the use of technology in lesson plans becomes more and more regular, but it takes time.

Scenario 2: Create a list of strategies that students could use to develop independence, self-motivation, self-regulation, self-direction, time management, and other soft learning skills.

Strategies:

• Pick courses that are interesting to you. The more interested you are in the topic, the more likely you are to read the materials and complete the work.
• Pick courses that are tied directly to your future goals. If you take classes that are clearly linked to what you want to do in the future, then you can use that to motivate you, even when you are struggling to remain interested in the class.
• Learn how to break tasks down into short-term and long-term goals that build on each other.
• Learn organization strategies that help you keep track of what is due, when it is due, and what the priorities are.
• Learn to know when enough is enough. Most, if not all of us, want to be able to say we did our best and what we did is really good. However, don’t spend 20-hours on a project worth 10 points only to find that it leaves you with 2 hours to spend on a project work 100 points.

Scenario 3: Identify what your school is doing to support students in their online learning. What are some things your school could do better to support students as they meet their online learning graduation requirements?

This is a bit difficult one to answer because I don’t currently work at a school and I am not familiar with all of the supports that my student teaching school district, Zeeland, has in place. However, based on what I do know, I can say that Zeeland does the following:

• Starting in middle school, and perhaps earlier, all students are issued an iPad, which is their device and they are allowed to take it home with them.
• Starting in 6th grade, teachers are slowly transitioning from a paper based classroom to a digital classroom. This varies from teacher to teacher, but I understand that most, if not all, of the 6th grade teachers no longer issue out textbooks. Instead, they have a classroom set that students can use while in class, and then they provide the students with access to an online version of the book as well as access to a pdf version which they can download to their devices for offline use.
• Teachers in later grades require students to take notes on their iPads, as they no longer provide paper copies of notes.

What could they do better:

• Have more access to online learning tools that directly connect to the material covered in class.
• Provide for more online collaboration for students.
• Provide professional development for teachers that provides concrete examples of how to implement technology into their lessons plans in a way that meets with the ISTE guidelines.