Virtual Schooling

The first thing that popped out at me was how a school can deny certain courses to a student. In one case, a school can deny a school an online course "is inconsistent with the career interest of the student." Okay, but how does a school district determine a student's career interest? At that age, a student might interested in two different career paths. A student might want to major in Business or perhaps something English related when they move onto college, but they're not quite sure.

Another scenario is the prerequisite scenario. I know a lot of public schools are unfortunately getting cut, especially in this state. Maybe some areas were cut, some classes that were offered previously (perhaps in the art or graphics department, for example) weren't there before and the student could have the skill (perhaps they do graphics and art as a hobby and just take the classes that are offered at the school) but the online classes available are more challenging and advanced than what's currently in the school's curriculum. How can the school deny that? I get there's an appeal process, but I'm curious how long that takes and how much red tape is involved.

When it comes to paying for the online courses, if they really only pay for a small percentage, where is the rest of the money coming from? I understand students will most likely pay for their online courses, but I'm sure they need more money than what's coming in for technology up keep and hardware upgrades. I'm sure more students would take online courses if Michigan would allow more funding.

I don't think a rural school would be ready if a student wanted to take a course that's unavailable. It seems like the state has so many regulations in place that could prevent a student from taking the course (such as if they deem the student not ready). Also, the funding has to be there and the support has to be there. (Can the teacher and staff handle the technical support?) A few districts might be ready, but I don't think most rural districts are ready. The changes are coming too fast.

In the case of a school having one chemistry teacher and a sibling comes along (which the older sibling didn't like the teacher), there are a few scenarios at play. First, did the older sibling just not like the teaching style of the chemistry teacher? Was the child bored? The the older sibling not like the workload? The the child get called on a lot and the didn't know the answer? Was the older sibling a troublemaker and are the parents in denial? Did the older sibling just flat out not like the chemistry teacher? Did the older sibling find the work too difficult and simply not try? Honestly the overbearing parents would probably have their younger child take the chemistry class online. (And there's a teacher perspective, too. If the older sibling did have a "reputation" so to speak, the younger child could already and unfortunately have a terrible impression on the teacher and unfortunately, that's how some teachers think...).

I honestly believe the changes are too fast for most school districts. Some school districts do have the money and funding that they are able to keep up with technology, but most school districts don't have that luxury and aren't quite prepared.

Virtual Schooling Part II

After reading the articles for this weeks assignments, it seems like most of my assumptions about virtual schooling were correct. It seems that I missed out on a couple of things, however. First, I didn't mention anything about funding. It seems like most schools are self-funded, but some virtual schools do come out of school districts. The virtual school funding just vary by state laws and parents would have to look up information and whether or not tuition is involved.

Another issue is regulation. States do not really regulate curriculum of virtual schools, so it's really up to the parents and students to make sure students have the right amount of math credits, science credits, etc. if they wish to apply to college. Some school districts may have their virtual schools align to their school districts, but again this varies to whether or not the school district is funding the virtual school (and even if they are, some tuition still may be involved) and whether or not the state requires certain standards (in most cases, it seems like they do not). Although virtual schooling is a great option, parents and students will have to do their research together. Virtual schools do offer a wide arrange of courses, and it's really a matter of research and especially when children get to the high school level, making sure they are taking appropriate prep courses to get into the college of their choice.

Virtual Schooling

I know that virtual schooling can be an alternative to students who feel that they are more accelerated than current options available to them. It can also be used to supplement courses they are taking in addition to a face-to-face setting. Virtual School is also an option for students who prefer to learn at home(home schooling) for various reasons (such as athletic or professional commitments to allow for flex scheduling) academic, personal or health reasons (such as they are independent learners, their health prevents them from being in the classrooms). I also know that in some private schools, some students take online courses as an option in addition to their current course loads to double up or to seek other course options to learn with students around the world, but they will count toward a certain elective credit.

Virtual School has various looks. Some virtual schools have some face-to-face time with an actual teacher (via Skype or other means.) Some have online courses with chapters, broken down into lessons and sections, just like an actual classroom does in order to meet state requirements. Virtual Schooling can be done in the student's home. Some virtual schooling can be done in a classroom setting as well.

A variety of courses are offered (English, Math, History, Science, Reading, Vocabulary,College Prep,) as long as it meets the state minimum requirements. Some students at the high school level are most likely attempting to get into college, so they will most likely look at college requirements to see what courses they would need to get into certain colleges.

Judging the Quality of Wikis and Non-vetted Sites

Personally, Wikipedia shouldn't be used as a direct source in research papers or for any type of research. I would have to disagree with any scholars or any article that says Wikipedia can be used as a direct source since anyone can edit (which can lead to a lot of inaccurate information). As a starting point, however, Wikipedia can be a useful tool. Wikipedia does link to outside sources, such as Government websites, New York Times articles, or other resources that students (or anyone else that might need to do any sort of research) might be unaware of their existence. If I were teaching a class, I would not allow my students to directly quote Wikipedia.

The case of YouTube, it really depends. YouTube (and similar websites) do have Professors and other institutions that occasionally post information on there. There are also other nonprofit organizations and research institutions that also post educational videos (and since it's free unlike some other websites and can reach a mass audience, that would benefit not only a specific organization, but the audiences as well.) Those organizations and professors post useful and educational videos that can be used for term papers or even quoted in other educational presentations. I would definitely allow those videos in my classroom since they can add onto other classroom multimedia tools that are available. Those videos also would be allowed in projects since there could be additional information that go above and beyond material covered in textbooks and handouts.

Blog Post One: Building and Refining your PLN

First, on my RSS feed, I followed a few people from the History/Social Studies and English fields. I followed more than three people, because I love both subjects and some blogs were too good to pass up. The Catholic English Teacher blog gave some in-depth analyses on different Shakespeare Plays, as well as discussed Catholic books as well. As a Catholic school girl growing up, I found the Catholic discussions intriguing. The second blog I am following, is an ESL blog about a primary teacher in France, who has to teach his students English. The blog also has podcasts included. This also ties in with another one of my classes, which is also why I chose to follow this blog.
English Teacher X is also another blog I chose to follow. It's a humorous take on grammar, but it's more for older audiences. English Teacher Melanie also has podcasts on her blog, as well as resources for students. She's also an ESL teacher. That blog also ties into my other class as well. Learning from My Mistakes as an English Teacher is the last English blog I am following, but it's interesting the teacher not only discusses the students assignments, but their mistakes and the way he engages (or doesn't connect some days) with his students. The US History Teacher blog has videos and facts about important events in history, which is definitely interesting to me and useful to anyone who has research to do. The other history blog I am following is called History is Elementary. The blog is great for history and history teachers. There are pictures and facts about not only important events in U.S. history, but important events in World History as well.

On Twitter, I chose to follow a few people, organizations in the same areas, in addition to film. I am following Geoff Barton, a writer of textbooks and he is an English teacher, as well. I am also following the OED (the Oxford English Dictionary), which was the bulky book I had to carry around in High School. I hated it then, but fell in love with it in college. I am also following the Oral History Society, since a lot of our history was passed down orally, especially with different cultures. I am also following US Capitol History, which is the history of the US Capitol.  I am following the Oxford Dictionaries, which publishes all of the Oxford Dictionaries. I am also following Film History in pictures, which shows pictures of film history (and film history needs to be preserved.)

This semester, I have been slowly using the RSS feed. Actually, it's easier to get news all at once there instead of going through my hundred bookmarks on Firefox and Chrome. I haven't used it that much, but the few times I did, all of the important news links showed up on one page instead of me clicking around and having ten tabs open on my screen. However, I would like to use the RSS feed more and cut down on my habit of attempting to multitask (since we all know multitasking doesn't really exist.)

I've been an avid Twitter user for awhile now. I have old professors added and family members currently added. I would say I use it too much, but since I see accounts that have 20,000 tweets, then I guess I don't? But as I mentioned previously, I would like to improve on my RSS feed skills and use it more often. I literally added all of my favorite websites on there and don't use it as much as I should.

Week 4 Blog Post

I am currently a social media intern for Empeopled, a social media start-up company. I work for the company virtually. When I break down the SAMR model for work, we are heavily technology based.

Under Substitution, none of the work I do (or anyone else does) is by paper. It’s all through the social networking site, as well as through messaging. The only face-to-face social interaction comes from the employees who are based in Chicago. Rarely, there are email exchanges and personally, I have never dealt with paper exchanges or even phone conferences. The only people who actually deal with conferences in a face-to-face environment are the “higher ups” so to speak.

The Augmentation portion of the SAMR model is Empeopled. Through posts (as well as through messaging), we can communicate with users as well as each other, instantly.  Even people can communicate with each other across the world instantly, so it’s a substitute for phone communication.

Since this is a startup company, there is still some modification to be done. More features will eventually be added as the website grows, as with all websites. Currently, through the use of points (with how much a user posts) unlocks various features and the ability to vote on a society leader (interest groups)  who can make sure the discussions and posts are up to appropriate standards.

For Redefinition, we are able to spread news as well as other topics quickly with others around the world. This wasn’t possible before social networking technology existed. Discussions around news, sports, health, politics, and other topics occur.  People agree or disagree based on what they believe, which spark debates around the aforementioned topics as well. Social networking creates collaboration from many people around the world, instantaneously, which wasn’t possible before the technology existed.

Unit 1 Blog Post

I am coming into this with a different perspective. I would one day like to be a university professor along with my background of writing and filmmaking. I am however, a Millennial and took a few days to reflect on the videos as well as the readings for Unit one in this course. I also have a Godson who is in elementary school and I will also use him as a frame of reference for my response as well since I do not have K-12 experience, but I can use him as an example in the differences between my educational experiences and what he is experiencing at this very moment. A bit about my educational background before I get into depth, I was fortunate to attend schools throughout my childhood that kept up to date on textbooks and technology. My Godson, on the other hand, is attending a public school that is short on funding, so instead of letting students take the textbooks home, the district makes copies of worksheets (which leads to homework confusion.) I also coached high school kids in lacrosse in this age group as well, so I will use them as a frame of reference.

Intro Post - IT 6230 Winter 2014

My name is Erica and I am in the Online Teaching Program at Wayne State. This is my first semester here and I'm definitely looking forward to my experience. I am currently a Social Media Marketing Intern for Empeopled, a social networking startup based out of Chicago. My hobbies include writing fiction (a little bit), screenplays and plays (a lot of those), and poetry (somewhat.) My family is just my immediate family of my brother and my parents, but I have a huge extended family. I am also a huge sports lover, as well as an active athlete. I love tennis, hockey, volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse. Honestly, I love too many sports to mention, but I have played everyone of the previously mentioned sports at some point. My love of hockey recently had me venture out to the Hockeytown Winter Festival events, as well as the Winter Classic as Michigan Stadium.

I am in this course because of the online teaching program. Although no one knows everything about social networking and I am familiar with some social networking sites, I am not familiar with everything and I definitely wish to learn something new, especially because of my internship and my role with Empeopled. (and I really didn't have a Google + account until now). I look forward to being in the course and interacting with my new classmates at Wayne.