EDLD 5368 - Week 5 Assignment

I see educators extending their classrooms to students in their own homes. The tools available today are helping connect students and teacher in new ways. These new ways of communicating seem to engage students in activities suited toward their preferred methods of communicating and learning. Students today seem to be highly involved with online activities outside of school. These new resources have never been available any previous generation. I don’t think the outcomes of these new resources are really understood yet, but they are a great way to engage students with the media that they prefer. I think these new methods really help students who would otherwise not have done as well in school. Using online tools also allows student a more customized learning experience. Lessons can have resources targeting different learning types of media such as audio or video, and these resources can be made available to students at all hours of the day.

I do not have a teaching role at the moment so using the course is not applicable for typical students however my district does use a similar system to extend training to staff. If I was in a leadership role, I think this might be a way to save money if the online system can be utilized the same way. In my school district students have access to some resources 24/7 but the courses are still thought in the typical fashion, face to face. I do see an online course as a huge asset to homebound students. A home bound student presets a difficult situation in some cases, and an online class seems to fit the needs very well. I definitely see a lot of potential in this area. The previous school district I worked for was exploring a similar system called “Moodle”. The system was not being utilized to its full potential because support was hard to find as it was a self support system. Schoology present a solution to this problem with a lot of the same benefits. I will mention this alternative with them.

As a teacher I would use the online tools to capture the student’s interest and extend choices to my learners. I really think students learn differently and using online tools presents ways to personalize activities toward different leaning preferences. Audio and video can be accessed anytime and can help answer questions the students may have when the teacher is not available. The social component to these online tools is also substantial. Students seem to be much more engaged in a subject when all their friends are talking and sharing information online about the lessons. Student seem to be so engaged with these tools they seem to forget that they are learning and information is simply absorbed without the usual fight to make them retain it. Even though using the online tools in my class is a great addition it only helps to strengthen face to face contact and learning. You may be able to see what students are having trouble understanding in an online group discussion and have a refresher lesson waiting the next morning to clear up any misunderstandings or to reinforce your points.

The big question I have about online learning is with the results of this type of learning. I have heard a lot of great things about online learning but have seen very few actual, real-life, verifiable examples of people who have used this type of learning. In fact I may be the answer to my own question as I am the only person I know who is pursuing this type of learning. I have had online courses before but these were in addition to regular face to face classes. My previous experiences were not as fulfilling. In that case the online course was a do it yourself class. You read the book and turned in papers and took tests. Teaching and support were hard to access. Even with my previous experiences, I am still optimistic with this form of learning. I do see numerous benefits and advantages but the entire process is still ironing itself out and not the smooth process I envision for future learners.
The online course I created has been a great experience which I plan on sharing with others in my own organization and friends outside my organization. Schoology presents a great alternative to some previous systems I have used such as “Moodle”. I do not think I have thought of all the application for Schoology, but the ones I have thought of present ways to save money, take the burden of supporting another system off of the technology department, and offers to engage students in a way that promises to capture their best efforts. As a school leader I plan to have teachers use this as an example of online learning. They can learn from the course make improvements to their own, and inspire new ways of engaging students with media applicable to their learning styles. The course will show them that online learning has a place in any class and any situation and that they must adapt to enable the students of the future