Week 5 - Emerging themes

Having spent a lot of time reading about online teaching this week, I've noticed some emerging trends. In past weeks we've read about online programs and funding for online programs. Several of those articles touched on the fact that there is a high level of scrutiny and accountability in online learning programs - more so than in the brick and mortars. Similarly, in reading about the standards and demands of online teachers, the same point was made. There are higher demands made, and requirements of online teachers.

This seems true across the board of teacher responsibilities. In terms of certification, both online teacher training and certification for each state they provide services to are required. Turn around times of both communication and feedback to submitted work is required to be much faster than f2f teachers. There is extra importance and challenge to building a community of learning, and keeping up with new technologies and learning how to use them effectively.

Interestingly, while teachers of online programs seem to be held to higher standards - or at least higher requirements - and face extra challenges, they are simultaneously being undermined as evidenced by a quote in Professor Lowes' article where a commercial course developer said they were under pressure to make courses "teacher proof."

I find this really sad. I became interested in this field because I know we can do a better job educating our kids and that technology affords us the opportunity to revisit the way we deliver education and bring to the next level. At the same time, while I know there are teachers out there who could do a better job, I also know there are a lot of really great teachers out there. I think the best teachers are the ones who are really invested in each individual student and helping to develop them into critical thinkers. One of my kids teachers said to my husband and me that her teaching style was to be short on explanations and long on time. Her approach is to sit with the student and help them think through their questions so they can arrive at their own answer, rather than just telling them the answer. That is something that technology can't replicate.

The idea that technology is being used to try to minimize the role teachers play is really disappointing and misses the point. In my view, the point of technology is to give students a dynamic platform in which to learn, where they can see things from a different perspective which might resonate for them - and to support and empower teachers to be able to take their skills even further. We need to work in partnership with teachers, not minimize their involvement with the practice of teaching.

Disenchantment

I was really looking forward to getting in there and kicking the tires on virtual learning. I didn't find a whole lot though, and what I did find wasn't all that impressive. I feel like this piece of it - seeing what is being done out there - is the heart of the matter vis a vis online learning. There are a number of sites that I contacted to get access to a demo, who never responded. Why the reluctance to share what they have? Are they afraid of their ideas being stolen by their competitor? Are they afraid of what the consumer will see they get for the price tag?

I wish we could do a comprehensive survey of the software and vendors that are out there providing online learning environments - whether alternative or extension. Maybe we could use the fact that we are studying online learning at Columbia Teacher College to get vendors to present to our class? I'd like to see more logistical, how it works information, and less marketing pitch.

Week 3

The readings this week reinforced some conceptions I had on charter schools. I thought a charter school would have more flexibility and it seems that that is true. It also seems that charters are under more scrutiny, which is detrimental to creating a new process or environment. I feel like we're in a place where we still don't know the full potential of what we could do, and it is an extraordinary challenge to simultaneously explore the potential, and put up guardrails around it in terms of funding policy, accountability and ownership. It would be such great research to have experimental programs that are free to think outside of the box and see what they come up with. We might learn some strategies to pick up from some and apply on a broader scale.

I had a conversation with Curt Fuchs last week. He is the coordinator of educational support services for the department of elementary and secondary education in Missouri. He has been overseeing their virtual school program. He had some really interesting information to share. I asked him about the funding cut that they recently suffered, and he said that while it's a challenge it has had its benefits too. At their height, they had 2,400 students enrolled in courses and while he didn't have a figure, he said the abondonment rate was significant. After the cuts, the new policy was that students who needed virtual education because of a fragile medical state could continue to take the classes and it would be paid for by the state, but other students who wanted to take classes would have to pay for it themselves, $300-$400 per class. He expected maybe 100 students to enroll. As it turns out they had over 300 students enroll and pay for their own classes - and their abandonment rate dropped significantly. A self selecting group of kids who take it seriously. Algebra is their biggest class for middle school students whose schools don't offer it. AP classes, foreign languages and physics also have high enrollment.

Another interesting thing he told me about was his difficulty in managing the providers. He had a number of horror stories. He said that generally speaking there is an overall lack of teacher student interaction. One provider (Kaplan) had a contract with the state that stipulated the student to teacher ratio was not to exceed 1:125, he discovered after the program was in place that the actual student teacher ratio was 1:400. He called them out on it, but they said it was the best they could do and it was common practice. He found one provider employing uncertified teachers which also violated their contract. Another provider had teachers who were only available via telephone office hours which were limited to 9 - 11pm. He had been getting feedback about one student having difficulty getting in touch with his teacher and Curt wanted to talk to the teacher about it. The provider, Apex, wouldn't give him the teachers' number. He said most of his job is spent making sure the providers are actually providing what they agreed to. He said his frustration is that these providers have huge lobbyists that have gotten legislation passed which limit his options, so legally he can only work with these big providers.

I asked him if he could establish the ideal system, what would he do. He said the only way to do it right is to hire your own teachers and develop your own course-ware.

Week 2 reflections

At the end of the Watson and Gemin article, Mickey Revenaugh VP for State Relations at Connections Academy says "Ensuring quality in a fast-growing enterprise like online learning is like upgrading the engine on a jetliner while it is in flight." This quote reminded me of the book Disrupting Class where Christenson talks about the front plane and back plane of innovation. He says that innovation happens where there is an unserved need.

This weeks readings about state run online programs underscored this reality for me. The Watson and Gemin article also mentions that online programs are often under more scrutiny than traditional classrooms. I started to wonder if in the private or charter schools we might see different methodology to online school if they are outside the state regulations and assessment obligations. Perhaps a for profit or charter online program has more room to innovate? I look forward to week 3 reading to find out.

I have also been thinking about assessment. What are other methods of measuring educational outcomes that fit with the types of skills students need to develop. How can you measure problem solving skills and critical thinking. I hope some of our future reading will focus on those issues.