Ch 5: Building Knowledge withour Boundaries: Online Learning

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Permalink Reply by amy waggoner on March 19, 2009 at 10:16pm

Pg. 85: Parental support is a key requirement for a student taking a class over the Internet. (So true!)
Pg. 86: Not surprisingly, students do not do well in online learning if they do not really want to be there.

My youngest son took an alternative track in high school. Never really liked school -- not until shop classes, such as Ag in the Classroom and Welding (which is very PBL oriented) and hands on learning. Then he thought he would get high school over quickly with online/Learning Center track.It took him 4 years to complete the last 2 years of high school! Lots of family dysfunctionalities came out then -- I was pulling out my hair many times! Moments of pride, too. Lots of detours with jobs that taught him some valuable skills or the times he spent helping a Vietnam Vet with Agent Orange work on projects. (He did the physical part while this man attached to an oxygen tank guided him through everything and told him what to do.) Lots of "life learning." Near the end, he took 2 summer classes (at the age of 20) for his English Lit and Senior Comp credits. THEN, he thought the classroom was a totally awesome place and so much fun! Ugh!!!

He DID get is diploma finally!

Glad to share now that he has found his niche as a heavy equipment operator and welder, building bridges for the county. He is now 22 and just bought a house last November. Loves home improvement projects. He's happy. That's what counts.

Permalink Reply by Kylie Westervelt on March 23, 2009 at 3:18pm

I agree that online learning is new to many teachers in the field. However, I believe that it is the wave of the future and will replace some of the regular classrooms across the nation. Teachers, along with students, will alter roles in this new learning environment and need to embrace the change that accompanies online learning. Schedules, boundaries, delivery methods, etc., will become more permeable and adjustments will have to be made concerning the delivery and curriculum. I have had four years experience as a online teacher for Pittsburg State University, and I agree with Mr. November about many of the key points of online learning. It does take a motivated individual to participate in an online course. Almost every semester, I have two or three students who just aren't able to adapt to the online learning environment. It definitely takes dedication, self-discipline, independency, and support, on both and students and teachers to have a positive learning experience. Often, with online learning I do believe that technology can overshadow the learning. At times, I must remind myself to focus on the content, and the technology will fall into place. That definitely makes or breaks an online learning experience!

Permalink Reply by Cindy Hollingsworth on March 24, 2009 at 12:10pm

Throughout this book, I've been pretty impressed with (what seems to me) the foresight of Mr. November--keeping in mind that he published this book in 2001. I, of course, was not well informed enough at that point that I would have been able to imagine, much less describe, the future of technology the way he has done throughout the chapters.

When I read Chapter 5, though, I laughed out loud at one of the quotes--and it's Kevin Honeycutt's fault! The discussion was about VHS, the virtual high school, and how they wouldn't let the students take their entire load online because they need to have personal contact. He quoted the director of the school as saying, "I mean, where are we headed? The Virtual Prom? That will never happen!" That's when I laughed, because I read this on the heels of hearing Kevin's plug for Podstock and the virtual dance they have planned! Granted it isn't "prom"--and at this point I'm assuming you'll have to be there in person to also attend the virtual dance, but it made me laugh anyway! So, Kevin and the other hippies involved in Podstock have evidently taken things beyond Mr. Droste's imagination! You know. . . I bet I'd be a much better dancer virtually than I ever was in real life . . .

Permalink Reply by amy waggoner on March 24, 2009 at 3:19pm

My mother showed me this article (attached -- copied better as a jpg because of the wrinkles). I thought it was very interesting and keep thinking about it.

Here are some snippets from it:

"When the brain spends more time on technology tasks and less time exposed to other people, it drifts away from fundamental social skills like reading facial expressions during conversation, small asserts. So brain circuits involved in face-to-face contact can become weaker, he suggests (Dr. Gary Small, professor of psychiatry at UCLA)." (paragraphs 5-6)

The article is basically very balanced with pros and cons of the digital age. It says a lot about what we have already discussed -- i.e. kids' brains are "wired" differently these days, teaching kids skills for online reading at an early age.

Attachments:

• Brain and Technology.jpg, 2.2 MB

Permalink Reply by Robin Savener on April 14, 2009 at 3:30pm

I found this article to go along with the discussion.... very eye opening things to ponder.

http://neuronarrative.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/the-brain-technology...