After attending the Collaborative Conference for Student Achievement a few weeks ago, my brain was spinning with possibilities and questions. One of the conference focuses this year was using technology in the 21st Century. There were many sessions geared towards using technology with the 21st century teacher and student that choosing which session to attend became difficult. When choosing, I looked at sessions that were geared towards online classes/platforms and the possible use with the elementary and middle schools. In this blog, I want to share some of the information I learned or took away concerning online learning in the 21st Century.
Extreme Makeover - Instructional Technology Edition
Extreme Makeover - Instructional Technology Edition was facilitated by a consultant from NC Virtual Public Schools. This consultants primary focus in her position and for the session is the design of courses for NC Virtual Public Schools. The courses now offered through NCVPs are primarily for the high schools, focusing on AP and electives classes. They do offer some elective courses for middle schools and will be pushing put a new course for the fall. No courses are offered for the elementary aged student.
The time for devolving a course is about a school year. Each course is developed by a team of certified teachers in that specific content area. The team consists of a content reviewer, a LMS designer, and 6 developers who work in pairs. The developers outline the module, develop the content and address feedback. The LMS Designer formats the content while the Content Reviewer reviews the information and provides feedback. The development process starts in mid fall with prep landing and forming an outline. By January, the content is developed. In February/March, the content is reviewed and sent back for revisions in April. The course is then pushed out the next school year. Team members are paid between $1520-$2010 for regular classes and $2520-$3030 for AP classes. They are currently looking for members for the developing teams for next year.
Developing classes require strict guidelines when dealing with links and other sites. Sites and links must be pre-approved. The guidelines include such things as the Terms of Use do not indicate personal use only, no modifications or requires a personal subscription. Sites can not require an email to use the site or have ads. The site is the labeled as approved, approved for teachers only or unapproved. When a course is developed, it goes to the technical department to insure the guidelines are followed. Once it passes the technology requirement, it must go to curriculum department to ensure the content is appropriate for the course. Only then is it rolled out as a course for the virtual school.
After developing our own synchronous/asynchronous module, I found this session very interesting in terms of developing an entire course. It was reassuring to me that there were so many checks and balances evolved for the NC Virtual Schools.
The Four Pillars of Learning and High Expectations for Teachers
The Four Pillars of Learning and High Expectations for Teachers was facilitated by a director for the NC Virtual Public School. This session focused on the expectations for the teachers in the NC Virtual Public School. The NCVPS has over 52,000 students with 800 teachers. Once an application is accepted by the NCVPS, the teacher is required to participate in nine weeks of unpaid training before they are hired. Once they are hired, teachers are spot checked just as regular classroom teachers are observed.
Communication by the teachers is essential. Grading and feedback should be intentional and meaningful. Feedback is expected within 24 hours the assignment is given. Feedback should include tips to help correct the assignment. Daily announcements should be posted before the regular school day starts. Daily announcements should inform, instruct and celebrate. Synchronous conversations are expected between the teacher and students. These conversations should be consistent and build trust and respect. All communication should be specific, directive, connective, timely and presented in the right tone.
Building relationships with the students and parents is critical. Communication with parents should occur weekly. All communication with students should be documented in a communication journal. The communication should result in the individualization of students' learning.
I found the information on the expectations of teachers in the virtual school very interesting. Online teachers must meet very high expectations. I wonder how many teachers could afford to be trained for nine weeks without pay?
Ways to Use OpenClass to Deliver 21st Century Skills
Ways to Use OpenClass to Deliver 21st Century Skills was facilitated by a consultant from NCDPI and a teacher who currently uses the platform to deliver courses. OpenClass is part of HomeBase and is a free platform created by Pearson to deliver online courses. OpenClass is not a learning blackboard system but a social learning tool. The session focused on ways to deliver content in OpenClass using the 4 C's: critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity. OpenClass addresses the 4Cs by providing a platform for social media blending, project-based learning and the flipped classroom. The presenters shared that 2.4 million people have taken an virtual class and 77% of employers are using virtual classes for training.
Stanly County is using OpenClass to provide 26 courses online. One of the presenters was a teacher from Stanly County who has developed and teaches online classes in OpenClass in addition to the brick and mortar classroom. When talking with the presenters, they both felt that this platform was not appropriate and difficult to navigate for elementary students.
In addition, in this session we developed an OpenClass task box. We were given a mixture of 7th grade standards. Our task was to choose at least 2 content standards and create an enduring understanding, an essential question and a social learning performance task. This was interesting since I did not have any knowledge of the standards for 7th grade. We collaborated in groups which helped in the understanding of the standards and created a task that combined a science, socials studies and technology standard.
Personally, I was disappointed that OpenClass is not suitable for elementary students. I was hoping this free platform would allow me to start looking into a blended classroom.
Using Google Classroom to Connect to Digital Learners
Using Google Classroom to Connect to Digital Learners was facilitated by teachers from Johnston County who use Google Classroom. Google Classrooms is free to those schools or districts that use Google Apps. It is easy to use and cloud based. Google Classroom allows for a paperless classroom by allowing assignments to be created and collected Google Docs, Drive or Email. It improves real-time communication and allows students and teachers to stay organized. It can be used for classrooms, student organizations, staff or grade level meetings and more. Scheduling for part of the session included time for the participants to create and 'play' in our Google Classroom. I did not have the information on my students to enter. I am anxious to enter students and 'play' in the classroom.
Based on the information I learned, Google Classrooms is the best choice for elementary classrooms. I am anxious to compare 3D Lab and Google Classrooms for ease of use by the students. I would also like to investigate if there are other platforms that are suitable for elementary students and the cost.
