K-12 Online Schooling

     I was recently talking to one of my former elementary school teachers, who is now working as a teacher of online courses for elementary students, which I found very interesting. I had never really thought about it, but I didn't really realize that elementary school students were being offered the option of online schooling.  I knew that some home-school programs had supplemental online classes or meetings once weekly for the students to interact with other students of their age, but online schooling never really crossed my mind for students at such a young age.  After I talked to her, I decided to look online to see what online schooling really entailed.  (There is a link below to the article I read.)  The article addresses the difference between online schooling and home schooling, benefits of the system and which students would benefit most from it, what one should expect with online schooling, and a list of pros and cons. 

     As I read through the article, I focused mostly on online schooling for elementary age students, since that is the age I want to work with, but also because I already knew about and understood online schooling for middle and/or high school students.  For the elementary-age students, it seemed to me like it would still require a lot of work on their parent's part to be a teacher in the home and a source of motivation and structure for the students schooling, and as I read I found that that is very true.  The article stated that for K-6, most parents spent about 5 hours per day instructing the student, which is still a large time commitment, especially if a parent were planning on working as well (either in or out of the home).  I also think that the lack of interaction with other students would be a very negative aspect for young students.  The online schooling could be very beneficial to a student with severe disabilities or any illness requiring a student to stay home since they would be able to do all of their work without having to leave their house.  While students are young, though, if they have no medical conditions that should prevent them from attending a regular school--either public or private--I think the skills they learn by interacting with others are very important.  For upper-level students, I think they are gradually capable of making better decisions for themselves and what kind of school system will work best for them and the lifestyle they may be carrying out.  Online schooling would be very beneficial in learning more about technology at a young age, but I think that because the time commitment for a parent is still high, it would be expensive (compared to home schooling) and elementary-age students would lose out on a lot of social contact with peers that seems crucial at that age.

To view the article I read on K-12 online schooling visit the following link.

• http://www.onlineschools.org/online-schooling-k-12/

Image source: iCLIPART for Schools

eBooks in the Classroom

Seeing as my mom is an avid reader, my sister and I have recently been looking at the option of getting her an eBook reader.  We haven't done a whole lot of research on the idea, but we've browsed some of the options we have: the Kindle, iPad, Nook, Sony Reader (and there are many more).  As we were browsing, the future teacher in me came out and I thought about how awesome it would be if we could incorporate eBooks into classrooms.  I know, as a college student, my backpack would be much lighter if I didn't have to carry my textbooks everywhere, and an eBook would be the perfect solution to that.  Even in elementary classrooms, though, eBooks would be an awesome way to make reading exciting and to allow students to work with new technologies that are available to them.

As a student in elementary school, I think the use of an eBook reader would be more about the excitement of getting to use it than the convenience of not having to carry books, but that is still a positive thing because anything that encourages a child to read is something that is helpful in the classroom (and at home).  As children get into high school and especially college, the eBook reader would have more value as a piece of highly beneficial technology since it is not heavy and has the ability to hold a lot of information.  I still have a lot more research to do on the eBooks, especially since so many options are coming out and they are continuously being improved upon and made better and better.

One of the many options out there right now for an eBook reader is the new Nook Color.  This video from ConsumerReports.org shows some of the features of this particular eBook.

To visit two of the links I found helpful visit:

• eBooks and Education
• eBooks for Education

Image source: iCLIPART for Schools

Blogging in the Classroom

I started this blog, and just like I've done with the other projects I've been assigned in class, I started thinking about how blogging could be incorporated into my future classroom to benefit my students' learning.  Blogging seems like a really good way for students to work on reading and writing at the same time they are expanding their skills in technology.

Blogging could be used to create a class newsletter that students take turns writing on.  This would give students a chance to share with their parents what they are doing in class instead of the teacher just giving a weekly summary of what's going on. Students could talk about things they were working on, projects the class was working on, field trips or special events that happened during the week.  A blog in the classroom could also be used for students individual writing.  If each student had a personal blog, they could post their writings and would have access to read their classmates' work as well as give feedback on their work.

I think blogging in the classroom would be a really positive way to incorporate technology into students' daily writing and it could potentially cause them to take more pride in their work, knowing it was published and could be viewed by classmates, the teacher, parents, etc. In the video below, a college professor talks about how he uses blogging in the English courses he instructs and the positive impact that has on students.



As I was looking for articles that talked about using blogging in the classroom to enhance education, I also came across an article that was about a teacher who used blogging as a way to allow outsiders to see into the life of a teacher and inside the education system.  He did this anonymously, but he was still found by a coworker.  I think that this is also a very interesting use for blogs in education.  As a parent, or an administrator, or any other high position in the school system, you may not know what goes on inside the school, and by teachers writing about that opens doors that one does not usually have the chance to see inside of.  I also read an article that just laid out different uses for a blog and it mentioned that teachers can use blogs by other teachers to get instructional ideas for the classroom and can use blogs to communicate and collaborate with others to improve the learning they provide for their students. The third article I read was short and talked about how a teacher can use blogs in the classroom, but what stuck out to me was that it was written in 2004 which signifies to me that, although blogging in classrooms is just now becoming more popular, it has been occurring for some time now.

As I have looked more and more into blogging in the classroom, I am becoming more excited to hopefully make blogging a part of my classroom someday so parents have the opportunity to hear classroom news not only from me, but from their students as well.  I think blogging seems like a great way to excite kids about writing and reading a great way to help kids, even those who are quieter in class, express themselves in a way that others can access to read and comment on.  

For more articles on blogging in the classroom and for educational purposes, visit the following links:

• Blogging from the Classroom, Teachers Seek Influence, Risk Trouble
• Using Blogs to Integrate Technology in the Classroom
• In the Classroom, Web Logs Are the New Bulletin Boards 

Calculators in Classrooms

The use of calculators in our classrooms has become a highly debated topic in recent years.  With the ever expanding use of technology and need to have, and understand, 21st century skill there are many people who think that calculators should be implemented into mathematics in early elementary school and expanded upon throughout the rest of their primary and secondary schooling.

I agree that it is important that students understand how and when to use calculators, but I think it is also very important that students are taught mathematical concepts first.  For students to benefit from the use of a calculator, they should first be required to learn how to do the math on their own (mentally or with pencil and paper) and from there should be taught how to implement calculators to ease the tedious work of math and to help further understand the concept (not just how to do the problem).  In elementary school, students are learning the fundamentals of math.  If we don't force our  students to learn how to do basic math they will lack the basic skills needed in everyday life--like adding or subtracting together simple numbers.

The use of calculators can be of very little benefit to students if it is not used in appropriate ways and at appropriate times during the learning process.  Knowing when to implement the use of a calculator is at the teacher's discretion and is, therefore, their responsibility to use in a way conductive to the students' learning. It is also important to know what type of calculator (standard, scientific, or graphing) to introduce to students and how use that to calculator to help their learning process.  This same idea can be applied to the use of computer programs for math and using age appropriate games, software, etc. The most important part of this all, though, is that the calculator, computer, games, etc. should be used to enhance classroom learning, not to take place of learning the material and how to solve problems without the assistance of technology.

Don't get me wrong, learning to use modern technology is very, very important, it is just important that teachers are careful in using it to benefit their students' learning instead of taking away from their learning.  Technology must be implemented and learned about at an early age to build that knowledge up for skills in high grades, future jobs, etc. but technology skills are not the only skills that are necessary and that must be recognized when teaching kids.  Technology will be implemented in reading, writing, math and other subjects, but those subjects cannot always be incorporated into technology in a way that is the most beneficial to learning the necessary material.

For more articles discussing the pros and cons of calculator usage in classroom, visit the following websites:

• Calculators and Computers
• Calculators in the Classroom
• SEDL - Quick Takes: Calculators in the Classroom

Image source: iCLIPART for Schools