Being a student in the IDD program at UGA has allowed me
to become more familiar with eLearning. All throughout my school years and
undergraduate years at college, I never really experienced the eLearning
setting. Everything I did was face-to-face and if technology was used in the
lesson, it was not true eLearning. In chapter 8 Egbert discusses how with
eLearning the teacher and the students have to understand the differences
between traditional formats of teaching and eLearning styles. She mentions that
eLearning is not just moving a traditional format into a new medium. I think
often, teachers who are not familiar with eLearning practice that method simply
because they have not educated themselves what a true eLearning environment is.
An eLearning environment is student-centered, so I also think teachers have a
hard time giving that much responsibility to their students, including myself
at times. However, we are living in a digital age and our students are growing
up understanding technology better than us, so we need to be practicing this
type of teaching. One point I thought was interesting from this chapter was
mentioned by Setzer and Greene (2005); “High-poverty districts are among the
most ardent supporters of using eLearning to provide services that the district
cannot otherwise afford to provide to students”. After participating in
eLearning courses for my graduate degree and reading about this style of
learning, I can see how this situation can be more affordable. Not only can it
be more affordable, but I think it is also more effective in those situations. From
my experience, many times, students who come from poverty, have a hard time
focusing in the classroom and completing assignments. I think eLearning is a
great solution to get them more involved and make the learning more about them.
Your points about economically disadvantaged districts and students are very true. I think that providing the opportunity for students to access course content outside of the walls of school is a huge step for many districts. I know that mine has been working for over a year to get their LMS and blended learning format off the ground. It takes a ton of work, but I think it is worth it in the long run!
ReplyDeleteDiana,I am experiencing the same concerns you mentioned in your blog post regarding the necessity to provide additional learning opportunities for economically disadvantaged students. I have a HUGE percentage of my students failing this semester. I would say 90% of these students are ELL and/or on Free and Reduced Lunch. The traditional teaching model does not and is not working for these students. I have loved my experience working in Instructure Canvas so much that I am going to try to develop an asynchronous version of our Algebra I Common Core course that will allow students to show mastery of the material at their own pace. It will be alot of work, but something has got to be done for these kids!
ReplyDeleteIts funny that they say that high poverty districts want to follow this model, since their students are the least likely to have access to a computer to even access the learning. I love the idea of flipping the classroom, but our kids don't have internet at home, so where do we go from there? A one-to-one program is awesome, but expensive to set up and maintain, so are they really saving money at that point? At the teacher level it will require a shift in how things are done, but I don't see that as the main sticking point, access will be.
ReplyDeleteI guess I have not thought of this way. I always think that students with poverty cannot be fully benefited from technologies due to limited access. But, you are right. In fact, those students may rather learn better in elearning environment. I also agree that online teaching practice is different from face-to-face teaching practice. I am wholeheartedly learning that these days as I am teaching this class!:)
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