Response Week 5
Tony Reetz
The Question:
What do you see as the potential of online learning for students with whom you work, with Anchorage School District students as a whole, and with K-12 students throughout Alaska?
Introduction
I hope that I have established that I believe that online learning has its place in the toolchest of the journeyman educator, even though I have viewed it with a bit of a jaundiced eye. If online learning is touted as the wave of the future, as a panacea for our current educational woes, or as a great unifier of humanity, then it will go the way of the pendulum just as any other fad. If, however, educators take a lean look at its potentials and limitations and not get caught up in the momentum of new-fangled neatness, we can maximize its application and minimize its disappointments.
The ideal function of formalized education is to match the most effective delivery system possible to the needs of the student population, both in general and for each unique individual, with the resources the educational institution has at its disposal. For that to happen, educators need to fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of each delivery system, and to artfully apply the best of each.
Online learning's strengths are:
Online learning's weaknesses are:
I view the potential of online learning as good for a somewhat limited band of the population at present. I'll describe how I see it working for the students I work with, the Anchorage School District in general, and for K-12 education in Alaska.
Online Learning for My Students
Intermediate elementary students can benefit from online learning by having access to materials produced by professionals from all over the world. I see this as supplemental to the curriculum and/or for enrichment purposes. Students can also have worthwhile educational experiences by communicating with peers in far away places who are studying the same material.
Students who are unable to attend classes in person because of sickness would benefit from having access to instructional units online if they had internet access at home. They should be able to download and print assignments and fax or email them back to the teacher. They should be able to communicate with classmates via email or during prearranged chat times.
Students who miss school for other reasons, such as family vacation times or seasonal activities, should also be able to access lesson content, assignments, and electronic communication with the teacher and peers. Note that this is not a replacement for in person learning, but as an accomodation.
The downside of online learning is apparent when compared to other technologies currently being used. For example, I have used the Anchorage Daily News School Newsline for a number of years to call in daily assignment information, names of students who have done exemplary work, information about upcoming events, stupid jokes, mystery guests, mystery locations, etc. My students and their parents have been able to call in to double check on assignments, or to find out what's going on if someone has been sick. I've called from the school, my home, pay phones across the city, my cell phone while driving, and from out of state to leave messages for my students. It has been quick and easy and easily accessible for the population that I serve. It has been popular with the students and parents, and a lot of fun for me. Unfortunately, I was recently informed by the Daily News that they are dropping the telephone service in favor of an online version. This will mean that only the two or three kids in my class that have home internet access will be able to get information. It also means that I will not be communicating with my voice, but by text and graphic images. Not only that, but I will be limited by having to upload files, rather than by being able to just pick up a telephone and leave a message. I would rather keep the voice messaging service and post other information and images on my school's web site.
Online Learning for the Anchorage School District
Besides the applications of online learning mentioned above, the Anchorage School District as a whole can utilize online learning to offer advanced placement coursework, independent study coursework, materials for alternative educational environments, parent resources, staff development, occupational training and licensing, career planning and placement, college research and application, financial planning and assistance, and whatever else the internet offers that has educational and occupational and personal value.
My experience with coworkers who have had access to internet technology for years is that they by far prefer in person training than even printed or emailed step by step instructions.
Online Learning for the State of Alaska
As a whole, Bush Alaska is way ahead of the Anchorage School District when it comes to distance learning in particular. We would do well to learn from the successful and seamless integration of technology that the Bush schools have developed as a matter of necessity.
Conclusion
We would do well to remember that online learning is only part of the instructional delivery picture. Videotapes, video conferencing, audio conferencing, hardcover text, faxing, CBI, CAI, instructional television, CD-ROM, correspondence, etc. are all time-proven tools that well prepared educators should consider when trying to maximize learning for students who need flexibility in delivery of educational materials.