Using Online Learning Effectively

This article is called "The New Gold Rush: Establishing Effective Online Learning Policies" By Ferdi Serim and it is from September/October 2007.

The article discusses how “online learning is the fastest growing segment of educational technology, for both the best and worst of reasons." The article states how online learning delivers student centered learning. However, "the temptation to replace highly skilled professionals with scripted, mass delivered “content” as a means of reducing costs and/or maximizing profits is a contender for the worst reason." The article provides ways on how to navigate your way to improved success using online learning. First, "use research and best practices". This is important because "online learning optimally should be used in combination with face-to-face instruction by using qualified and experienced teachers who are in physical proximity to enrolled online students as teacher facilitators and instructional supervisors." The article also states to "evaluate offerings using research" because "understanding and evaluating online programs requires understanding the issues and priorities of the stakeholders." Most importantly, the article gives a great example of how to "prepare for a long journey". The article explains how "Taos Pueblo in New Mexico began its journey three years ago, as a magnet school of the Taos Municipal School District located on Pueblo land. Following the first year, when the program was located in a temporary building, students and parent’s handmade 4,000 adobe bricks and constructed a building to house their online learning program. Students who had previously been considered at risk or had dropped out found that when they were in control of the pace and direction of their education, they were able to achieve at higher levels than they (or anyone else) had anticipated. Seeing this change, parents and the community began to realize that something special was going on.

Furthermore, "Shawn Duran and Alexsis Blake have created a blended model of online and service learning experiences that set a high standard for online programs anywhere. Using what they’ve learned in their online academic studies, students have constructed four greenhouses, irrigated by solar pumps they’ve constructed; researched and obtained heirloom seeds of vegetables grown by previous generations on Taos Pueblo; and organized a weekly farmers market so that community members can enjoy fresh produce year round. The partnership between the Taos community, public schools, and NNDS has grown beyond their anticipation by making a sustained commitment, keeping an eye on emerging best practices, and making professional development a continual process rather than a single event." This example is so wonderful and it shows how important it is to use online learning, and how it can help your students learn in ways never before possible!

Overall, this article was very insightful and reminded me of the importance of using online learning in my future classroom. I know we have discussed this topic many times in class and through other blogs, but I found the example in this article to be so inspiring. I think it is amazing that students were able to construct 4 greenhouses and then from there organize a weekly farmers market! This is really a great example of hands on learning! I hope to use this concept in my class or even allow it to be used on the campus that I work at. This project could really show children about lifelong learning and how wonderful it is to work with your community!

Teachers Attend Tech Camp To Become Creative

This article is called "Tech Camp Unleashes Creativity and Collaboration" and it is by Joe Bardin from June/July 2008.

The article begins by discussing how "Rosy Escandon, a camp instructor, tells of one first grade teacher who made a movie with her students about fire safety. Kids helped write the script and participated as actors. Getting them to pay attention or give their best was no problem because they were excited about being in a movie." The article also discusses the benefits of using the program called iMovie and how "the process of creating an in-class movie exercises a range of fundamental skills: writing, public speaking, focus, teamwork, and creative collaboration." Another example from the article is that "Suzanne Hensel teaches third grade in the Tanque Verde District in Tucson. A visit to her classroom revealed a shoot in progress for a movie about geometry definitions. In the scene, a girl throws a fishing line into a pretend pond to fish for a line segment. After several takes, she gets it just right. By then, everyone has the definition of a line segment memorized. Teachers report their kids love reading on camera and seeing themselves afterwards. It gets students who would otherwise be silent talking." These examples of movie-making are so inspiring and really show what a great tool it is to include a certain lesson and incorporate the whole class.

Also, "at Tech Camp, teachers also learned to write, read, and produce their own podcasts for use in their classrooms. Podcasts can be an especially powerful tool for English Language Learners who often don’t hear themselves fully until they do a recording and then play it back. The process forces readers to slow down and enunciate properly." Another example from the article comes from "another Tech Camp grad, Cori Araza, teaches Spanish at Paradise Valley High School. She is having her Advanced Placement Spanish class work on podcast book reports." These examples of Podcasts show that once teachers learn how to use the tool, it creates another field for the students and allows their work to come alive.

Next, "at Tech Camp, Kathryn Scott demonstrated how to build a basic Web page. She noted that teachers can be intimidated when kids know more than they do about technology. 'The classroom needs to catch up with [the students’] daily lives,' says Scott, 'where technology is already in action'." This statement from the article is very powerful and it reminds teachers that they need to work to connect the student's worlds to the world of learning. In addition, "Tech Camp also got teachers thinking about how technology can exercise and enhance collaboration."

Overall, this article was so great to read and it was very insightful. I have read many articles about using different technology tools in the classroom; however I feel like this article combines every element into one and really shows what it means to be successful in using technology in the classroom. There were so many great examples from this article that I would love to use in my classroom and I learned some really great ideas. One project that I would like to try is having my students get into groups and create a book trailer, instead of a book report. This would be similar to a movie trailer, where it would highlight all the main points, characters, settings, and themes from the book. It would be done in a very creative way and I think all the students would enjoy doing this. I would make sure to have specific guidelines for my students so that they know what to include in the book trailer and I think this would be a very successful project using the program iMovie. I am really looking forward to learning more about technology tools and perhaps I could attend my own "Tech Camp" to guide me in the future.

Video Streaming That Doesn't Cost Too Much

The article that I read for this week is called "Using Video Streaming: Setting up a Cheap System for Distributing Information to Teachers and Students" and it is by Thomas McNeal Jr. and Landon Kearns from 2005.

The article discusses that video streaming can be a very useful tool for educators and it also explains how it is possible "to create a streaming server with tools that are available in many classrooms.” The article also states how to create a "video streamer using free software, older computers, and borrowed hardware. The system works remarkably well, and the only cost is the time involved in building the unit." The main goal of this program was to "investigate the use of videoconferencing and streaming video as a means of delivering information about new ideas in the field of deaf education". This project is very interesting because it established a network of deaf-education educators. Also, "the project has awarded more than 80 Polycom ViaVideos and approximately five ViewStations to deaf and hearing educators and teachers of the deaf/hard of hearing across the United States. Recipients are using these systems to communicate with both speech and sign language over video." Most importantly, "the project group decided to use IP videoconferencing because of its portability, ease of set-up, and affordability." I also found it amazing that "deaf-education educators in the project have used this feature to videoconference and share slide shows and documents at the same time." Next, the project decided to look at the question of "is it possible to share this information with a larger group of deaf-education students and educators?" After much research, "they confirmed that a system could be created from tools and equipment located on campus." They found that "the computer is a reconditioned 733 MHZ Pentium III, and the video card and scan converter are borrowed. The encoding software and information such as system requirements are freely available at Microsoft’s Website: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/series/encoder/sysreq.aspx."

Lastly, the article concludes with some interesting information about the results of this program and video streaming that will be helpful for me in my future classroom. It states that "videoconferencing and streaming may reduce the isolation of students and instructors and give preservice students the ability to observe some of the best teachers in their classroom. Educators can collaborate with their colleagues or students from across the country. Preservice students can observe a teacher at work from many miles away. Hundreds of students and instructors can participate in videoconferences at the same time over the Internet. Although our example is set in a university environment, it can easily be used in a K–12 school setting. Challenges and problems still remain, but streaming video is proving to be an affordable and effective educational tool." These findings encourage me to learn ways to cut costs so that I can provide wonderful technology tools like video streaming in my classroom and for my students. I can see the benefits that it brings- like allowing students to observe the teacher from miles away and also allowing teachers to interact with other teachers as well. I could develop a project where the students must communicate through videoconferences and act as a certain historical figure from the time period that we are studying. This idea would be fun for the students and it also seems like it could be a possibility because there are ways to spend less and make this tool cheap for schools.

"Bringing Everyone Together"

This article is called "All Aboard!" and it is by David and Margaret Carpenter from December/January 2008-2009. The overall message of this article is about how a new curriculum-development review process brought teachers, administrators, and learning specialists to the table and resulted in some innovative uses of technology.

According to the article "at Hong Kong International School (HKIS), technology instruction gained traction when it was addressed alongside several curriculum initiatives." The article explains how it worked when "teachers, learning specialists, and administrators comprised the Collaboration Team based on the idea that everyone should participate and “own” the curriculum." This set-up allowed teachers to be in charge of the process. The article also talked about the benefit of having so many different people apart of the process. It stated that "having so many perspectives helped eliminate redundancies as well as build upon students’ skills sequentially." Another important thing to note about these meetings was that "by giving teachers classroom coverage for the half- and full-day meetings, the school principal validated the process while avoiding the usual rushed through after-school meetings." Also, "a second driver for ICL integration involved the use of a versatile online curriculum-mapping tool that contained a unit-planning template. That template is structured to prompt users to add specific instructional strategies and assessments enhanced by technology use." Most importantly, "in their annual review of the process, collaboration teams base their discussions on the success of past assessments (Did students learn what we intended for them to learn?) and comment on how the essential questions, instructional strategies, and assessments often needed further refinement and crafting." On example from the article is of a 4th grade class and how "for their nutrition unit, fourth graders shared and compared recordings of their eating habits by adding daily to a class wiki in their Moodle course sites. The development of library lessons on asking good research questions, note taking, using subscription databases, and citing sources tied directly to the fourth grade’s essential questions." The idea of the curriculum-development review process is very interesting as many of us will one day be in that situation and it is vital to understand how to work with different people and how to develop a curriculum that matters and that is necessary for your students.

After reading about the different examples from the article, I can see how this could work in my future classroom and how I can adapt my lessons. One idea from the article was to use the program Audacity to create podcasts for the student's assessments. For example, I could have the students record reflections from their writing conferences. I would prompt my students to record their thoughts about how they are improving their use of the writing process, what they are working on as writers and the next steps they plan to take. This would provide me with instant feedback as I could listen to the sound files from the writing conferences. Through this article, I am able to see the benefits of working with a staff of people to create a stronger curriculum as well as learn new ways to adapt my lessons for my future class.

"It's All About The Money"

This article is called "Show us the Money! Planning and Persistence Can Help You Get Ed Tech Stimulus Funding" and it is by Davis H. Brock and from August 2009.

The article discusses how "there is a disconnect between students’ technology experience outside of school and what they use in the classroom." For instance, "at home many students play and learn with an array of tools that are restricted, banned, or, in many cases, just not available at school." These statements are important to understand for future teachers and the article brings up a point- which many of us are already aware of- that "effectively infusing technology into the classroom does make a difference with students by motivating them, increasing their achievement, and engaging them in powerful ways." The overall message and idea of the article is that "with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), we have an opportunity to make significant strides in bringing technology into the classroom in meaningful ways and ending the digital disconnect." The article also states that "as we think about how to use these once-in-a-lifetime funds, we must consider how the goals of the ARRA can help pay for technology purchases and professional development, and how that can affect our students and transform learning environments for our 21st-century learners." This is where it is important for us as future educators to be aware of this situation and understand how to ask for the money we need for different technology tools.

The article gave very helpful tips and guidelines to help educators ask for the money they need. I really enjoyed learning about this tips and I plan on using them in my future when I have my own classroom and I am in the situation where I need to ask for more money and funds. For example, I need to start by creating a plan and then I need to do some research on different results and find success stories. Then it is important to find out what is available and the next steps would be to create a spreadsheet, include professional development, make it look good, develop relationships and lastly to keep knocking on the door and never give up. I found these tips to be very helpful and I plan to use them in my future when I find myself in this situation. I know that through this class we have all found very interesting articles on different tools to incorporate in the classroom and I know many times we have all realized that we will need to have the funds available to actually have and use those resources and tools. So I wanted to learn more about the process it takes to ask for funds and I hope this will be a guideline for my future and for other future educators as well.

"Using GPS To Track The Class"

The article is called "Finding Their Way with GIS" and it is by Alec M. Bodzin, Thomas C. Hammond, Jane Carr, and Serena Calario and it is from August 2009.

This article discusses the wide range of uses of Geospatial information technologies (GIT)and products, such as Google Earth, global positioning systems (GPS), and geographic information systems (GIS). The article discusses that since these systems are being seen everywhere, like being integrated into cell phones, it is now vital for students to learn how to use these tools "for visualizing, mapping, and analyzing multiple layers of georeferenced data." Most importantly, the article addresses the "challenges to using geospatial technologies in school". One challenge is the fact that there is lack of classroom curriculum materials. In order to address this problem, they established a partnership involving two teacher-educator/researchers and two seventh grade technology classroom teachers in an urban mid-Atlantic middle school to collaboratively design and develop and inquiry-driven instructional unit that focused on promoting spatial-thinking skills. The article also discusses the school and what the student dynamic is like. The article states that "our school enrolls students from diverse ethnic backgrounds...all the students in the 7th grade rotate through a technology class consisting of 30 instructional days." The article also talks about how the classes are grouped heterogeneously and they include students of all ability levels. Most of all, many of the students are geographically unaware. The class not only develops their technology skills, but the students also learn geography content and skills in the context of real-world applications and experiences. Lastly, the article provides you with a detailed example of a lesson that the technology class did called the "GIS Storm Sewers Unit." This instructional unit successfully combined technology learning and geographic skills in an authentic inquiry about students' immediate environment. After the unit was complete, the data revealed that students had "enhanced mental maps, a better understanding of geographic coordinates, improved mapping skills, and growth in their spatial analysis abilities."

Through this article, my eyes were completely opened to a new way of learning. I have heard of and seen the GPS products used on phones and in cars and they have always seemed very useful and convenient but I never knew that they could be used to teach middle school students about things like mapping skills and geographic coordinates in the classroom. I would love to one day have the chance to adapt this unit for my classroom and at my school. I know that one of the challenges would be the resources and funds available and I will take this into consideration once I begin to teach. I will also find different ways to open students’ minds to learning about the world around them and to enhance their geographical skills. I believe that it is necessary to begin using technology tools in this way and it is important to take advantage of all the different advancements in technology that are being created and use them to improve and enhance learning for the better.

"Tools That Are Cool For School"

The article is called "Too Cool for School? No Way! Using the TPACK Framework: You Can Have Your Hot Tools and Teach with Them, Too" and it is by Punya Mishra and Matthew Koehler from May 2009.

The overall message of this article is explain that even though technology is innovative and popular, it doesn't necessarily always make it an educational technology. The authors discuss ways to alter and change technology to make it fit and work better in the classroom and benefit both teachers and students. One statement from the article that is important is the idea that "technologies have the potential to fundamentally change the way we think about teaching and learning." The article also discusses the idea that "as educators, our job involves teaching (pedagogy) students specific subject matter (content)." The authors also bring up other important ideas about teaching that I found very interesting and helpful as I begin to prepare for my future as an educator. The article states that "teaching is not a process of picking up a few instructional techniques and applying them," but that "teaching requires the transformation of content in ways that make it intellectually accessible to students." All of these statements regarding teaching and technology are very interesting to consider.

However, the most valuable part of the article is the tools that are described on how to repurpose technology in the classroom. The article suggests that there is a need to repurpose technology because “most technologies that teachers use typically have not been designed for educational purposes.” This is very crucial to understand and I think that if teachers want to incorporate technology into their classroom, it is important to use the right tools that will work best for their students.

The article describes three examples of technology that can be repurposed for educational ends and they are micro-blogging, visual search engines, and music DJ software. The idea of micro-blogging is to complement face-to-face discussions in a classroom and participants share short messages—140 characters or less—with each other using a micro-blogging website. Next, the idea of specialized search engines are used to help students understand intertextuality, which is the concept that texts often refer to each other in complex and intricate ways to create webs of meaning, and students use these search engines to find web-pages containing a target phrase they have chosen. Last, freely available DJ software, such as trakAxPC, can be used to teach mathematical concepts such as ratios, fractions, and percentages. According to the article, “what makes this a powerful lesson is that students actually get to manipulate the trakAxPC software to help them describe and explain ratios and percentages” and also “this is a powerful way to bring mathematics alive to students in an intrinsically motivating manner.” Through this article, I really was able to learn a lot about being realistic in my classroom and finding ways to use technology that will actually benefit my students and their learning.

In the end, the article ended with a powerful statement that said “teachers need to develop a willingness to play with technologies and an openness to building new experiences for students so that fun, cool tools can be educational.” I will definitely use the tools that were given in the article in my future classroom to guide my students with different discussions and to follow along with the different subjects we are studying like grammar, literature, science, and math to name a few. Through this article I have learned that it is not enough to just bring technology into the classroom, but you must intentionally find ways to make it very useful and beneficial and then that is when your students will really be inspired and be changed in their learning.

"Binding the Gap for Students"

The article is called "WEB 2.0 Today's Technologies, Tomorrow's Learning" and it is by Jennifer Groff and Jason Haas from September/ October 2008.

The overall message of the article is to show that there is a need "to make games and procedures that can help bridge the gap between the traditional scholastic culture and the culture of today’s learners." This article brings up interesting points about today's learners and it really opened up my eyes to see that we as future educators need to work to be changing and molding our teaching style and tools to what works best for the students and to what appeals and excites them to learn. The article brings up a fascinating idea of a social network for the classroom and the article explains the benefits for using one. The article states that "by connecting students and teachers, they can create strong communities of practice, essential aids to good teaching and learning." Another interesting point for social networking is that "it’s also easy for teachers to create communities for themselves to share best practices, curricula, and more." The article also brought up the idea of how simulations can be beneficial in the classroom and they bring a new element to learning that you wouldn't be able to use otherwise. The article states that with the simulation programs you are able to "demonstrate the principles of evolution or the factors in a forest fire—two concepts that would otherwise be difficult for the students to experience." I believe that this is very necessary for today's students and it allows the teachers and the students to reach a new level and bond together.

As I read the ideas from the article, it made me excited to create this type of learning environment in my future classroom. As I begin to familiarize myself more with computer technology, social networking, simulations, and games I hope I can implement these tools into my lesson plans and begin to get my students excited to learn subjects that usually seem "boring" or "useless information." The article talked about the use of games in a classroom and it stated that "games can motivate students to work toward a goal, and cultivate collaborative problem-solving skills as well as “telescope” skills (the ability to determine objectives and prioritize them). They demand numerous other thinking skills such as weighing evidence,analyzing situations, and decision making." After reading this statement, I realized that there are many benefits to using games in my classroom. The article gave examples of complex games such as "Ayiti" and "Muzzy Lane’s Making History" and one example that I could do, would be to allow the students to play a game that would evaluate their knowledge on a certain subject I just taught. This would allow me to observe the students thinking and be aware of how well they understood the material. Lastly, it is important to understand that it will take time and practice to learn how to correctly and successfully implement these tools in the classroom. The article states that "classrooms successfully using social networking, digital games, and simulations are student-centered, and require the teacher to support the learning that will unfold through student interaction with the tool." This reminds us as educators to work together with our students and become “partners in learning."

"An Educational Chat"

Chatting It Up Online: Students Talk to a Favorite Author by Pamela Livingston

After reading the article by Pamela Livingston, I realized that there is a whole new world for teachers to take advantage of and I now have a new understanding of how to successfully incorporate technology into the classroom. Previously, the concept of an online chat automatically reminded me of a social network for friends to stay connected or for people to meet each other. However, now I understand that an online chat is so much more because it can be used to connect students to the outside world and allow them to experience a new kind of learning that is exciting and fresh! One quote that I found very important and interesting from the article is the idea that "one of the many things computer technology can provide to schools is a way to reach beyond the four walls of the classroom and bring a unique learning experience to students. Author chats are one way this can happen." This statement is so powerful and I believe it illustrates the overall idea of this article. While the story of the 3rd class of boys from Chestnut Hill Academy chatting with their favorite author Mary Pope Osborne is entertaining and interesting, I believe that this article was primarily written to show educators and the public that there is a new way of teaching and learning. Technology is a powerful resource and tool, and now I look forward to integrating it into my future classroom and I am eager to use online author chats and other tools to educate and inspire children.


This article provides a great example of how to use technology as a part of the student’s learning process. I really like the idea of connecting with an author through an online chat and it seemed to be very successful in giving the students an idea of what it is like to be an author and what it takes to write a book. I think I could adapt this into my future classroom by finding a similar program to establish a connection with other authors and then I would allow my students to create questions to ask so that they could learn more about the author or subject that we are currently studying. Then after we had the online chat with the author, the students could begin their own book writing project by getting in groups and working as a team to create their own book. As the teacher, I could assign different jobs to each student-like the author, the illustrator, the manager, etc. and this could give the students a real life experience with creating a book and allow them to understand the process it takes to make the final product. After each team finished their book, I would have them learn how to scan the pages and import them onto the computer so that each group could show their book to all the students in the class on a big screen. Also, this would give the students more knowledge about computer technology and it would be a great way to present their books. This idea seems to work well with literature and reading and I also think it could be very successful with other subjects like history, science, math, art, and music. I believe a teacher can only go so far by standing up at the front of the classroom and lecturing to the students. Through the use of computer technology, students can "chat" with local artists and musicians, historians, scientists and mathematicians and ask them questions to find out more about a certain subject. With technology, there seems to be no limits and students can really “reach beyond the four walls of the classroom.”

The relevant ISTE NETS for Teachers and ISTE NETS for Students standard is NETS-4.