Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Hybrid Learning
I
started out with the intention of looking into virtual classrooms for
elementary students but quickly backtracked to refine my question to be “Does
virtual learning work and to what extent?” Technology is a huge part of today’s
society and as such there are both pros and cons to any technology issue. In
this paper I examined all sides of virtual learning for elementary students,
their parents and their teachers. After looking over all of the data and
reading testimonials I quickly realized there is always a way to compromise.
I have taken many online courses and know
first hand how hard it is to take the role of learning into your own hands. It
takes skill, commitment, responsibility, time, and desire, all of which are
hard for elementary students to possess. It became apparent to me that due to
the psychological development of this age group the idea of virtual classrooms
would not be realistic. There would always need to be someone there to help
students, as the elementary learning years are so vital. After looking at
students needs I looked to their parents who would home school their children
with the help of an online program or who work and would be leaving their young
children to do the online work alone. According to Kaufman (2011) some of cons
to a virtual classroom include, “exposure to inappropriate material while
online, lack of face-to-face interactions, and hindering social skill” (Para.
3). These are some very large cons that many parents wouldn’t gamble on. Once
it was established that it was a split benefit depending on the parents or
guardians situation I looked towards the teachers. Teaching in a virtual
classroom had both benefits and drawbacks, on one hand teachers were able to do
what they always have done teach and with students who were driven to learn. On
the other hand they also were losing the face-to-face interaction time with
students in cases where web cams were not apart of the program.
Clearly
the idea of a virtual classroom for elementary students is grander in thought
than the actual implantation for various reasons, however the idea of virtual
learning still presents countless possibilities if used and executed in the
correct ways. One way in which to use the idea of virtual learning is in a
“hybrid” classroom so to speak where technology is integrated into the physical
classrooms (Kaufman, 2011). This hybrid classroom would solve the problem of
working parents, it would solve the lack of face-to-face time and teachers
would be available for students to gain support from. Now the only question
left to answer was how can we implement such an idea into regular classrooms.
Integrating technology into elementary
schools is a quickly growing concern and although many teachers are on board
there are still many who would rather go it “old school.” The way to integrate
technology came in the form of Virtual Learning Environments/Communities.
Dillenbourg (2002) defines the term Virtual Learning Environment to be many
things including, “a designed information space, a social page, interactive,
and with multiple pedagogical approaches.” Using this definition and ideology I
looked into case studies and pilot programs, where I found Everyday Mathematics, a program funded by the
National Science Foundation (Schleppenbach, 2012). This program started out by
creating a prototype website with aims or principles that showed the focus for
the program which worked like a social network and integrated the teachers into
playing a major role in aiding student’s success (Schleppenbach, 2012).
Similarly for literacy Holm (2011) created their idea of a Social Learning
Environment to be learning centers for students. As many teachers have centers
in their rooms this would be an easy idea to implement as long as you had, “a
computer and access to the internet” (Holm, 2011). These learning centers would
be placed in physical classrooms just as the Everyday
Mathematics program was and students would be able to progress
independently at their own speed. These types of programs solve many of the
previous problems such as ability grouping, Holm (2011) states, “with a virtual
learning center, when students log in, they only see the activities posted for
their group. They are unaware that other students may have been given different
choices” (Para 3). Students know who is in the “smart” group and who isn’t and
these types of programs would individualize instruction as well as build
students confidence.
After
looking at all of the data towards 100% virtual classrooms I don’t think they
are a realistic expectation for elementary students. It is the older students
will most likely be able to handle the pressures that come along with these
types of classrooms and will benefit from the programs more than younger
students. However, hybrid classrooms where teachers integrate technology into
their physical classroom, curriculum and centers are definite possibilities and
the future reality. Allowing students to work at their own speed and
instructional level will better help students to grow in their own way and
time. Virtual learning is a positive idea that will quickly grow with the
proper teacher attitudes towards them. The extent to which they are beneficial
would be in the hybrid programs that keep a little of the old but add a lot of
the new.
What is a VLE?
Slide Show Overview
References
Dillenbourg,
P., Schneider, D.K. & Synteta, P. (2002). Virtual Learning Environments. In
A. Dimitracopoulou (Ed). Proceedings of the 3rd Hellenic Conference
"Information Communication Technologies in Educaiton" (pp. 3-18).
Kastaniotis Editions, Greece. Retrieved from http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00190701/
Holm, C.
(2011, November 14). Virtual Learning Environment: Literacy Success in
Elementary Schools [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://globalclassroom.us/blog/bid/106586/Virtual-Learning-Environment-Literacy-Success-in-Elementary-Schools
Kaufman,
C. (2011, July 11). Online elementary schools: pros and cons for parents who
work [Web log post]. Retrieved from In Focus: http://www.onlineschools.com/in-focus/online-elementary-schools-parents-work
Reiner, D.
(2012, May 18). The Evolving Role of Online School Learning Coach [Web log
post]. Retrieved from http://www.connectionsacademy.com/blog/posts/2012-05-18/The-Evolving-Role-of-Online-School-Learning-Coaches.aspx
Schleppenbach,
M., & Beer, D. (2012). Designing a Virtual Learning Community for
Elementary Mathematics Teachers. CEMSE :
University of Chicago, 1-12. Retrieved from http://cemse.uchicago.edu/news/vlc.pdf
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