"If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of
tomorrow." - John Dewey


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

No comments:

Post a Comment