Saturday, April 1, 2017
Myths about Virtual Schooling
As I read the 10 Myths, honestly I was not surprised by most.
In my school, students are taking online classes. The adults supervising these students are mostly para-professionals and not actual subject teachers. Some students are taking AP courses which are online, some regular traditional courses. These courses are taught by a subject teacher from our district, but that teacher may be in Grand Rapids, teaching the students in Southeast Michigan during the same period. So that means in our school Online classes are for AP courses ( talented and gifted students) as well as they are offered as Credit Recovery (At risk of graduating students)
I feel differently about myth # 4, as I completed my Master's online, even though it was convenient to take the course sitting in the comfort of the home, I felt isolated. I missed the campus, its activity, the collaboration with peers, meeting and chatting with the instructors and getting more insight. I think I missed out on a lot of things during my program.
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Your comment in Myth 4 was a conversation I had with my group from my other class. That we feel limited to getting to know our other classmates that we never get to work with. Yes, it is convenient to meet virtually but we do not get the chance to know everyone. I know we had a Skype class in this class, that unfortunately I did not get to attend, but not all classes do that. My classmates and I were joking that 100% virtual high school reunions will start being on Twitter or something like that.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to that, I think that if this online gets too popular among school kids, I fear that the fun will be taken out of learning aspect. The chatting in class, helping a peer to solve a problem or complaining about too much work, all that kid stuff will disappear.
ReplyDeleteYou brought up an important point, complaining sharing your non-virtual problems with peers is an important stage of adolescences :)
DeleteI have also experienced students taking online classes to aid in credit recovery. While these courses do offer students another opportunity to pass a class they would otherwise have failed, enabling them to fulfill a graduation requirement, I wonder how effective online courses are in actually teaching the material. In terms of the presentation of the material, the online course might not be effective in identifying the reason why the student did not pass the class the first time. Attempting to use a hole puncher as a stapler won't work a first time, and attempting to use it a second time is an exercise in futility. Furthermore, even if a student does do better in an online class, his or her success might not be attributable to the class itself. The pressure of failure, coupled with the threat of being held back could renew the student's focus and change his or her approach to the class.
ReplyDeleteOnline learning can be ideal for credit recovery and to accommodate students with disabilities that cannot attend school. I do wonder how those program run. Like is there peer collaboration and is it direct teaching. The case studies presented to u s this week sounds as if only teach-student communication with direct feedback to student.
DeleteI mentioned this in another thread, but if they failed in a f2f setting but passed an online course, you could argue that they've learned. Now, did they learn more? Possibly, since they passed rather than failed. Can you argue quality? Maybe. Can you argue retention (i.e., they won't remember it for long)? Again, maybe, but when you consider that they failed it the first time, how much would they retain then?
DeleteHi Sneha,
ReplyDeleteI have seen online courses be used for credit recovery and I often ask myself are the students really learning what they should/need to be learning? I say this because most of the time students are in need of credit recovery because they may have failed a math class in thier 9th grade year, which it seems like you pretty much know about, and they are not strong in math; therefore, are they really understanding what is being taught to them on the computer screen in a somewhat isolated situation with maybe a para-professional as a teacher? In situations like this I think it needs to be face-to-face contact with a certified math teacher who is available to assist students with after school tutoring and the student needs to understand that help is available for them.
Shead, relating to your comment about "Myth 4" I do see feeling isolated and missing out on the socialization of campus life to be somewhat of an issue. Concentration on what is being taught online is more self directed which can seemingly leaves less room for involving and assisting socialization. That related to the case study as part of our reading. Socialization is an important part of learning growth and development in and out of the classroom.
ReplyDeleteOnline classes on the other hand are good for learning credit recovery but to others who have pointed out, are they actually learning based on the objectives that are taught. I do believe in most cases yes and in some, it is just a way to fulfill what is required to get a passing grade or to complete a program.
Hello guys,
DeleteI have actually witnessed and facilitated an online credit recovery class. Most of these students have failed a traditional class. The reason could be distraction, not doing work, not understanding the concepts, or something else. If these students can't succeed in a traditional class, there is a very little chance that they would pass the credit recovery online. Responsibility is the main aspect. Your success or failure solely depends on what you do in the class. Most students who have to take this class are not as responsible. I have seen a very small percentage of students passing. I seriously need to understand how "At Risk" students do in these classes.
Sneha's comments reflect something I said in last week's email, particularly the pass rate data. While we talk about the benefits of online learning in certain situations, we have to consider the population taking the majority of online classes.
DeleteI think, when students learn independently, they procrastinate. It happens with us adults too. In online learning class, you kind of put off certain things till last minute. Most of the time they are poor excuses.
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