Online Learning

Learning Comes in all Shapes and Sizes
-Thea Jones

Thea Jones is from Alaska, and realizes that with the harsh weather conditions that she and many others live in, it's sometimes impossible to get your kids to school and you to work. They took teachers out of "brick-and-mortar" classrooms and put them in virtual ones. They made sure teachers had all the tools they needed and, through video, they "re-injected” them back into the classroom. Students still receive direct instruction, but only now, their teachers are remote and have access to a vast amount of content. They looked at other programs in the state to see what did and didn't work, and they also took a very close look at their students. It's all about the audience, isn't it? They said their students are digital natives, and they feel just as comfortable typing on a keyboard as putting pen to paper. Which seems true for today's generation, of a technology based world, and on a positive note, they've seen student test scores improve.

This is such a great idea, and can make missed classes not such a bad thing. As I have personally taken online classes, I know it's not a stress if I can't get to class right on time because of something randomally coming coming up, everyone deal with interuption in their lives. If kids became sick or had a death in a family, they could still obtain the work done in classm and still complete assignments, all through going online. Not only does this make it so kids can access their class at any time, it's also giving them a boost in this technology based world. It would be easier to post assignment and project instructions online, and if there were questions about anything, the kids would have their parents or gaurdians at home to ask questions to as well. I think having virtual classrooms is beneficial for teachers, students and parents. Giving the parents access to the classroom at any time, too, and seeing what their child is learning.