SIX E-LEARNING MYTHS AND THE REALITIES ASSOCIATED WITH IT

E-learning courses have seen a downward trend in recent times. In this article; we look at several misconceptions and realities associated with e-learning courses.

E-learning industry has been going through a tough stage. There are mixed reactions which have been received from students about the quality of e-learning courses. There are some misconceptions associated with e-learning which needs to be clarified. Let us look at these misconceptions and the realities associated with it:

• Myth: Quantity is as significant as quality. Generally e-learning is priced according to the volume produced. Even customers are concerned with the volume of content rather than the quality of the content. But this is not correct.

Reality: If the e-learning course is designed taking into consideration quality of the content, then the same course can get reduced by a considerable margin. This will ultimately result in saving of time. The employees can then concentrate on their work and learn through practical case studies provided in the e-learning courses.

• Myth: All the content is important.  Lots of times customers feel that all the content is important for the e-learning course. However, that is not the case.

Reality: There is no guarantee that everything displayed in the course will be understood and recalled by the student. Hence; it is important for the customers to understand that all the content is not required for the course and only the important parts that comprises of major learning needs to be integrated in the course. Content should be designed keeping in aspect different things like: usability approach, frequency, importance and type of use etc. Once these aspects have been decided then the content is prepared keeping in focus the training, reference material and things to exclude from the content.

• Myth: E-learning is just a course. Most of the customers believe that e-learning is merely an electronic textbook that replaces classroom training. That is not true.

Reality: It is more involved in practical approaches which help people in improving their performance. It should comprise of various different subjects like:

• Knowledge management
• Performance support systems
• Intranets
• Practice environments
• Standard electronic courses

 

• Myth: Things will become easier once the technology improves.  There is a common belief that e-learning is falling behind because of the current state of technology. There is always a hope for a miracle cure round the corner but the major problem is the level of training at the level of delivery. Reality: Lot of time is devoted to understand the content management and training approach which will never go away. This does not mean that improvements in technology, standards, and theories will not help but it will not cure the current problems faced in designing e-learning courses easily.
• Myth: E-learning is easy.  Clients believe that they are paying for simplicity. But is it so simple to make the complicated subject simpler?

Reality:  Clients often expect simpler solutions to complicated ones. But e-learning has always been more about making complex things clearer and simple.

• Myth: E-learning provides one-time quick fix solution.  It is often believed that e-learning provides quick fix solution to practical problems in real time. However; that is not true.

Reality: It really takes time and energy to develop content for the courses in accordance to the target audience.
E-learning courses give practical exposure to the students. With the help of these courses; corporate executives can learn to solve practical problems faced in the organization. An efficient e-learning course provider should take these points seriously and create a proficient course that meets the needs of the target audience.

About emPower

emPower  is a leading provider of comprehensive Healthcare Compliance Solutions through Learning Management System (LMS). Its mission is to provide innovative security solutions to enable compliance with applicable laws and regulations and maximize business performance. empower provides range of courses to manage compliance required by regulatory bodies such as OSHA, HIPAA, Joint commission and Red Flag Rule etc. Apart from this emPower also offers custom demos and tutorials for your website, business process management and software implementation.

Its Learning Management system (LMS) allows students to retrieve all the courses 24/7/365 by accessing the portal. emPower e-learning training program is an interactive mode of learning that guides students to progress at their own pace.

For additional information, please visit http://www.empowerbpo.com.

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Nelson’s digital learning bill advances

By Post-Bulletin staff

ST. PAUL — Legislation that encourages more online learning in the classroom passed the Minnesota Senate on Thursday with broad bipartisan support.

Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, sponsored the digital learning bill. It would require the Online Learning Advisory Council, with the help of the Minnesota Department of Education, to develop a catalog for teachers of all the digital learning materials indexed to Minnesota academic standards. There will also be a system set up that will allow teachers and students to rate the material. The bill also requires a study to determine how to link student performance to the digital learning materials.

The bill also allows basic skills revenue to be used for digital elearning, and it encourages every Minnesota student to take at least one online class before graduating.

Nelson’s bill calls for a review of state regulations to identify any that might impede digital learning in the classroom.

The Senate passed the bill 53-11. The measure now goes to the House and, if it passes there, the governor.

This article was originally posted at http://www.postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1490120

Faculty Initiative: Technology in the Classroom

Colleges and universities across the country are rising to the challenge of utilizing technology in the classroom and meeting the demands of students in the technology age. St. Norbert College is not far behind the pack with a new faculty initiative.

Last February, President Kunkel and the Office of Faculty Development led a forum called “eLearning in the Digital Age.” This forum was held to raise awareness of the growing trend in higher education to make use of digital technologies in the classroom.

Dean Jeffery Frick then appointed a panel of faculty members called the “Digital Learning Initiative” task group (DLI) to continue with the discussion.

Members of the task group include Paul Johnson, associate professor of philosophy, Reid Riggle, associate professor of education, Gratzia Villarroel, associate professor of political science, John Frohliger, associate professor of mathematics, Blake Hensen, assistant professor of music and Kristin Vogel, director of the library.

The group has released a DLI report on technology in higher education. The report includes the context of the discussion up until now: a history of digital learning, the group’s guiding principles, the group’s recommendations, and the group’s vision statement.

The vision statement of the DLI is: “St. Norbert College shall work to establish and foster a culture of collaborative entrepreneurship across the campus which incentivizes, supports and acknowledges the development and successful incorporation of digital learning skills and technologies into the educational Mission of the College.”

The task group is interested in the pedagogy, or the teaching techniques, implementing technology in classroom and what this can bring to education.

One of the guiding principles in the document is, “Change is imminent, and St. Norbert College must adapt.”

“Until now, the discussion was kept to faculty and staff at St. Norbert College,” said Johnson, “but now an important next step in the process is to involve the students to broaden the conversation.”

The committee plans on taking the next step of involving students through general surveys and forums which students along with the St. Norbert College community would be invited to attend.

“I would like to see student focus groups,” said Riggle. “I think a focus group would be more structured and the dialogue would contain specific questions or concerns.”

An example of one of the questions the DLI has is the use of social media in higher education. Social media does not always transfer to the classroom and the task group needs the students’ opinions and thoughts on why this is.

There are two ideas the DLI has presented to boost technology in the classroom. The first is to provide faculty with a small stipend to promote the use of technology. The second is to delegate one faculty member in each discipline to be the technology advisor.

“The committee has the idea of the full spectrum pedagogy,” said Johnson, “One end of the spectrum holds the traditional professors and the other end holds the entrepreneur professors with all the colors in between.”

The committee values both ends of the spectrum because both are extremely valuable to the Liberal Arts experience.

Something the task group is aware of is the push and pull of the spectrum. “If we lean far towards technology then what do we lose in the classroom?” said Johnson.

“It’s important to maintain balance,” said Riggle, “We don’t want to leap into technology, but what is the best course environment as we progress into the future?”

The school plans to place implementing technology into higher education high on the school’s Strategic Plan.

This article was originally posted at http://www.snctimes.com/news/faculty-initiative-technology-in-the-classroom-1.2808205#.T1Wmml21uT4

Sen. Rogers: Digital Learning Can Make Georgia a Leader in Education

Digital learning, teachers are the main subjects of Sen. Chip Rogers weekly legislative address.

Rogers said SB 289, the Digital Learning bill, will give Georgia the opportunity to be a leader in education instead of continuing to trail the nation.

The Republican senator said most of the time digital learning would take place in the classroom, at each student’s own pace.

Places in the state without the abiltiy to pay teachers for small numbers of students in subjects such as physics and languages such as Japanese will be able to offer them through digital learning, Rogers said.

Digital Learning Bill Passes State Senate

The Digital Learning Act passed the Senate with a bi-partisan vote of 36-15. The bill was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) is expected to make Georgia a national leader in online elearning.

“This bill would significantly broaden learning opportunities for Georgia students. Based on current virtual classes already being offered we have the opportunity to increase student achievement at significantly lower costs,” said Sen. Rogers.  “Right now, there are 16,000 students participating in this program, and that number is quickly growing. These programs are vital to ensuring that our students are able to meet the ever-changing demands of the 21st century marketplace.”

SB 289 focuses on the importance of virtual and digital learning in today’s modern learning environment. Under this bill, students entering the ninth grade during the 2013–2014 school year will complete at least one online learning course prior to graduation.  Options to meet this requirement include the following:

• Online courses offered by the Georgia Virtual School;

• Online duel enrollment courses offered by a postsecondary institution; or

• Online courses offered by a provider approved by the Georgia Department of Education

The bill also requires all end-of-year core subject assessments to be administered online by the 2014-2015 school year, a move expected to dramatically reduce the opportunity for cheating.

In addition, the passage of SB 289 would allow local school systems to enter into contracts with virtual learning providers approved by the Georgia Department of Education.

The bill has received support from the Department of Education, specifically from Bob Swiggum, the Chief Information Officer for the Georgia Department of Education and Thomas Wilson, Director of Governmental Affairs at the Department of Education.

“SB289 provides more opportunities for Georgia’s students to participate in online courses, a common instructional method of post-secondary institutions,” said Bob Swiggum, Chief Information Officer for the Georgia Department of Education. “Our students will be better prepared for success, instructional costs will be reduced, and a wider variety of courses will be offered.”

Sen. Rogers, along with several of his Senate colleagues, are working to find solutions to address the educational needs of 21st Century students. This bill is a key component to the Republican Caucus’ ongoing commitment to education reform.

RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
February 24, 2012

Contact:
Natalie Dale, Director
natalie.dale@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028

District begins rolling out ‘e-Learning’ environment

The Reynoldsburg school district has taken steps this year to implement districtwide digital learning and education technology.

Reynoldsburg High School assistant principal Denise Lutz, who is overseeing the development and rollout of the systems, said the focus is on improving student learning.

Lutz said that since September, efforts have begun to build capacity around “e-Learning,” in which students use technology in or out of the classroom to personalize the educational experience.

Teachers could provide contents of the coursework online for the students to access on their computers or other digital devices at anytime.

The district is using an online tool called “itsLearning,” where students log in online to participate in a class.

The website address is http://www.reynoldsburg.itslearning.com. Teachers upload content in a written or video format, allowing students to log in and view it anytime during or after school hours, Lutz said.

“You can learn anything, from kindergarten math all the way up through college-level mathematics, where you watch a video and learn how to do the problem at night for homework,” she said. “Then when you’re with the teacher the next day, you’re working through the questions and getting the individualized attention that you need. É Instead of doing problems for homework, you’re learning the content for homework.”

The district is installing SMART Boards in all classrooms to enhance the digital technology application.

“With SMART Boards, teachers have the ability to video or record a 10-minute lecture, audio or by capturing the screen, post it on the website and say, ‘Here’s your homework for tonight,’” Lutz said.

Teachers are using this technology at the Summit Road high school STEM academy.

Lutz said that in the next few weeks, all classrooms throughout the district would have SMART Boards installed.

Lutz said teachers and staff members in all grade levels have been trained on how to use the system specific to their individual needs.

“We’ve been systematic at rolling out training. It’s a K-through-12 platform, so there’s different looks and feels for a kindergartner or first-grader when they log in, as opposed to an 11th-grader,” she said.

Lutz, who has worked in education and technology-based systems for 22 years — the past three in Reynoldsburg — said another advantage of using online technology is that a school building would not have to use a calamity day.

“The learning would continue online, so you could be exempt from a calamity day, but the requisite is that every teacher in your building has to have a site and maintain it so lessons are current,” Lutz said. “It extends learning beyond the classroom. A teacher has a class for 50 minutes, and, say, they have started this great discussion or something really engaging. How do you continue the conversation once the student has left the classroom and building?

“Using the itsLearning system, with built-in discussion features and conferencing features, allows kids to continue what was so vital in the classroom,” she said.

Also, Lutz said, using the online technology offers advantages to students, allowing them to view the coursework and content multiple times.

“That’s another piece to posting the content online,” she said. “If you’re a student that needs to watch or read it six times, stop it or pause it or rewind it, you can do that. It’s anytime, anywhere learning. They always have access to their courses or content.”

Read More Here

From Laggards to Leaders

Secretary Duncan joined FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in a Digital Learning Day town hall at the Newseum in Washington. Feb. 1, 2012. Official Department of Education photo by Joshua Hoover.

The numbers tell the story.

Two million students, 18,000 teachers, 36 states plus the District of Columbia, 26 national organizations, 24 companies, and 16 state governors joined forces on-line last week to celebrate the first ever National Digital Learning Day.

Their message was clear: Digital technology powers elearning.

Technology in the classroom is not just about the latest tools; it’s an imperative for a country with a high dropout rate competing in a globalized world.

As smart use of digital technology expands, it could boost high school completion. More than 1 million of our students drop out every year — something that’s referred to as the “leaking pipeline:”

Across the country, 24 out of 100 9^th graders are below “Basic” on NAEP reading scores and only 72 will graduate from high school. Forty-four of those students will enter college, but 16 will need remediation, and only 20 will finish with a college degree.

Digital technology makes it possible for teachers to differentiate more effectively by personalizing the learning to meet the needs of each student at every level. With the right use of technologies, we can shift our time from classroom management to focused learning on HOW to teach depth of content and concepts. This is especially critical for our newest teachers.

Mooresville Graded School District in N.C., understands the important role digital tech can play. The district made a huge push to integrate digital technologies, and raised its graduation rate by 25% and is now 3^rd out of 115 school districts with one of the lowest per-pupil expenditures in the state.

But what I most appreciate about digital technology is what it does for the teaching profession.

Smart use of technology simply develops our skills as teachers.

“As a teacher, I’m no longer just a repository of information. My role as a teacher has shifted. With technology, students are engaged,” said 25-year teaching veteran Esther Wojcicki, who teaches journalism in Palo Alto, CA.

And for those who think technology is not feasible because our teaching force isn’t ready, we need to clarify.

America’s teachers know technology. The number of Americans who have grown up on touch phones, Google, Facebook, and Twitter is growing. At the same time, we know that technology has gotten easier and more compelling for everyone: We all use it for work, to research, and to socialize.

So it’s not the technology that we need to train teachers on; it’s the pedagogical shift that needs to happen to use that technology well.

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama asked us to think about an America that leads the world in educating its people and digital technology can help do just that.

Secretary Duncan was right when he said, “Technology going forward is going to revolutionize how we provide education.” As a teacher, I can’t wait to be a part of that.

Learn more about ED’s National Education Technology Plan and the Digital Textbook Playbook.

Claire Jellinek is a 9th-12th grade social studies teacher at South Valley Academy in Albuquerque, NM and a 2011-2012 Washington Teaching Ambassador Fellow.

This article was originally posted at http://www.ed.gov/blog/2012/02/from-laggards-to-leaders/

Virtual Ed. Advocates Respond to Wave of Criticism

It’s been a rough year for the public image of K-12 virtual education.

Studies in Colorado and Minnesota have suggested that full-time online students in those states were struggling to match the achievement levels of their peers in brick-and-mortar schools. Articles in The New York Times have questioned not only the academic results for students in virtual schools, but also the propriety of business practices surrounding the use of public dollars for such programs.

Meanwhile, two left-leaning magazines, The Nation and Mother Jones, contended this month that education policy reforms pushed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the name of digital opportunities for students have the ulterior motive of funneling money to big technology companies. And the move into education by the right-leaning media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, with his News Corp. conglomerate’s purchase of the educational technology company Wireless Generation, has drawn protests from some teacher advocates at public appearances by Mr. Murdoch.

Against this backdrop, educators who gathered at the Virtual School Symposium held early this month in Indianapolis appeared eager to strike a balance between working to address what they see as valid criticisms of their field and rebutting others they see as misconceptions. They also seemed largely to agree the burden is on them to tell their own story and prove their effectiveness.

“A lot of the publicity has been negative,” conceded Andy Scantland, the vice president of sales and marketing for Advanced Academics Inc., an Oklahoma City-based provider of public and private online learning programs. The company is a sponsor of the annual “Keeping Pace” virtual learning report, which was released by the Evergreen Education Group, a Durango, Colo.-based research and consulting firm, just before the symposium.

“It’s really critical that we don’t allow others to tell the story for us,” Mr. Scantland added. “Accountability and measurability is good for all of us.”

He and others associated with this year’s “Keeping Pace” survey of the virtual learning landscape insisted that its most important element may be its 10-page section on “emerging quality and accountability issues,” as the report terms it.

Addressing Criticisms

Susan Patrick, the president and chief executive officer of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, or iNACOL, the Vienna, Va.-based group that hosted the forum, said she sees a combination of factors contributing to recent criticisms of full-time virtual schools, with some issues having more merit than others.

For example, Ms. Patrick said the studies that raise questions about the achievement of fully online students may suffer in part because of the methods of measuring such achievement. Virtual school programs designed to help facilitate learning at a nonconventional pace and on a nonconventional schedule may struggle when molded to the confines of seat-time requirements virtual school advocates would like to see abandoned. But she accepted that getting some districts to view virtual education as a method that still needs quality instructors is a problem.

Ms. Patrick also acknowledges that some advocates of virtual schooling have politicized it, even at the symposium.

State Rep. Brian Bosma, the Indiana House speaker and a Republican from Marion County, in his remarks at the Nov. 9-11 gathering, painted support for virtual schools as a conservative issue aligned with debates over school choice. Ms. Patrick said the education reforms sought by former Gov. Bush and his Tallahassee, Fla.-based Foundation for Excellence in Education could be viewed as politically motivated, including ideas advanced through the Digital Learning Now initiative led by Mr. Bush, a Republican, and former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, a Democrat.

“People are people, and start to paint it one way or another, and that’s unfortunate,” said Ms. Patrick, who added that such Democrats as U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state and U.S. Reps. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota and Robert E. Andrews of New Jersey have been vocal supporters of online learning.

“We had 1,900 people [at the Virtual School Symposium], and 47 percent of them were first-timers there from districts wanting to launch programs,” she said in a telephone interview after the event. “That’s not political at all.”

Ms. Patrick says she’s unsure whether it’s possible to depoliticize virtual schooling, but says her bigger concern is the impression that it’s an effective method to cut manpower from a district’s teaching force. And she concedes some districts aren’t doing much to combat that impression.

“Teachers and people are the heart of online learning programs, and we need to, as a community, let the teacher voice be heard,” Ms. Patrick said.

“There are some valid criticisms, too, especially with districts facing budget crunches,” she said. “We want them to make a decision about good-quality programs. Sometimes they’re doing that, and sometimes they’re not.”

Examining Blended Learning

Some practices caught in the dispute may actually align more with blended learning, which retains in-person instructors but reshapes the teacher’s job description with technology integration.

For example, a report from the University of Colorado at Boulder that suggests K-12 virtual education is growing at a rate that is unsafe, considering the lack of knowledge about its effectiveness, also makes clear that the breadth of research on the benefits of blended learning is far greater.

Some businesses and philanthropies—such as the Microsoft Corp. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, built upon the fortune of the company’s co-founder—that are taking heat from critics of online education are actually looking to channel dollars to blended-learning projects. The third wave of competitive grants—worth up to $12 million in total—in the Gates Foundation’s Next Generation Learning Challenges program will be awarded to applicants that design new blended-learning models, in part because of a belief that they are more reliable than purely online models for students who are at risk academically. (The Gates Foundation also provides grant support to Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit publisher of Education Week.)

Microsoft, meanwhile, announced this fall a new service to offer discounted hardware and software to teachers, as well as its participation in the Federal Communications Commission’s “Connect to Compete” broadband infrastructure project that would theoretically provide more blended-learning opportunities to students of diverse backgrounds.

“The hypothesis is that population needs the brick-and-mortar setting and all-around wraparound support that comes with that setting to succeed,” said Elina Alayeva, a program officer for the Next Generation Learning Challenges with Educause, the Boulder, Colo.-based postsecondary-technology advocacy group that is managing the competition.

Meanwhile, even as critics of online learning have called for proof that fully virtual schools can be effective enough to justify public investment, they have shown awareness that quality in such programs can vary greatly.

For instance, at a Virtual School Symposium presentation from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, audience members disputed the notion that a student who failed a course should have to demonstrate a set amount of time needed to retake the course online instead of just demonstrating competency in the subject. But NCAA officials reasoned that their experience with athletes who may attach themselves to digital “diploma mills” is far different from the experience of other cyber educators.

“Some athletes are short of qualifying and need quick fixes,” Nick Sproull, the NCAA’s assistant director of high school review, said to his audience. “Our majority might be your minority, which is a difficult reality.”

‘Hollow Experience’?

That’s not to say all who know the breadth of online options available are convinced that any such offering can be equivalent to a live classroom.

Gene V. Glass, a senior researcher at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s National Education Policy Center and a co-author of its recent report calling for more state regulation for online learning, said he staunchly opposes the use of public funding for any virtual programs.

“This is a hollow experience for kids, and for many of the kids it’s hardly an experience at all,” Mr. Glass said in an interview. “I haven’t seen a good experience in this whole area. I haven’t seen anything but greedy companies paying off politicians.”

But the report’s other co-author, Kevin G. Welner, a professor of education at the university and the director of the education policy center, said the evidence on the effectiveness of fully online virtual schools shows only that more evidence is needed.

“It’s not that there aren’t good things to be had or good things going on,” Mr. Welner said. “It’s publicly funded education, but without the usual safeguards that we attach to public education.”

This article was originally posted at http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/11/23/13virtual.h31.html?tkn=XQRFUWyRyB1Bl6F%2FcK8UvsJlEuCCP3UySE32&cmp=clp-edweek

What is technology’s place in classrooms?

Using tech to enhance elearning: Brentwood Elementary School explains its use of technology to enhance learning.

One group of children is plugged into laptops, working on math problems. Another is navigating the interactive whiteboard at the front of the room. Four more students are tapping iPad screens, completing a creative writing assignment.

It is a typical morning in Amber Marshall’s third-grade class at Brentwood Elementary Magnet School of Communication and Technology. And every student is using a piece of technology.

Local educators say technology in elementary classrooms not only enhances learning, but also is necessary for young pupils to learn in this day and age.

“We need to be very cognizant that instruction is changing,” Santa Rosa Schools Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick said. “We have to teach students with the tools they are most comfortable with.”

Brentwood Elementary School third-graders Amalia Ball, left, and Christian Ford use technology to learn and re-enforce math skills. Brentwood Elementary, a magnet school, has heavily integrated technology into its teaching curriculum. / Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Wanda Wade, an assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of West Florida, said technology has changed the face of education and the ability to deliver instruction.

“As teachers, we have to know how to integrate it into instruction,” Wade said.

She said it is crucial for teachers to be familiar with the technology they’re using in class.

“Integrating technology into your classroom is one way of taking a step into the 21st century,” Wade said. “You’re going to have to do it because it’s the way of the world.”

Wade said technology can be especially helpful in schools where students come from low-income families.

“Giving them technology (at school) helps level the playing field for them,” she said. “And they need teachers who know how to use it.”

Brentwood became a magnet school in 2001 and now serves 560 students from all over the district.

The school initially used a $1.9 million federal magnet grant to incorporate technology into teaching.

Technology and training is now paid for from school and district Title I funds.

Christine Baker, Brentwood’s technology coordinator, said electronic gadgets and the Internet make learning more fun for students.

“By the time they come to the third grade, this is what they’re used to,” she said. “Because of the stress and pressure of the FCAT, this really keeps them wanting to be here.”

Florida third-graders will take the reading and math portions of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test for the first time in the spring.

Technology as a tool
At Brentwood, Escambia County’s most tech-heavy school, Marshall’s classroom is decked out with iPads, laptops, iPod Nanos with video features, digital cameras, Smart Boards, document cameras and remote-controlled response systems for each student. In fact, all of the school’s classrooms are set up this way.

“With technology, it helps me pinpoint what these kids need to learn,” Marshall said. “It’s just one more tool that lets us be more efficient and effective. For a child who’s already mastered third-grade skills, this allows me to take it to the next level.”

But should technology replace the traditional pencil-and-paper way of learning? Not always, Marshall said.

“You choose the best tool for the job,” she said. “Sometimes a pencil is just fine.”

On Thursday, Ethan Pickett, 9, put the finishing touches on a video he was making on an iPad, using the Story Pals application, to go along with a story he’d just written on paper.

“It’s about a prince that goes into a castle, and the princess is stuck in the castle,” he said.

In about two minutes, Ethan re-created his story on the device with ease. He recorded himself speaking each of the characters’ parts as they moved around the screen.

Ethan said school is better with all of the technology he and his classmates use.

“It would be harder without it,” he said.

Baker said teachers must do extra work to learn about new devices before they start incorporating them into their instruction.

“It’s a constant learning curve for teachers,” she said. “It takes a lot of dedication for our teachers to do it, but they do.”

Heather Eaton, a third-grade teacher at C.A. Weis Elementary School, said while technology does not replace teachers, it helps with instruction.

“These are 21st century digital natives we’re teaching,” she said. “I need to speak their language. They need to be exposed to technology, not only to be successful in higher education but also in everyday life.”

Eaton said computer programs make constant assessment possible. Her students use the Successmaker program for reading. They read FCAT-level passages, answer questions and are assessed by the computer.

“They’re delivering passages at (the student’s) reading level and building them up,” she said. “As a teacher, I can go in and see exactly what type of questions they’re struggling with.”

Weis went from a D school in 2010 to an A school in 2011.

“Was technology an aid with that?” Eaton said. “Yes. We need all the help we can get.”

For Parents

Brentwood teachers encourage parents to work with their children on computers, tablets and other mobile devices at home to enhance what children are doing in school. All textbooks have corresponding materials online.

There also are options for families who do not have a computer at home.

“Some of our older equipment is available for checkout for families,” Baker said. “We’re hoping to help more of our tech-needy families.”

Kelly Roper of Pensacola said her fourth-grade daughter, Samantha, thrives off technology and that children today need exposure to it at school.

“It’ll benefit her educationally,” Roper said. “If she doesn’t have something electronic, she will drive you crazy. She can operate computers better than my husband.”

There are as many laptops as there are students in Samantha’s classroom at Brentwood, which Roper said is a good thing.

“The way kids think is not the same as when I was in school,” Roper said. “Their minds are going so much faster that they need multisensory (learning) in school.”

In Santa Rosa

One way Santa Rosa County schools utilize technology is the use of Computers on Wheels, mobile computer labs that consist of 30 laptops attached to a wireless device on a cart.

The COWs, as they’re called in the district, are typically used for assessment and instructional purposes, and can be rolled from classroom to classroom.

“It allows principals and teachers to move technology where it is most needed,” Superintendent Wyrosdick said. “There’s something exciting about watching a class of third-graders grab a laptop and begin to learn on their own.”

This article was originally posted at http://www.pnj.com/article/20111121/NEWS01/111210314/What-technology-s-place-classrooms-

Idaho Board Approves First Ever Online Class Requirement

Education officials on Thursday gave final approval to a plan that makes Idaho the first state in the nation to require high school students to take at least two credits online to graduate, despite heavy criticism of the plan at public hearings this summer.

The measure is part of a sweeping education overhaul that introduces teacher merit pay and phases in laptops for every high school teacher and student.

Proponents say the virtual classes will help the state save money and better prepare students for college. But opponents claim they’ll replace teachers with computers and shift state taxpayer money to the out-of-state companies that will be tapped to provide the online curriculum and laptops.

The rule will apply to students entering the 9th grade in fall 2012. It goes before Idaho lawmakers for review in the 2012 session, which starts in January.

The education board gave the online graduation requirement its initial approval in September after heavy opposition was voiced this summer at public hearings across Idaho. Trustees collected more feedback during a 21-day public comment period last month.

“A majority of the comments felt there should not be an online learning requirement,” said board member Don Soltman during the meeting.

Schools nationwide offer virtual classes, but just three states — Alabama, Florida and Michigan — have adopted rules since 2006 to require online learning, according to the International Association of K-12 Online Learning. The online rules vary from state to state, but Idaho would be the first to require two credits online.

The Idaho Education Association blasted the decision in a statement Thursday, saying the board “overruled the wishes of a majority of Idahoans and disregarded parental choice” by mandating the online credits.

To online learning advocates, the requirement seems reasonable. They say children need to be prepared for the world that awaits them after high school.

“There is still a live teacher. It may be at a distance, but that teacher is still instructing and interacting with the student,” said Susan Patrick, president of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, a Washington-based nonprofit.

Kendra Wisenbaker, 28, is among those questioning the Idaho plan.

“The poor kids are guinea pigs,” said Wisenbaker, an elementary school teacher in Meridian, the state’s largest school district.

Like many of her students, Wisenbaker is on Facebook, and she spends several hours a day online. But when it comes to requiring her tech-savvy kids to learn in a virtual classroom once they enter high school, Wisenbaker is among Idaho teachers who aren’t so sure.

“I am a little conflicted, I am. It won’t work for every kid, and I think requiring it is a horrible idea,” said Wisenbaker, who also reasons that some students may thrive learning online. “But it shouldn’t be an option for saving money,” she said during an interview with The Associated Press.

In Idaho, members of the state Board of Education have said most of the opposition is directed at new education laws as a whole — not just the online requirements.

Nationwide, state legislatures tackled education policy this year and triggered protests from teachers over proposed changes to their collective bargaining rights, and how they are evaluated and paid. But Idaho has made some of the most sweeping changes, according to education experts.
The state is introducing teacher merit pay, limiting union bargaining rights and shifting money from salaries toward changes such as more classroom technology, as part of the changes backed by public schools chief Tom Luna and the governor.

The overhaul has drawn heavy criticism, including from educators. But to others, Luna is changing a system that was badly broken and they have commended him for restructuring how Idaho’s scarce education dollars are spent.

A group seeking to recall Luna over the education changes failed to collect enough voter signatures earlier this year, but parents and teachers who want to overturn the new laws did meet a June deadline to put three repeal measures on the November 2012 ballot.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/04/idaho-board-approves-first-ever-online-class-requirement/#ixzz1d1QWEgl7