After reading the various
scenarios and giving careful thought to the questions posed, I honestly don’t think
that my particular district is prepared to move to an online learning
platform. They should be, but they are
not. I come to this conclusion with deep
regret. Being a large urban district, there
are many politics that are involved when implementing change. Ultimately, changes
that would move the district forward are slowly accepted, thus, hindering
growth. I have been with the district
for over fourteen years and have experienced this first hand when attempting to
present the advantages of career and technical classes receiving credit for
math and English. It didn’t matter that
we were one of the few districts in the state that was not doing it. The initiative never did move forward.
School districts who are
forward thinking in the 21st century should have an online plan
already on the table. It is very
apparent that online classes are here to stay.
In order to embrace all students in all learning platforms online
classes should be available. For instance,
in the scenario where the student wanted to take a calculus class but it wasn’t
available in the school is a good example when an online class would be
advantageous. The student would be happy
and the district could still maintain him in their enrollment for monetary
purposes.
One of the problems that
school districts would face is setting parameters and regulations for taking
online courses. Throughout all of our
readings it has been continuously emphasized that some type of orientation should
be mandatory for students before they are eligible to enroll in online
classes. This is very important so that
students will be successful. Also, there
should be a select group of classes that are available online, such as AP,
lower level math, science, and English classes.
In other words, academic classes that can be used towards a high school
diploma. The scenarios involving the calculus
and leukemia student would fall under this category.
Remedial, as well as,
elective classes should be offered too. Remedial classes would not have credits
attached, but some motivated at risk students may benefit from them. Elective classes in particular areas such as
business, foreign language, or even sign language would allow students to take
classes to ensure that they have enough credits to graduate. The scenarios involving the cyber schooled
student whose enrollment is tied to the teacher’s performance evaluation is an
example of online classes that would address this need.
The student, with the
support of his parents, who did not want to take a particular teacher could only do so if the class was available online
through the district. It is not odd that
students dislike a teacher and want to take another teacher. We are living in a world of choices. Parents can now choose whether they want
their child to go to charter, private, or public schools. For some, due to
dissatisfaction, they may choose to home school. Whatever the scenario, sometimes it is hard
to please everybody all the time. We do
not live in a perfect world but parents want a perfect educational system.
Monica,
ReplyDeleteAs I am reading your first paragraph, I understand your frustration. I think some of the administrators for certain school districts are thinking like businessman and not educators. A lot of politics is involved in the education. This is why a lot of districts fail. If we don't give alternative learning to our students, they will continue to fail.
I think your school is far from alone in being unprepared for the wave of online learning we're likely to see. You definitely bring up a good point about the politics of the matter. I think we all know that change in school districts can move glacially slow at times, and other times inadvisably quickly (generally when ideas come from the top...). I'm curious about the financial aspects- clearly there's a financial burden upfront, if we need to purchase more computers and pay for courses, but is this cost higher than traditional classes once you have the technology in place? Will we retain more students, bringing the district more money? Sadly, I think these financial considerations may well guide districts in their decision making regarding online learning, rather than its educational merits.
ReplyDeleteYes, forward thinking and planning for the future is key, especially in the field of education. I don't think many educators are groomed or taught to look towards the future. Everything is in real time.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to urban districts, I think the answer may be even more deep-rooted than a refusal to change. It seems as though the growing trend in areas that are low on resources is to send remedial students to charter schools, which are, for the most part, horribly mismanaged by corporations that do not oversee them as closely as they should. I used to teach at one of those charter schools, leaving because of the management and because I could tell that the kids had been browbeat into thinking that they were failures and that the school was an alternative to Juvenile Detention.
ReplyDeleteThe students at the school were there primarily due to two main reasons. The average- to above-average students were there to get out of Detroit, if only for a little while, avoiding the violence and/or temptations present in their neighborhood. The remedial students were there because the school was a last resort, due to either repeated failures or expulsion. Either they wanted to be rid of the district, or the district wanted to be rid of them.