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Getting Administrators to Buy In to Distance Learning

How would you get your school district administrators to “buy in” to distance learning: either video conferencing, online courses or both ?

One of the main ways to get school district administrators is for them to actually EXPERIENCE one. Knowledge is power. Most administrators probably don't even know what video conferencing can offer students. Most providers (e.g. Baseball Hall of Fame) will offer free overviews, showcasing what their programs are all about. These types of overview would be beneficial for professional development days and/or faculty meetings. If districts and schools do not have the equipment, they should look to their local education agency (intermediate unit) to see what facilities and programs that they offer.

CIM - 3 Entries

1. I wish I could write a Children’s book one day! It would be about children getting lost inside of a computer and their adventures! I can’t draw so I would need to find a good illustrator!
   
   
2. If I could go anywhere, I’d go to these places: Stars Hollow (I want to live in a small town like that!), China to see their electronics (I know I’m a nerd, but do you know in China you NEVER lose cell phone reception – I think the US Cell companies have a conspiracy going), and back in time to meet my grandfather while was a teenager to see what he was like!
   
   
3. If I was an animal, I would be a polar bear! Guaranteed snow days!

Franklin Institute - Educators' Night Out

I DISSECTED A COW EYE!! I thought that would have been the highlight of my night... little did I know what I was getting into when we waited in line for the Body World display. INCREDIBLE is the only word I can use to describe it. I love controversial issues -- but this wins hands down! While waiting in line, I was even fascinated with some of the facts that were on the wall. For example: "Touch your thumb to your palm on your other hand. You just sent a message to your brain at 124 mph." I love those types of facts and I think kids would too!

Did anyone see Passion of the Christ 2 years ago? I had the most unsettling feeling after seeing it. I am still having a similar feeling about the Body World exhibit as well as the idea of Plastination. I am a very logical person, and it is something that I can still not wrap my mind around!

As we walked around the Franklin Institute, I kept my eye out (not pun intended to my fun dissection) for Video Conferencing opportunites. As we exited the Body World exhibit (after of course walking through the Disney like gift shop), we got to do alot of fun gravity activities. Some of the activities included jumping with your hands at your side then jumping with them in the air to see the difference in height; twirling as if you were an Olympic skater; and throwing different balls to see which went the fastest. At one point there was a display that said "You are on the web", and that's when it hit me! All of the things we were doing that were gravity based are things that kids could do in a classroom. I think if the Franklin Institute wrote up some materials based on these experiments, we could Video Conference with them to further explain. Students could fill out worksheets prior to the conference and after!

Keystone Conference

Have you ever seen the TV Show -- "What not to wear"? Well the Keystone conference was the Video Conference version of that. I wasn't sure what our purpose of actually being there was, but I think it was a good taste of Lesson Learned! The video feed was very fuzzy, due to the amount of places dialed in. We should have brought the laptop cart upstairs and got onto the Keystone Conference website to follow along with what the Conference was about. All in all, it was interesting to see a multi-point site, but I was craving more interaction. My attention span was that of a flea! :-)

VCon - September 28th

Our Video Conference on September 28th was fun! Diane, April, Sharon Kane, and I met at Concord Elementary School. Larry Ward had all the equipment set up for us in the library. I gave him the IP address to dial in to the IU and soon we were connected! Our equipment consisted of 2 VCON units. The units looked like 2 TVs that were connected to a computer. There was a video camera on the top of the TV and 2 microphones that could be positioned where we wanted. There was also a wireless keyboard that had an integrated mouse. Using the keyboard, we could use the tools to move the camera and zoom.

As the conference began, we realized because of the audio feedback that we only needed one microphone. We then began to present our assignments for that week on Distance Learning Initiatives. Because we had 2 TVs, we could view internet sites on one while watching the person presenting on the other. It was really interesting watching it come alive!

Larry had to leave and of course a few minutes after that we had some "technical difficulties." After playing with a few things, we were able to reconnect quickly.

I liked that we got to experience a few different apects of videoconferencing, including sharing websites, powerpoint presentations, and the document presenter. Our resolution on our end must have been different because we were unable to clearly see the entire powerpoint.

All in all, it was a great experience, rich in communication. I think using this type of tool, kept us focused on the task at hand and very engaged!

Is online learning for me?

Well I would hope so :-) I am in the process of obtaining a Distance Learning Certificate from Teachers College USA. We have just begun our third course, Integrating Classroom Content and Standards into Web-Based Courses. One of our first assignments was to find an Online Learning Analysis survey that had to do with the course we were in the midst of developing. Mary Beth found a great one that is very local -- Delaware County Community College. Click here to check out the survey. I took the survey and got a 26. I like this survey because it gives you instant feedback and even gives an interpretation with a more detailed description on what your score means.


Just to get another opinion, I found this other survey to take... different questions but still in the same scope. http://www.waol.org/getstarted/IsOnline4Me.asp

When it comes down to it, I love Online Classes. I have always been a busy person with a hectic schedule, and they always seem to fit well with my lifestyle. I used online classes to finish my associates degree AND bachelors degree. My husband is now using it to supplement his nursing program because of all the time he has to spend at the hospital for clinicals. While I love taking online classes, nothing will ever replace sitting in a classroom feeling others energy when discussing topics!

SmartBoards

As usual, every time I see the SmartBoards in use, it sparks more and more ideas on how to use them in the everday classroom. It was exciting to watch how inspired all of the SmartBoard newcomers were to actually use the boards. We didn't even cover a quarter of what they could do! :-) An interesting question did arise... is it better to keep the SmartBoard in one place where the projector is already set up, or have it be a mobile item where teachers have to set it up every time they want to use it? Any thoughts?

Reflection 2 - Cleveland Institute of Music VCON

Our video conference with the Cleveland Institute of Music on September 7th was enlightening. Mark George was our contact at CIM and he did a great job showing us what they had to offer in terms of Distance Learning Activities. For schools that are cutting music programs because of funding, it is good that they could use this as a substitute in integrating music concepts into other parts of the curriculum. Since our class is so diverse, I think it really benefited us to see different grade levels using VCons as well as different subject areas. I also loved seeing how this could benefit inter-city schools that don't even have access to computers in the classroom. Opening those children's eyes to life outside their surroundings is so valuable.

There were a few technical issues during the Video Conference, but I was glad to see that they could be fixed easily. Mr. George informed us that they do test calls to every school that they work with, and have a 90% success rate.

I ran into school the next morning to tell our 7th grade science teacher about the Science of Sound. Because we have Middle States this year and a big push to make science more interactive, I hope we can get support from our Home & School to participate in some sort of Distance Learning activity. Having the downloadable materials from CIM's website should help in this process...

Thanks everyone -- it was fun and informative! Good questions throughout the VCon!

Distance Learning & a National Disaster

I swear this Hurricane is giving me post traumatic syndrome, similar to what I dealt with for months after September 11th. I can't stop reading stories about victims. And not to mention the fact of the chance of my husband getting called up to go down to help. He would do it in a second, but it still scares me.

An aside -- My full name is Kathryn, and for my entire life my Italian grandmother has called me Katrina. I called her yesterday and told her after 26 years she can't call me that anymore.... I am bad luck... I was born on the 50th anniversary of the stock market crash that caused the Great Depression!

I have a friend that graduated from Tulane and she is completely devasted right now. When I opened Internet Explorer today, I checked out the latest news stories.

Who would have thought Distance Learning would be a solution in the aftermath of a Natural Disaster. Click here for the article about Tulane.

Click here to donate to the Red Cross.

Multiple Intelligences & Distance Learning

As I was reading Diane's blog, I got to thinking about how Distance Learning can be an obvious use in differentiating instruction. 2 of the main concepts of Differentiated Instruction are Learning Theories and Multiple Intelligences. I found a few resources on the topics.

Link 1 -- http://eduscapes.com/distance/mi.htm
Link 2 -- http://www.tecweb.org/styles/imslsindl.pdf (13 pages but REALLY interesting!)

Week 1 Reflection

What is your definition of Distance Learning? How do you think Distance Learning can be applied in K-12 schools?

Distance Learning, in the simplest terms, is the instructor and students are not physically together in a classroom. Course objectives are met through many vehicles of communication in distance learning such as Television, Video Conferecing to satellite locations, Online/ Internet-based learning, etc. Honestly the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the words "Distance Learning" is an internet based course. If I had to answer this question 5 years ago, I would probably refer to it as a correspondance course where you basically work on your own with no timeline, with all work having to be submitted at the end of the semester.

For example, I attended Delaware County Community College for 2 years to attain my Associates Degree in Business Administration. Because I was working full time (pretty much 50 hours a week), it was very difficult for me to take a full courseload of 12 credits. It would mean me having to go to school every single night and take a 3 hour class. I had the option at the time to enroll in something called a "TV Course." Basically, the teacher taped themselves lecturing the class for that week and it was aired on PBS at like 3 am. The student (me) was responsible for videotaping the class, watch it, and do assignments that related to it. Now, as skilled as I am using computers, VCRs and I don't mix. So you can deduct from that, that every week something got screwed up when I tried to tape the class. Then I found out that we could borrow the tapes from the college library, watch them there and do the work. After finding that our, I of course waited until the last week of school,watched all the tapes, and handed in all of my work. The tapes were worthless. I could have just done all the work without them. And that's what I did for the 2nd TV Course I took. The classes were of no value to me because I didn't have any time of interaction.

In terms of K-12 education, distance learning can happen in a variety of ways. In a formal classroom setting, teachers can use video conferening and internet based field trips to teach concepts. Distance Education in K-12 learning can be very useful to parents who have decided to home school their children. They can use internet resources to help students interact with other Home Schoolers, providing that form of communication that is sometimes lacking in that environment. Kindergarten through 12th grade is such a broad range of years, learning styles, etc., that it is hard to group them all in when answering this question. I believe that in early elementary, teachers can start introducing distance learning to students. In middle school, teachers could use internet based resources to communicate with students, in turn creating a "blended" learning environment. I believe that Distance Education, especially Online Courses, are the wave of the future for high schoolers. What happens if a student is really interested in a particular subject and wants to learn more about it but his school doesn't offer it? A solution could be that a County course is offered and a few students from many high schools can participate in an online course. I think that students should learn how to communicate and learn online while in high school, because it's an obvious trend that populating college campuses.

Any thoughts???

Hi i am trying out mobile blogging from my cell in class :-)

Starting out

Hi everyone out there! Time to start blogging for our Distance Communications Class for St. Joe's University. By the looks of our syllabus, it seems like we are going to have alot of fun with our assignments!