Being There compared to Virtual School, Traditional School

Recently, I was awarded what will likely be one of the greatest opportunities of my life. And this all came about because I was tired of students just reading about things and discussing them, but not actually seeing these things with their own eyes, maybe even touching them. To me, the greatest comprehension, engagement and critical reading happens when one is reading about things they have experienced personally. So, when thinking about my own teaching, and having students read about literature rooted in European history. I said to myself, "why don't we get some students together someday and go there." Having received some info from EF Tours, an educational travel company (see www.eftours.com), I requested a detailed tour packet by filling out a form online, mostly on a whim. However, in doing so, I was automatically entered to win a contest for a teacher to take several students on a EF tour of their choice. Well, long story short. I won.

Now I am swamped with working out the logistics, which included recruiting a small committee of teachers to help me select the students. This will be done through an essay/video contest that ends Wednesday. Students will be selected based on the most convincing, truthful submissions. I know I will have many entrants, but I will only be able to choose five. It's a great but tough job to have. We will be going on a 9-day tour to France, Germany and the Alps and I can't wait!

But you're probably wondering what that has to do with virtual school Senior English and literacy instruction and skill development. Well, I've realized that virtual school English is great for all of the opportunities it can provide and the breadth of information and background knowledge readily available for students to use via the Web. However, just as it is for reading books and looking at pictures in the traditional classroom, for the most meaningful, vibrant and lasting instruction, nothing beats being there. For example, because Paris is one of the places we're going (though I've been myself, it's all about the students, you know), we could read Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame or Les Miserables and then go to the places he uses as his settings. The students could imagine Quasimoto up amongst the gargoyles and buttresses while standing right before the mighty Gothic cathedral. What could beat this kind of learning? Nothing beats being there.

While I look through the lessons of the virtual school Senior English course I am observing, I see that there are resources students can use to learn more about their reading selections, and some allow students to visit the story settings or related artifacts virtually, but certainly doing so in person is not possible. According to an article by Tuthill and Klemm (2002), actual field trips "help bridge formal and informal learning, and prepare students for lifelong learning." Further, they state that: "Research has long demonstrated that using a variety of instructional strategies optimizes the effectiveness of teaching and learning." The pair also cite research that field trips have a positive effect on student learning and when they are "designed to connect classroom topics to real world contexts" they "provide direct learning experiences, adding realism and relevancy to studies." Field trips also appear to various learning profiles, they state.

But in recent years, schools' focus on classroom instruction time to prepare for standardized testing and budget constraints have largely made field trips a thing of the past. Additionally, when considering a trip overseas, the cost becomes exorbitant for participants. That's why I've been so fortunate. The trip will be largely free and all-inclusive, other than student spending money and tip monies for our guides and drivers. Otherwise, there is no way I'd be able to do it. No, instead I would be forced to do what Tuthill and Klemm discuss as an emerging trend, taking "virtual" field trips via the Internet, perhaps even taking the students to a school computer lab and letting them engage in interactive lessons on the computer that "take" them to the place they are studying and let them review the material at their own pace, and let individual students explore items of more interest to them in-depth. While I will agree that this is a great use of information and computer technology (ICT) and it likely is more effective in giving the student a range of resources that help to enhance learning and the feeling of actually being there, it still isn't the same as actually BEING there.

So, does this mean I think that virtual schools English instruction isn't worthwhile? Certainly not, and I'm not so fickle or naive to not understand that it is unreasonable to expect to take students to the places they read about in class. However, I am just pointing out that despite all of our advances in print media over the centuries, and now digital media, it is difficult to match the learning than can be afforded by engaging with something in person. But, as the lucky students and I travel to see some of Europe's finest wonders next year, I doubt I'll send a post card. Why do that when you can blog or send e-mails? An old, paper post card of some static, non-interactive picture? What's the point?
So, I guess if you follow my sarcasm, here might be a potential hierarchy for ideal learning settings:

I. Being there in person
II. Using digital tools, including the Internet
III. Traditional classroom and materials, including books and maps

But this is just me, what do you think?

Reference:

Klemm, B. & Tuthill, G. (2002). Virtual field trips: Alternatives to actual field trips. International Journal of Instructional Media. Dec. 22, 2002. Accessed April 20, 2008 from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-7969233_ITM

Virtual School Literacy - Contributing to Resarch? and Hybrid Courses

Today I’ve realized the most potentially exciting or depressing aspect of my experience with studying literacy skills in the virtual school English classroom. When I’m attempting to use Google to search for “literacy in the virtual school,” my own blog is the top result. This is a blog I just started about seven weeks ago. I say that this is exciting in the sense that I feel like I am contributing (potentially) to the existing bank of knowledge regarding this unique subject, but also depressing in that there isn’t already more canonical info and scholarship readily available via Internet. Though many schools around the country are continually paying more attention to literacy and “reading” instruction, including seeing that teachers all get reading endorsements soon, it seems that many people haven’t yet considered what role technology has played in what we define as a “literate student” in the 21^st century. Is this student the one who does very well on a state-standardized, multiple-choice reading test? I’m not so sure the answer to that question is “yes,” but rather “possibly.” Yet, how are we teaching these students about literacy and language and how does that vary between the virtual and traditional schools?

In my own school literacy instruction has changed and will continue to change drastically within the next year, as we have just received a grant that will place 25 laptops (w/ connectivity) for student use within the classroom of every English and Reading teacher. This means that my students will have access to the minimal technologies that are required to take a virtual school class and many of the same resources those students and teachers use. Still, if I so desire I can still utilize more traditional forms of text, including the trusty old literature book and the white-erase board. I suppose in this way I can further differentiate instruction and offer a blended course. This notion of emerging “hybridity” in many classrooms was recently addressed in an eSchoolNews article.

I hate to continually use this media outlet as a resource to support my viewpoints, however, it is one of the most prolific resources available regarding innovations, trends, issues and general news in educational technology, including virtual schooling. The article, by eSchoolNews assistant editor Meris Stansbury, primarily focuses on the recent trend of traditional school classes where teachers meet with students in both face-to-face and online format and cites “evidence” that hints that “hybrid courses can help students learn more effectively.” Stansbury’s primary example is a study done with a college course taught at the University of Houston by Brian McFarlin. During the study, according to the article, he focused mainly on the strengths and weaknesses for the hybrid courses, which (among his findings) were as follows:

Strengths

Students’ final grades were 9.9 percent higher in blended course compared to traditional only classes

Greater student comprehension of course content

Frees up traditional class space and offers students more flexibility for part of the curriculum

Weaknesses

Learning curve for the course delivery system (WebCT in this case)

Difficult to confirm identity of actual student completing assignment

Through its Learning Technology Center, the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee’s Hybrid Faculty Development Program features a pre-assessment of sorts for teachers considering teaching a hybrid course. For those interested they are:

1. What do you want students to know when they have finished taking your hybrid course?

2. As you think about learning objectives, which would be better achieved online and which would be best achieved face-to-face?

3. Hybrid teaching is not just a matter of transferring a portion of your traditional course to the Web. Instead it involves developing challenging and engaging online learning activities that complement your face-to-face activities. What types of learning activities do you think you will be using for the online portion of your course?

4. Online asynchronous discussion is often an important part of hybrid courses. What new learning opportunities will arise as a result of using asynchronous discussion? What challenges do you anticipate in using online discussions? How would you address these?

5. How will the face-to-face and time out of class components be integrated into a single course? In other words, how will the work done in each component feed back into and support the other?

6. When working online, students frequently have problems scheduling their work and managing their time, and understanding the implications of the hybrid course module as related to learning. What do you plan to do to help your students address these issues?

7. How will you divide the percent of time between the face-to-face portion and the online portion of your course? How will you schedule the percent of time between the face-to-face and online portion of your course, i.e. one two hour face-to-face followed by one two hour online session each week?

8. How will you divide the course-grading scheme between face-to-face and online activities? What means will you use to assess student work in each of these two components?

9. Students sometimes have difficulty acclimating to the course Web site and to other instructional technologies you may be using for face-to-face and online activities. What specific technologies will you use for the online and face-to-face portions of your course? What proactive steps can you take to assist students to become familiar with your Web site and those instructional technologies? If students need help with technology later in the course, how will you provide support?

10. There is a tendency for faculty to require students to do more work in a hybrid course than they normally would complete in a purely traditional course. What are you going to do to ensure that you have not created a course and one-half? How will you evaluate the student workload as compared to a traditional class?

Obviously, these questions are mostly those that require in-depth consideration for an educator thinking about teaching a hybrid course, or at least one who plans to do it effectively and thoughtfully. Just reading these questions, it makes me realize that there are a lot of logistics to developing a hybrid course. Given this, a teacher striking out on their own may have a lot of difficulty and it would seem more effective to have, at the very least, a learning community within a school that can take on the trials of developing the course and learning the delivery technology for the online portion of the curriculum. From my observations and interacting with an virtual school Senior English course, I realize that the course delivery and quality of content is a large part of its success. Though the school seems to desire to improve the course, and plans on rolling out a new version soon, the tools it uses for content delivery, interaction and student tracking and record keeping all seem to be extensive, versatile and seamless. Being that these tools are already available and ready for the teacher and students to use, there isn’t the difficulty of having to develop ones own course. There are a lot of people with specific expertise backing them up, including curriculum specialists and IT professionals. For this reason, I think if hybrid English courses are to become more common and as beneficial as possible, each course needs to have the online portion of the curriculum delivered by tried-and-true digital frameworks, otherwise it may not be worth the time and energy a teacher would put into designing such a course. That is, the students’ learning gains statistically or anecdotally may not be enough to justify such an effort.

References:

Stansbury, M. (2008). Hybrid courses show promise. eSchoolNews. April 3, 2008. Accessed April 18, 2008 from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=53395&page=2

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Technology Learning Center. (2005). Ten hybrid questions to consider. pp. 1-2. Accessed April 18, 2008 from http://www.class.uh.edu/classidt/Tutorials_Help/profs/hybrid/HybridReflective10Questions.pdf

Virtual School, Minorities, and Literacy

According to a recent article at eSchoolNews' Web site (Stansbury), it cites a recent webinar hosted by the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL), which I unfortunately was not able to attend. The article, however, discusses how at the event "titled 'Increasing Academic Offerings for Minority Students through Online Learning,' panelists Ray Rose, director of programs at MentorNet, Sharnell Jackson, chief eLearning officer for the Chicago Public Schools, and Themy Sparangis, chief technology officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District," all discussed how online learning, such as via virtual school, can help to improve the opportunities, and possibly even the performance of, minority or "underrepresented" students.

For me and the purposes of my blog and focus, this presents an interesting possibility. Mainly from my traditional classroom teaching experience, and in some of my reading, I have found that minority students make up a larger percentage of students who do not have what are considered to be traditional academic literacy or ICT literacy skills. This could include poor grammar, spelling, and general writing skills, but can also include critical reading skills or a breadth of background knowledge (which can largely affect reading comprehension and fluency), and lack of experience with creation and manipulation of digital documents and media. At times this also includes ESOL students, who are less familiar with English and all of its uses, in addition to the cultural aspects that make meaning of our language. Primarily though, I think it is cultural and socioeconomic differences at play here, included lack of regular access to technologies (the digital divide).

However, what is suggested in the eSchoolNews article by Stansbury, and by the panelists she cites, online learning can help provide learning that is more tailored and more equitable for minority students. The article cites an Illinois school where there is a large Hispanic population that has managed a high pass rate for online learning, which includes students who have used virtual learning for dropout recovery as well as parents who work full time or raise children but don't have their high school education. Still, the NACOL panelists all noted, according to the article, that schools must work to close the digital divide in their schools and make sure that access to updated computers with broadband connections were provided so that minorities could make use of virtual school. Some methods suggested were offering scholarships and tech literacy courses, which obviously would be the kind that teaches ICT (information and computer technology) literacy, one of my focuses in the study of a virtual school English class.

For a virtual school course, one panelist, Jackson, suggested - for students success - that "educators who are teaching online classes communicate with students’ traditional classroom teachers, so they can better learn—and cater to—these students’ needs." She further explained that:

"Expectations for teachers are still the same even in online learning: help kids become proficient, college-prepared students. Online learning students must achieve and excel in their studies just like in a traditional classroom format, but online learning can increase communication and engagement, as well as provide individualized learning options."

Given all of this, from my own observations of a virtual school Senior English class and its interworkings, this is how that particular school is operated. The teacher and school certainly performs in this way, and student success seems to follow accordingly. As it pertains to traditional and ICT literacy, students will never learn this without exposure to reading and writing using digital tools. According to an October 2007 Florida Tax Watch report on Florida's Virtual School, minority students made up about a third of students in that particular virtual school. However, Florida Tax Watch also reports that this is quite low when compared to the state's traditional schools.

Noticing this, Florida Tax Watch asked:
"What is there about e-learning in general that fails to adequately entice minority students to participate at higher levels?" and "Why do African-American and Hispanic students have a high withdrawal rate compared to their enrollment shares?"

Providing its own answers, Florida Tax Watch stated that "some theorize that the answers to these questions rest with the notion of the digital divide," and gave that idea some credence, however, it also noted that "the great majority of FLVS students are part-time, taking just one or two courses. They spend the rest of their day on the campus of a comprehensive school site, where computers are available – to the universe of students, including minorities."
Florida TaxWatch's study also said "to secure national data about minority participation in online learning programs." According to its report, this kind of data was not readily available, "as most as most states do not compile such figures." Still, from "perceptual data from national experts," NACOL claims that minority participation is about 10%. and that, as a result," it would seem that Florida Virtual School is outpacing the country in its service to minority students" if about 33 percent of its students were considered minorities."

While this is great in the case of FLVS, being just one of many virtual schools nationwide, I wonder about the seemingly anecdotal nationwide data from Florida Tax Watch, knowing that in Southern states such as Florida, minority populations are much higher than the much of the country, especially in the Midwest and Northeast. I guess what I am saying is I hope their data is considered per capita. I think the a primary issue facing minorities and their representation in virtual schools may be lack of familiarity with computers in the home (often relative to socioecnomic standing) and not enough digital learning experiences in some elementary schools. I think that given that most virtual students are those in the secondary grades, previous exposure to digital forms of learning before that time may seem more foreign or present more of a logistical challenge if one has to learn basic ICT and, at once, to be able to effectively take on the coursework as well. In the case of learning with computers and having ICT abilities, familiarity does not breed contempt, it breeds success and opens opporunities for more individualized, potentially engaging learning and skill development.

References:

Florida Tax Watch Center for Educational Performance and Accountability. (2007). Final report: A comprehensive assessment of Florida Virtual School. Oct. 15, 2007. Accessed April 16, 2008 from http://www.nacol.org/docs/FLVS_Final_Final_Report(10-15-07).pdf

Stansbury, M. (2008). Panelists: Online learning can help minority students. eSchoolNews (online edition). Accessed April 16, 2008 from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/news-by-subject/technologies/index.cfm?i=53470;_hbguid=f581aec8-754e-4b40-9237-0c5d99153799

Legitimate Literacy Instruction in the Virtual School

In the traditional school, within the past decade or so, literacy instruction has become a consistent focus of teaching and school improvement plans. In large part this is because of the accountability standards implemented by the No Child Left Behind Act and school grading systems determined largely by scores on state-derived reading assessment tests, such as the FCAT in Florida (where I live). Unfortunately, many schools, teachers and trainers missell this as "reading" and not "literacy," which it should be. As a result, many core curriculum and elective teachers say things like "I didn't sign up to be a reading coach or a reading teacher. Why should I have to do this?" Regardless, within Florida, at all grade levels most teachers are being encouraged, more like pressured, to work toward a reading endorsement add-on to their certification within the next year or two. While this presents an extra responsibility for already-busy teachers, it has helped to deliver more training to teachers regarding the theoretical underpinnings of literacy and usable teaching strategies to improve literacy instruction regardless of their content area.

In the virtual school Senior English "classroom," this kind of theory-based literacy instruction is apparent. Reviewing the course I find "reading" strategies like PAS (Preview the text, Access background knowledge, and Set a purpose). Specifically, this is used with the reading of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Before the students ever read the actual text. they have assignments that requires them to frame their thinking and develop a metalanguage for engaging the text. For example, the students must first do an assignment called "Keys to Understanding Drama," that reviews all of the terms associated with the reading of plays (such as soliloquy, tragedy and motif), as well as the structure of the five-act play. From there the students take on an activity that asks them to choose a scenario/prompt that outlines the perspective and motivation of various characters in Hamlet. They then must choose one of the five prompts and write a "well-developed" paragraph about it and submit the assignment to their teacher. It is after doing these assignments that the students actually begin reading the play. During the reading, students are given assignments that address issues such as the difficulty of Shakespeare's Elizabethan-era language that further frames their thinking and aids in comprehension.
According to my host teacher, this is all intentional and of the curriculum is based on sound literacy learning theories. However, I believe that because this literacy instruction and the overall course content is being delivered digitally, it is more engaging and authentic for the students than what they might encounter in the traditional classroom.

According to an article by Learning First Alliance (2000) at Adlit.org (a site centered around adolescent literacy), students' "comprehension is enhanced when teachers make sure students understand what they are reading by asking questions and encouraging student questions and discussions." It further states that, "effective instruction will help the reader actively relate his or her own knowledge or experience to the ideas written in the text, and then remember the ideas that he or she has come to understand." This is the idea of a lot of the emerging literacy instruction in the traditional school and what is found in the virtual school course I am observing. But, again, when students are using technology to study text, there is a built-in engagement factor that often can't be matched by the technology-free traditional classroom. According to Alltech, an organization that promotes the use of technology for individual achievement (see alltech-tsi.org), "the use of technology alone cannot promote students' literacy skills," however, goes on to say that "when technology is combined with research-based reading and writing instructional strategies, powerful outcomes are achieved." Alltech posits that: "When implemented effectively, literacy technologies can motivate students, promote positive attitudes toward learning, provide individualized and learner-controlled instruction, facilitate positive social behavior, and support active learning experiences." This would certainly seem to ring true with my experiences so far with the virtual school English class that I've been observing, especially in how the course curriculum is set-up with its resources, scaffolding and pacing. Additionally, because the work is being done on computers students either are supporting or developing their ICT (information and computer technology) literacies, a necessity for successfully completing the course.

References:

Alltech (2007). Technology for all (May 2007). Alltech-tsi.org. Accessed April 13, 2008 from http://www.alltech-tsi.org/news/2007_05.html

Learning First Alliance. (2000). 9 components for effective, research-supported reading instruction. Adlit.org. Accessed April 13, 2008 from http://www.adlit.org/article/50

Virtual School English - ICT and Literacy Development

I had some expectation this week to observe virtual school students taking the oral reading portion of their course exam for Senior English, however, I haven't heard back regarding appointments my host teacher with a couple of students. Because of the nature of the Senior English course in the virtual school, at this time, most are done with the course and ready to graduate from their traditional school. My host teacher is still working to see several through to completion in the next few weeks, but their contact is now sporadic and often unscheduled, making it difficult for me to observe regularly.

Not to be deterred, I am continuing my research of virtual school English and how literacy, both traditional and information and computer technology (ICT) literacy are used in and developed by online learning. According to an article by Phil Taylor in a 2002 edition of Literacy Today, there are "exciting opportunities" offered by ICT "for creativity and collaboration, particularly in developing students' literacy" (available at http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Pubs/taylor2.html). Taylor notes that while digital tools like Microsoft's Word and PowerPoint programs have been available for years, "limited access" for some students and teachers means "we do not use them as intended."
Explaining further, Taylor writes:

A word processor is really a thinking tool for drafting, organising and presenting ideas, although we sometimes end up using it to 'type up work in best'. This is why the ability to touch-type, while desirable, is not essential. You only need to type as fast as you can think. With widespread use of networks and email, new ways to monitor and assess students' ICT-based work are possible. For example, word-processed work can be emailed to a teacher, who (in Microsoft Word) can use the reviewing tools to insert comments for improvement before sending it back. The reviewing tools (on the reviewing toolbar) also allow changes to be tracked as writing is developed.

Students in virtual school use this type of tool regularly and the teachers are constantly "monitoring and assessing" student ICT-based work, including using reviewing tools. However, many teachers in the traditional school have no idea that these type of tools exist, more than 10 years after they became widespread, and if they do, even less know how to use them effectively with students.

Taylor goes on to explain other uses of ICT literacy that help develop traditional literacy: Reading and writing, including critical reading skills. For example, he discusses how students might use word-processing or mindmapping (like Inspiration, see http://www.inspiration.com/), to think about story elements, such as creating idea/element hierarchies in a linear outline format. This is often done in my own school as part of a reading initiative, for which all of the teachers have received training. However, that training, though presented with software such as PowerPoint, did not include using ICT tools to develop literacy skills. No, instead we mostly do it with good ole' pen and paper, or, at the most, chart paper and poster board, maybe even with colored markers or dry-erase boards! Oo-wee! How modern, engaging and interactive.

At any rate, I digress...Going back to Taylor and moving away from low-tech methods of literacy instruction, he notes that animation and video-editing software (such as ProShow Producer - see http://www.photodex.com/products/producer/ or Corel's Ulead software - see http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1175714228541), helps further students' creative use of ICT and thus, literacy instruction. For example, Taylor shares how students in London (England) used video editing software for studying the novel Great Expecations by using clips from the more recent film version (with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow, I highly recommend checking it out) to create their own trailers, "adding sound tracks and text overlays. "In doing this," he says, "They were able to draw out the key moments in the narrative and build an overview of the story."

If students in the virtual school English class were to do this type of project, they could easily create and share their work using the computer, the same tool they use for most of their coursework. They don't even have to get up to go to the store to buy posterboard! Further, the virtual school teacher could access and assess this work using the computer, making it much easier to add as an assignment option, which is aided by the ease of use and management for both teacher and student.

When I think about all of the non-engaging and unrealistic ways we still do literacy instruction in the traditional English classroom, using tools that are commonplace in the virtual school class seems to make so much more sense for aligning instruction with the world outside of school. In higher education or the workplace, students are far less likely to use pen and paper, or markers and chart paper alone to demonstrate understanding or convey information. Just think, what business proposal or presentation is done with chart paper and markers these days? Further, I think about the management of cumbersome projects and paperwork teachers have to endure. Having assignments done and submitted in digital form eases grading, organization and, in my opinion, recordkeeping. It is much easier to set up and back up digital "folders" on a hard drive, CD-ROM or flash drive, or server rather than have custodians find some old filing cabinet to move into your room because your old one is full of old student work and assessments you haven't looked at in months to years, but were told to keep as "evidence."

Focusing on literacy, however, the proliferation of digital resources over the past decade has allowed for many authoring tools to be available the masses. The main problem, though, is getting these tools into the hands of students. Even in virtual school, most students are limited to what they already have on their computer or those that are shareware/freeware. Still, for the virtual school English class, students are engaged with the option of creating these videos as forms of assessment, if they so desire. And these type of tools can result in students having, communicating, and displaying a deep understanding of narratives. That is, helping to develop their literacy skills in real, meaningful, current, and authentic ways. Praised be that.

Reference.

Taylor, P. (2002). "Using ICT to develop literacy." Literacy Today. Dec. 2002. Accessed April 12, 2008. Available at: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Pubs/taylor2.html

Literacy Standards in the Virtual School English Class

After discussing how literacy is addressed and aided in the virtual school English class with my host teacher, I found out several interesting aspects about how literacy standards are integrated into some online Senior English courses.

Actually, she said literacy is a large focus of the course in several ways, two of which are reading fluency and comprehension. How these particular standards are addressed and assessed in the course has undergone recent revisions, she explained, mainly because of the need for the virtual school to align itself with state standards and ensure a baseline level of skills for its students.
In the past, as part of their course exam, the students were required to read a random passage aloud, from a novel typically, recording their voice into a digital file, then submitting this recording to the teacher. Now, instead the student does not choose the passage and they must call the teacher and read the passage in real time, rather than submit an asynchronous recording.

The actual instructions the students sees in the course materials for their "literacy check" are as follows:

This oral component tests your knowledge of the book you have read.

A portion of this oral assessment will also check for fluency. Your instructor will select approximately 100 words for you to read aloud. The selections may come from the directions, lessons, or texts used in the course.

The rubric will be used to assess your fluency level. Full credit will be awarded for completing the fluency standard as a part of this oral assessment. Points awarded on other components of this oral assessment are at the teachers’ discretion.

Please call your instructor to complete this part of the exam, unless otherwise instructed.

My host teacher said that there has been difficulty, however, with some of the students completing the literacy check portion of their exam, mainly with logistics. In many cases, the novels the teacher might use for selecting a passage was one used in the coursework, but because the virtual school did not provide the text for the student, the student may have borrowed it from someone or checked it out from a library and already returned it before the literacy check portion of the exam. So the problem comes, she said, when the student doesn't have the same passage available as the teacher intended for them to read, and they don't want the student to be practiced.
Currently, while fluency is the main standard being addressed, she said "comprehension is what we're going for."

Students who don't do well in the coursework, are often those who don't understand what they're reading, regardless of how fast or with how much prosody they can read it, just like the traditional school. While there is a direct correlation in most students between fluency and comprehension, my host teacher explained that many of the students in the virtual school Senior English class are just taking the class to fulfill an English credit for graduation requirements and often read just enough to find the information they need to complete the coursework. Because of this, she said many skim to find this information and filter the rest of the text. While she said developing this skimming is a useful literacy skill that can serve them well later, even in college coursework, they often misinterpret text because they fail to obtain a full picture of the selection and be able to employ critical thinking skills that rely on comprehension.

At the traditional school, we are required by our state to complete certain literacy checks a few times per year, including an oral reading fluency and what's called a MAZE test, where students read a non-fiction passage with three words periodically given as choices to correctly complete a sentence. Students must circle or mark the word that best completes the sentence. In both cases, these literacy assessments are timed. This is not the case for the virtual school's literacy check. My host teacher explained that they are untimed when reading the 100 words the teacher selects for them to read aloud. If comprehension is the goal, she said, the faster the student tries to go, they may mess up and further damage their ability to comprehend.

But what about before students take this literacy assessment as part of their culminating exam? How do virtual school English teachers identify and serve their struggling readers when they never meet with students in person? Well, my the teacher said that it is more difficult in the virtual school to recognize those students who might be having difficulties in reading. She said it takes a keen eye to know which students might be avoiding more difficult assignments and skipping around from module to module, not because they are lazy, but because they aren't strong readers and may be in need of additional help. Further, the teachers do not receive literacy ability records for students, such as state reading assessment scores, automatically. Those scores either have to be requested specially by the virtual school from their traditional school guidance counselor or the information is given to the virtual school by the parent or the students themselves. This is not the case in the traditional school where every teacher is given a copy of students' state reading test scores and expected to play a role in increasing those marks.

However, because of the very nature of the virtual school's English class, there is a lot of reading involved and a weak reader might have a difficult time completing assignments without assistance. For instance, my host teacher said in the case of ESOL students, each is encouraged to have someone available with them to go online and help with translating or explaining the coursework personally. Given the difficulty with assessing student reading ability through the coursework at first, my host teacher said her particular virtual school is in the process of implementing basic literacy checks when students first come into the course and determine their baseline abilities. She said this would also include their comfort and abilities with the information and communication technology (ICT) literacy that I mentioned in previous blogs. This way, she said, the virtual school teacher will know what they need to focus on for each student in helping to bolster and develop their literacy and technology skills.

I think in the traditional classroom teachers might often have more exposure to the student and their work over a period of time (even a week) and is able to identify their literacy shortcomings quickly. Still, as is apparently true for virtual school as well, students in traditional school might not do certain assignments, not out of rebellion or laziness, but simply because they don't understand what they are being asked to do. I know for many teachers it is easy to jump to conclusions and assume that it is sloth, but if one looks closer and isn't hasty, they can identify where a student might need literacy skill development. For instance, a student might blow off an assignment that involves creating a computer-based document. It might come across as being belligerent and idle, but it could be because the student is a poor typist and speller and/or has never had a computer in the home and avoided classes that involved interacting with it in the past.
Personally, I commend the virtual school teachers who seek to identify students weak in literacy and then help to develop their skills, because it isn't as easy to determine who these students are, especially out of the 200-plus students that are often assigned to some of these teachers. Further, because this virtual school is a not a diploma-granting institution they are not considered ultimately responsible for students' literacy abilities or their passing of state reading assessments, however, they strive to increase students' skills in these areas anyway. Again, this is because the school's focus is on serving the students and getting them what they need for personal success, as it should be.

Supporting and Defining My Focus - How Online Learning Aids Literacy

In my previous post I realize now (thanks to my professor and classmates) that I failed to define what exact type of literacy I was focusing on as it pertains to virtual school English/Language Arts learning. So, I am seeking here to clarify what I mean and support my ideas further.

Being aware that there are many different types of literacy (computer, math, science, business lingo, etc.) the kinds I am focusing on are mainly the traditional forms of reading and writing (and all subcategories), but because of the unique opportunities presented in the virtual school using digital tools, I am also including information and communication technology (ICT) literacy. I believe that the virtual school offers an opportunity for its learners to become literate in the 21st century sense, which includes all of the traditional expectations of a literate person and adds the ICT literacy. However, while virtual school develops these skills, for (quick) success I believe it also requires students to have a minimal amount of preexisting abilities/knowledge.

According to Gabriel (2005), online learning environments allow for students to engage in interpersonal sharing activities, problem solving and information collection and analysis. In order to successfully use the virtual environment for these activities, however, she notes that students must utilize both traditional literacy and that of ICT. All of these activities, she says, involve communication and information sharing, hallmarks of any literacy.

Gabriel notes that the International Reading Association, International Society for Technology in Education and the National Council of Teachers of English, all call for integration of ICT literacy standards in the classroom today. But because teachers are already hard-pressed to cover existing standards and material, she says the best way to accomplish this is not to tack on ICT literacy to the existing curriculum, but rather, integrate it into learning activities. For example, rather than write a brief reading response to a literature selection, the student could send the teacher and e-mail instead, or post to a blog. This would allow the student to engage both in the traditional forms of literacy and ICT.

Now, you can do this in the traditional classroom and all teachers should if they're able, however, the very nature of the virtual school English class environment requires that it be already integrated in this way. Further, Gabriel calls for a constructivist approach to this type of integration. Again, this is the nature of the virtual school, where it "builds on students' capacity to learn independently and to create their own understanding within a context" and "the teacher acts as a guide who organizes and facilities learning experiences within the classroom" (p. 97).
Additionally, Gabriel posits that learning in the online environment supports literacy skills development because students: Read text in various forms (hyperlinks, images, interpersonal communication); "write" text in responding to communication and assignments, writing notes in a word program, inputting/writing data on Web site designs or blogs; design and present written and visual communication for an audience.

Once more, from what I've learned about the virtual school high school English classroom, these are the types of learning activities that are taking place. But rather it be in a traditional school where the teacher is stretched paper thin to design and implement learning activities, it can be difficult to integrate digital tools into learning activities on a regular basis. Also, to support literacy skills, both traditional and ICT literacy, the teacher must have access for his/her students to digital tools and in many classrooms this is still not a reality. For the virtual school, everything is already created in and designed for use in the digital realm and must be accessed in this way. It is made for 21st century literacy.

Reference:

Gabriel, M. (2005). Developing literacy with online learning environments. In Asselin, M. & Doiron, R. (Eds.) Literacy, libraries and learning: Using books to promote reading, writing and research. 97-106. Available at: http://www.stenhouse.com/pdfs/8196ch08.pdf

Finding My Focus: Literacy Skills and Virtual School English

For those of you following the blog, you know I've been studying and writing about high school English in the virtual school, as well as looking at virtual school pedagogy in general. Well, now it has come time for me to focus my work on something more specific and definitive. After a lot of reading, research and personal deliberation I have decided to focus my work on virtual school English and literacy skills: Those needed and those developed.

From here on out, my blog will mostly focus on this area. This post in particular will explain my reasoning for choosing this area and review a bit of the available knowledge and scholarship that supports it as viable. I hope you enjoy and can add your own perspective and knowledge to help better bolster and legitimize and problematize (when necessary) my musings.

As it pertains to virtual schools and the development of literacy skills, the North American Council of Online Learning (NACOL) and its document "Virtual Schools and 21st Century Skills," (2006) which was written in conjunction with the Partnership for 21st Century Schools, seek to identify and help promote skills, through virtual learning, needed for success in this new century. According to NACOL, in assessing student knowledge in the virtual school students aren't merely tested on factual knowledge rather, their knowledge and understanding is showed by "being able to analyze information, solve problems, collaborate and communicate effectively." These are the skills that many reading initiatives call for in secondary schools and try to develop in how teachers teach and in curriculum design.
Further, in virtual schools NACOL states that students often have the choice of choosing an assignment, including in English class, that best fits their skills and learning profiles. These differentiated assessment types could include podcasts, traditional essays, PowerPoints, or Web site creation. All of these things involve the kind of literacy that is valued by employers in the 21st century, but also those that are used in how knowledge and information are being shared today for entertainment and education.

Specifically, on information and communications technology (ICT) literacy, NACOL writes:

The rate at which new information becomes available today is
astounding when compared to previous decades. In order to
succeed in the 21st century, students must master the ability to
use appropriate technologies to process, analyze and present
information efficiently and effectively in school, life and work
settings. Because virtual schools require students to master
technology as part of their everyday learning, students are
able to exercise and refine their 21st century technology skills
in settings that are quite similar to those they will encounter in
the real world.
Today’s graduates must be adept with the tools of
collaboration and communication that are the reality of
a global, web-driven workplace. Online learning affords
unprecedented opportunities for students to complete their
work using applications that are common to today’s workers,
such as web-based conferencing, project management, or
digital media and communications tools.

I do have other resources that help show the correlation and significance of the relationship with virtual schools and its development of literacy skills, and I will focus on those in upcoming posts. But to address what is being said by the NACOL and Partnership for 21st Century Schools, it seems that virtual schools and the literacy skills one learns in engaging in this kind of self-directed learning involves regular use of the skills that are deemed most worthwhile by the modern workplace, and possibly institutions of higher education. That is to say that "literacy" is no longer just being able to read or write, it is being able to communicate, analyze, interpret, categorize, create, collaborate and problem solve all using certain tools and formats, most of which are digital. This goes back to a previous post of mine, noting how we cannot teach students in a way that prepares them for a world that doesn't exist anymore. Recently a classmate of mine, following that post, reminded me of a quote by John Dewey and I think it applies here: "If we teach today as we taught yesterday, then we rob our children of tomorrow." And if Dewey were still alive, perhaps he might write on in his blog on education that "If we teach how to communicate as we did in the past, then we are preparing our students' voices and ideas for descent into silent nothingness."
It's a thought anyway.

Reference:
North American Council for Online Learning & Partnership for 21st Century Schools. Virtual schools & 21st century skills. Nov. 2006 [Accessed April 2, 2008]. Available at : http://www.nacol.org/docs/NACOL_21CenturySkills.pdf

The "Virus" of Aggression, Malice and Heartlessness

While this blog is still focused on aspects of teaching high school English in the virtual school I felt inspired by a recent film and had to write this, which does relate directly to education. Please enjoy:

This past weekend I was able to sit down, very late at night, and watch the movie I Am Legend. I rarely have time to sit down and watch a movie anymore, much less go to the movies, so I missed this title when it was out in theaters. Having heard all about it from my movie-loving friends, I was excited to watch it, and though I was tired, it kept my interest intact throughout.

While I hear many people discuss the "let down" of an ending and the "cheesiness" of the CGI "monsters," and while I do mostly agree with these things, what I saw as the core theme of the movie was its most engaging and redeeming quality. And, in my eyes, that central theme was one of enduring human love and good will and destruction of aggression, malice and ill-will towards mankind.

You are probably wondering what this has to do with teaching English in the virtual school or education in general, but to me this has everything to do with it. I think part of the job of educators to help promote good will, appreciation, and respect for oneself and others. In my eyes if everyone worked to make the lives of others easier, not harder, then we would all be better off and happier in general. In the movie the main character, played by Will Smith, is the last survivor in New York City following a mass outbreak of a virus that either kills its host or turns them into a hairless, nocturnal, vicious, angry, aggressive and murderous humanoid (or semblance of whatever life-form it was before the virus, such as a dog). Smith's character is among the small minority of people who have immunity to the virus.

Not to ruin it for anyone, but in one scene (the most significant to me) Smith's character explains why he loves Bob Marley and shares a story about how he was like a virologist who sought to eradicate hatred and aggression from mankind through uplifting music intertwined with love and simple pleasures. He shares a story of how Marley was shot in his home two days before he was scheduled to perform a major concert promoting his ideals. He explains that Marley still performed despite his injuries and said it was because "the people who are trying to make the world worse never take a day off. Why should I?" Smith's character says we have to "light up the darkness."

And it is this particular part that I am attempting to connect to teaching, whether it be in virtual
school or the traditional classroom. This is my mission as a person, if I do nothing else in my life I will not promote anger, aggression, hatred, ill-will or violence toward others. As an educator I have to do my part to lead by example and try to show my students how one treats others, what good will looks like and how it is performed. I feel that many teachers don't always treat students well, that they think "these punk, disrespectful kids need to learn a lesson or two" and try to make successfully navigating public education through high school as difficult as possible. I don't think that students have to struggle and suffer to appreciate education or be decent citizens. Should learning be only arduous and laborious? Devoid of humor, understanding and kindness? I think not, then one might turn off students to learning for the sake of learning and damage the likelihood that they will seek out education beyond high school so that they can have a better chance at earning a living wage and being positive members of their respective communities. Students need to be challenged, but we can't lose our ability to empathize and cut students some slack at times. Being uncaring, inflexible and rigid (most of them already have too many of these kinds of people in their lives) never helped win over a student's engagement or appreciation for one's subject area , though some would disagree. Taking this a step further, teachers could teach kindness and compassion even more directly, by making it part of the curriculum. For instance, The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation encourages teachers "to perhaps give them an assignment to do an act of kindness and write about it" or even form a random act of kindness club at the school (see http://www.actsofkindness.org/people/whats_new/news_detail.asp?id=155 for more info).

As teachers we have to be "virologists" like Marley or Smith's character in I Am Legend, and do our part to dole out serums of kindness and understanding in how we teach, work with, and communicate with our students. Hopefully, if we do this adequately enough and consistently enough, then we will help "vaccinate" our students from contracting this virus of anger, hate, and aggression in the future. Then, ideally, they will go on and do the same in their adult lives, making the effect cyclical and perpetual.

If abuse can become a cycle, why not human decency?

References:

Lawrence, F. (Director), Protosevich, M. (Writer) & Goldsman, A. (Writer). (2007).
I am legend. [Motion picture]. United States: Warner Bros. Pictures.

http://www.actsofkindness.org/people/whats_new/news_detail.asp?id=155

Teaching English/Language Arts Online: Still Human

High school English/Language Arts is a broad subject area and teaching it isn't an easy task. Being a high school English teacher, I am all too aware of this. Tying together all of the literacy skills students need to be viable members of society and to achieve in higher education is a balancing act for English/Langauge Arts educators. For example, students in any given classroom come with a broad range of reading, writing, grammar, and general communication skills. Adequately ensuring that all of these students get what they need is a difficult but necessary task. How much time can you spend on literature appreciation and analysis before you need to address other areas? These include oral and written communication skills, business/career applications for language arts, critical thinking, research, visual and media literacy... the list goes on. How do you plug holes and fill gaps before the students leave your class or high school altogether?
So, I say to anyone who thinks of the high school English classroom as a place where one simply reads and talks about classic literature, he or she would typically be mistaken.

But what about the virtual school environment? How does this affect the quality and nature of English/Language Arts instruction. In searching the Internet, I actually didn't find many resources dedicated to this particular area, however, one I did find was worthwhile. In the January 2005 edition of the Christian Science Monitor there appeared an article by a veteran English (and Social Studies) teacher named Melissa Hart who went from teaching in the traditional classroom to that of a virtual school (available at http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0104/p12s01-legn.html ).
Hart begins by briefly discussing a comment she read regarding the inability of the virtual school environment to have a teacher who was inspiring to a student. This she vehemently disagreed with and offers evidence of why a virtual school teacher might do well to reach and inspire students. For example, because her virtual school, like most of them, sees the student as the focus, she writes:

"We offer an extensive questionnaire that evaluates learning styles and pinpoints students' areas of interest. Should a student find a particular lesson less engaging than others in a course, teachers will work with the student to design a more relevant lesson. Such attentiveness to the individual can't help fostering meaningful relationships between students and teachers."

As it pertains to English/Language Arts instruction, while Hart says "there is nothing like the energy and excitement of a group discussion of novel, poem, or essay," she also notes that while teaching said subjects online is different, "pedagogues should look further before they recoil from education via computer."
A primary example Hart offers is of a student who e-mailed her (a common form of teacher-student communication in the virtual school) and asked to do a different assignment than the one originally outlined. Specifically, according to Hart, the student sent this message:

"Dear Ms. Hart,

May I substitute the three-page paper analyzing "The Epic of Gilgamesh" with a different project? Since the story is about friendship, I'd like to film a documentary about a day in my life, and how my best friend's death affected me."

Hart explains that some educators were "aghast" that she decided (and was delighted) to allow this student to complete the suggested alternate assignment rather than the typical analytical essay. But because the story of Gilgamesh (which my own students study) is a Sumerian legend about a man and his devastating loss of his close friend, Hart said the student's "work on this documentary ensures that she'll never forget the Sumerian king and his sorrow, so like her own." Because the class was an online format and because the teacher was only an "e-mail away" as Hart says, it was easy to allow the student to do the alternate, potentially more resonate assignment.

Hart concludes her article admitting that there are times when she is working alone at her computer as a virtual school teacher, grading student work and missing "dynamic classroom debates" and "the pleasure of looking into a student's eyes and seeing a new enthusiasm for literature." Still, she said "neophytes" who think that teaching English/Language Arts, or any subject area for that matter, is a "lesser form of education need to rethink their position."
Just like the traditional school environment, she says she and students communicate daily and "not just about course work but about new puppies, dating dilemmas, and worries about leaving home for college."
She adds: "We develop strong friendships, and I've found myself in the role of mentor too many times to count. Although we've never met face to face, many students keep in contact long after graduation."

To me, Harts words are the "stuff" for teachers and education stakeholders to really consider when thinking about virtual schools. Without humans, technology would serve no purpose. Even though its digital technology that seems inanimate and cold at times, it doesn't do anything unless people make it to do something. I remember from the early 80s learning about how you had to give computers "commands." So, my point is, even with virtual schooling and teaching English online, you aren't taking out the humanity involved in learning about our language and literature. It's just being done in a different way. Think about it, to many people at first the telephone seemed far more impersonal than talking face to face. To some, it must seem difficult to accept a high school English classroom as anything other than a traditional brick and mortar setting where you read the "classics," talk about them and write about them. But compared to the world outside of the classroom, how realistic is this? That time is gone. For some it may have been good, great or just comfortable, but it's gone and that's OK. Let's figure out a way to accept and use current technologies for teaching English and language skills and change for the benefit of today's students, not students from yesteryear that no longer exist.

Reference:
Hart, M. (2005). In virtual school, teacher is just an e-mail away. Christian Science Monitor. Jan. 4, 2005 [Accessed March 30, 2008] Available at:http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0104/p12s01-legn.html

Accountability for the Virtual Teacher

So, having read the blog to this point, you might think that teaching online is a fairly attractive proposition with less detractors than the traditional classroom, coupled with the potential for meaningful, engaging learning focused firmly on the students. Well, in many cases I'd agree, but there is still the issue of accountability. Just because it's a virtual classroom doesn't mean the teachers aren't held to a performance standard for their teaching. As there is in the traditional school, virtual school teachers also have accountability standards they must meet or they will be under more direct supervision and training in order to prevent them from falling into the abyss of ineffective teaching,or being forced to leave the profession altogether. I, for one, believe it is necessary for these accountability standards to exist, for the benefit of the students and ensuring quality pedagogy for the school.

In talking to my virtual school host English teacher, she explained that her particular virtual school, there is an expectation to meet certain learning standards, but they aren't as rigorous as those of most traditional schools. For example, while she isn't expected to make sure her Senior students pass state standardized test re-takes if they haven't already, there is a need to ensure basic literacy skills and to enhance their critical reading ability. Because much of the work done in the virtual school's Senior English course is independent, she said it is important that the students have a reasonable level of reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. If a student is deficient in these areas, this is where the need for tutoring would come in, and often does. Additionally, to make sure that the students are learning the course materials and meeting learning standards, she said there is a pre and post test for the class that every student must complete. Again, because of this test is online, delivering, accessing, storing, viewing, and analyzing this data is far more efficient and secure than that of the digital classroom.

What is most startling to me, and must seem like a revelation to many traditional school teachers, state standardized testing and the students' performance on these tests do not weigh heavily over the heads of the educators in the virtual school, at least not this one (and yes, I see the light from the heavens too). Still, there are numbers, benchmarks the teachers are expected to meet. My host teacher said the primary one is that each teacher in her virtual school is expected to have an 85 percent yield for students, meaning 85 percent of those enrolled in the class will successfully complete the class with a grade of "C" or higher. The onus is on the teacher to see that this happens.

"That’s were all the literacy checks come in, individual tutoring, peer coaching, etcetera," she said. "That's where the teacher, and skills, and tools the teacher are supposed to use ensure that success for the student."

Now, how many teachers hit that 85 percent mark? Well, she said primarily, to her knowledge, most of the teachers in her virtual school average around 90 percent, above the expected cutoff. Though, she said, there are courses that these numbers don't hold true for.

What happens when the teachers fall below 85 percent? She said during the first six months that a teacher does not meet their yield, they are put on a professional development program track which is for both new and veteran teachers who might need to improve their teaching. In her experience, she said, the teachers who do not meet 85 percent are usually those who are "barely keeping their head above water," just surviving as teachers.

When asked what she felt was most important to ensure teacher success and meeting of accountability standards in the virtual school, my host teacher said that it is "communication," which includes communicating with schools, students, parents, guidance counselors, and colleagues. She said she believes this is also true in the traditional school. However, because there is less bureaucracy in the virtual school, she said communication is often more effective: "We don't have those big gaps. We can just call somebody...We aren't tied up as much by red tape."

In thinking on this, I realize that accountability for teachers in the virtual school isn't that different than that of the traditional school, in theory. What I mean my that is that there are standards that do exist, but the teacher seems to be able to address them more effectively in the virtual school, particularly in not having to deal with bureaucracy found in many traditional schools. Further, the pressure to contribute to the school's overall success on a standardized test is not as much of a concern. Rather than student performance on a state test being the end-all, be-all of a teacher's success, their ability to help students successfully navigate course curriculum is the main focus. To me, this is a much more reasonable, beneficial standard and measurement for performance for both teachers and students.

In searching the Internet for some additional resources relating to virtual schools' accountability I came across this site: http://www.k12.com/press__policy/facts_about_k12_public_virtual_schools/index.html
There one can find easy-to-use information regarding facts and answers to frequently asked questions regarding virtual schools in general and their standards for student and teacher performance.
For example, according to the site:

What about academics and accountability?
Public virtual schools are similar to traditional “bricks and mortar” schools in many ways, including academic services and accountability requirements:

• Teachers are responsible for overseeing and managing student learning, and ensuring that students are meeting all academic progress and accountability requirements.
• All students must participate in state assessment tests.
• All students must meet attendance requirements.
• The schools are subject to federal AYP goals under No Child Left Behind.
• The schools use an established curriculum that consists of thousands of lessons in the core subjects of Math, Language Arts/English, History, Science, Art, and Music. The curriculum aligns with state standards.
• Any eligible student may enroll, regardless of income, race, academic ability, special needs, etc.
• Special education needs, IEPs, and other related services are identified and met by school’s special education staff.
• Schools are subject to audits, and state reporting is mandatory.

Reference:
http://www.k12.com/press__policy/facts_about_k12_public_virtual_schools/index.html

The Virtual Educator

Well, the logistics of this process have been more difficult than I originally imagined. Earlier this week, I attempted to observe a virtual school teacher and their interaction with students via three way calling. However, the host teacher I am working with was unable to use three-way conferencing with me on the line. Currently, she said this virtual school's teachers use broadband-based phone service and that it had recently crashed, but that the features hadn't all been restored at that point. Additionally, because she is working mostly with high school Seniors, the students don't often make set appointments to work online or over the phone with the teacher. She basically catches them when she can and this can be all hours.

Still, this hasn't derailed me at all, and I still plan to observe teacher-student interaction first-hand by the end of the week. Further, this has given me an opportunity to talk to the virtual school teacher I'm working with and find out more about the unique working conditions, both with logistics and pedagogy. For me, revelations continue to be had.

My host teacher has spent much of the week attempting to "track down" students who haven't been working adequately in their online English course and are in danger of not graduating for failure to complete their fourth English credit. She said in this case, the phone and e-mails are the primary method of contact, but noted that as it pertains to this issue the traditional school teachers "have one up on us, because you actually see them." With the virtual school, she said it is often necessary to employ the help of the school-based guidance counselor to help locate and communicate with the student. Although the middle school virtual school students often make set appointments to work with their teacher, with the older students, she said "we are at the mercy of their schedule" and only tutoring is usually made by appointment for students who are having trouble completing assignments independently.

There were many other unique traits of being a virtual school teacher I discovered through conversations with my host teacher, but some of those that were most interesting to me are as follows:

- This particular virtual school's teachers don't have a union. While many traditional schools' teachers are union members, often for personal protection for job security and to have a unified voice in negotiations and legislative issues, it isn't common in the virtual school environment apparently.

- Because the teachers don't have direct physical contact with the students and the students aren't meeting as a class, often the hostility or escalation of emotion that can come with attempting to discipline some students isn't an issue. Though it doesn't happen often, she said the only issue there is perhaps the need for a virtual school teacher to report child abuse, having been confided in or otherwise discovering it through working with the student.

- Most virtual school teachers work in blocks of 2-3 hours and take breaks in between. In this particular virtual school, the teachers must be available to students 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Sunday. Because the teachers are expected to return assignments within 48 hours and return communication within 24, the teachers must work just as hard or harder than their traditional school counterpart in order to keep up with grading and communication.

- The virtual school teacher has a lead teacher for their subject area, a primary instructional leader for the subject area and then a learning community leader, much like a principal. In general, there is less bureaucracy.

- Many of the issues with student attendance and credit completion that face the traditional school are seen in the virtual school, such as teen pregnancy, students who don't complete work or "attend" classes. The host teacher says she has had about five students this year who have had babies. Often, she said, these students aren't heard from again and don't complete their coursework once the child is born.

Researching the currently available scholarship on virtual teaching and learning, I found the book E-Moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online by Gilly Salmon. I've come across Salmon's work before in readings on virtual learning and disagreed with his assessment that new technology only does the same thing as old technology, only more efficiently. Still, what I discovered in this book was worthwhile. Primarily he discusses the new role of the teacher in virtual schooling, moving from being the center of knowledge in many classrooms to becoming an electronic moderator, or e-moderator, who helps to guide students on their own learning journey. Salmon says these moderators need new skills, attitude and knowledge in order to be
successful in the virtual classroom. The primary idea is that these people are more attuned to the process of coaching and presiding over student learning, engaging students in their own knowledge construction rather than traditional transmission teaching. It's essentially taking the constructivist classroom model and taking it a step farther with digital tools, making it even less teacher-centered.
Salmon explains that "the essential role of the e-moderator is promoting human interaction and
communication through the modeling, conveying and building of knowledge and skills" (p. 4). and that the e-moderator/teacher does so by "using the mediation of online environments designed for interaction and collaboration."

In continuing to study the role of the virtual school teacher, I'm still met with constant surprises and a slew of emerging questions. One that really sticks with me regularly though is this: Is online teaching and learning the future of education? And if so, who are the teachers of the future?

Basically, I guess it all comes down to changing paradigms. Despite rapid change in technology over the past three decades, teaching in many places is still largely teacher-centered and transmission based, with more constructivist classrooms cropping up in more areas, particularly in elementary grades. But if online learning continues to develop and gain widespread legitimacy, or maybe even seen as superior someday, it could change the entire landscape of the public school system as we know it. This might sound far-fetched, but I believe that virtual teaching and learning have already altered higher education, particularly in the world of advanced degrees that were previously impossible to obtain outside of attending a traditional classroom regularly. This I can personally attest to.

References
Salmon, G. (2004). E-Moderating: The key to teaching and learning online. 2nd Ed. RoutledgeFarmer: London.

Teacher Conference - Part Two

Following up on my last post, I wanted to continue discussing what I gleaned from an online session with my host virtual school high school (Seniors) English teacher. However, I wanted to focus in this iteration specifically on issues relating to English/Language Arts instruction.

When working online with the host teacher, and looking through actual student work, I found that much of the students' responses to readings and other written assignments were quite thorough. Even when the prompt or question specified two paragraphs, many of the students wrote far more. In my own classroom, many of my students are reluctant writers and will do only the bare minimum, and some even fall short of that. However, in the case of the virtual school English class, the teacher said it seems that because it is computer-based and the students type their responses, many tend to write more thoroughly than they would if they were using pen/pencil and paper. Still, she said toward the end of their 16-week semester, many of the students start to type less and try to get by doing the bare minimum required by the assignment, "just to be finished." Overall, though, I believe that because students are typing on a computer for their "written" work in a virtual school, it is a more engaging format and far less tedious. It is something they already do with e-mails, blogs, personal pages, etc., so it has a built in familiarity with less detractors. They might forget they are doing "work."

But with all the text required for reading and responding in a virtual school class, this still presents difficulties for some students, particularly thos who are categorized as English as second language learners (ESOL). The teacher said these students often have to be treated as struggling readers would because their deficiencies are mostly the same as it pertains to interpreting and communicating in English. With these students, she said she is able to work with them in individual sessions to help build their English reading and writing skills. But in her five years with the virtual school, she has only had about five ESOL students. In the traditional classroom I have found it difficult to find time or design the class lessons in a way were I can work with an ESOL student in individual sessions often. I think the set-up of the virtual school is more beneficial for these students receiving the differentiated instruction they need because a teacher primarily works with one student at a time, rather than managing a whole class on a regular basis.

Further, for students who might have learning disabilities or other special needs and might have an IEP (individual education plan) the accommodations featured on their plan are mostly already met by the virtual school setting, such as more time to finish assignments or tests, for instance. Because of this, the teacher said that IEPs are mostly a "non-issue" in the virtual school English class. In my experience this is not so in the traditional school classroom, where high school English teachers must be careful to ensure that these accommodations are being met for particular students. Often though, if these teachers refer back to the IEPs, they must go to a file in a filing cabinet because the IEPs are often kept secure for confidentiality reasons. Having this information available in a computer database would seem far more efficient, however, for both teacher and student.

Again, focusing solely on English instruction in the virtual school compared to traditional school, I find that the oral component is highly beneficial. It is something that I didn't consider to be part of the virtual school experience before I began this foray into an actual virtual classroom. In the class every student must respond to the teachers questions orally, as a way to ensure academic integrity and ensure student learning. In the case of the traditional school, particularly in a Senior English class, I know that it is difficult to get every student to verbally respond as an assessment. You might have a few students do so and you can call on each, but this can be tedious. With the virtual school it is a requirement for every student and you aren't limited by a specific class period to do so.

Primarily, what I've determined thus far regarding high school English instruction in the virtual classroom, is that in many cases the instruction can be just as engaging and substantial as the traditional classroom, if not more so. Particularly, I like the idea of having students responsible for oral components in each class module, the built-in benefits provided to students who might have learning difficulties, and the inherent engagement of the computer-based format and its seeming effect on the quality and breadth of student written work. In my next blog I should be able to comment on observations of actual student/teacher interaction.

I am looking forward to finding out what that experience might further reveal about being a virtual school English teacher.

Teacher Conference - Part One

Every year I have Senior English students who want to avoid our school's Senior Project and, of those, many of those go to a virtual school. After they're gone, I have no idea what they're doing and what sort of English instruction they're receiving. I am ignorant no more.

Today I met online with my virtual school host teacher, who teaches the same grade level and much of the same curriculum that I do. As we met in her "virtual office" via Elluminate, she "walked" me through the front end of the course that the students see and interact with as well as the data screens she uses and sees from the teachers end.
Because it was a lot to digest and my notes were lengthy, I will be breaking up this meeting into two separate blogs. This first one will focus on my revelations about teaching a virtual high school class in general, both in terms of content specific issues and pedagogy.

As we began our meeting, something that immediately captured my interest was the fact that the students had many resources for researching college and tech training options, both general and specific. The students seemed to be encourage to look at college in a real way and make it a legitimate consideration regardless of their family's educational history or finances, whereas in my experiences with traditional schools (particularly in rural areas), some of the students don't have and have never had any plans to attend college or even imagined that they could. In my school generally those who are in Honors courses are on the "college track." It seems the virtual school, having all the students grouped into one curriculum (and has Honors work as an additional option), they've been able to avoid this negative, in my eyes, delineation.

In terms of day-to-day teaching issues, the teacher explained that when students interact and complete assignments that involving responding to each other, there are issues similar to that of of any high school classroom. She said the teacher has to make sure that all interactions are appropriate and aren't "rude." For example, she said that one student rather than submit his personal response to an assignment, he submitted a link to his MySpace page, which then linked to a pornography site! Now, this was a unique occurrence, but one can see how you have to maintain proper order and the sanctity of the learning in the "classroom," virtual or not. Along those same lines, she said academic integrity is also a regular issue. Like a traditional classroom, she said the teacher quickly learns a student's writing style and can tell when the work they submit is not their own.
Additionally, in order to maintain academic integrity and find out if a student really has done the work, every learning module (which is how the class is set up), has an oral component where the teacher can ask specific questions and ensure the student's learning was authentic ("If they can't answer simple questions, then you know they didn't do it," she said). For instance, the teacher shared that one particular student had submitted wonderful reading response journals for the novel A Perfect Storm, but during the oral component she asked him what role "Andrea Gale" played in the story. She said he responded that "she was really nice to all of the people and did a good job taking care of them." The Andrea Gale is not a character, however, but the name of a fishing boat where much of the story's action takes place. Obviously, this student was busted and he confessed.

In this particular virtual school, when the students are found to have cheated or plagiarized, she said that in some cases the teacher suspends the student from the course, just as a student might be suspended from a traditional school. Further, if students simply don't do the work they are withdrawn with a failing grade. As far is as student progress and tracking are concerned, she showed me a page the teacher has access to which features all of the active students names, phone numbers, grades, course progress and other relevant information. It also flags some of the data in red to show that either the student has not submitted assignments recently or if the teacher hasn't made contact with that student in a while. There are myriad tools available to the teacher for student tracking and record keeping that are more efficient than traditional schools, but I will address that more in depth in a later blog.

One particular aspect of the virtual classroom that I find extremely intriguing, and perhaps highly attractive to many teachers, is the fact that the curriculum and course materials are already designed. Because of this the teachers never submit a lesson plan. Instead their focus is more attuned to the student and their needs, being a mentor or coach for helping the student through the class and supplementing their learning wherever necessary. I think simply not having to spend so much time developing plans and learning activities frees up more time and energy to give to the student. Also, for those who believe more in the efficacy of the constructivist classroom, the set up of this particular virtual school would seem to be a good fit.

In all, I am trying to wade through all of the information I gleaned from my first online session with a virtual school English teacher, and what I've shared so far is just a smidgen. I am sure I will have much more to share soon, and more questions will quickly emerge. But I can say with confidence thus far that the virtual school, while I'm sure it does have its shortcomings, addresses many of the issues that are detractors in traditional schools, or at least deals with them effectively in most cases.
Unfortunately, because of the holiday weekend I was not able to watch the teacher interact with a student in an actual teaching session, however, she does have some of this work scheduled for Monday and I will be observing at that time.
My next blog will be part two of today's session, and will focus on issues related directly to English instruction in the virtual classroom and its unique elements. Check back tomorrow for that and thanks for reading.

Exploring High School English Online

Today I was able to sit down and enter the online interface of an actual virtual school Senior English class. This was just hours after I had received a memo from our school principal regarding budget cuts and measures we are to take "immediately" to help reduce operating costs. Among those items were two that caught my immediate interest, they were "shut off computers when not in use" and "limit copies to tests/exams only." Because I live and work in Florida, where the state revenue has been sharply decreased by the economic downturn and because of a property tax "relief" plan that saves the average homeowner $20 per month, but costs state-funded organizations, services and local governments millions, our school district's budget is seeing over $800,000 less this next fiscal year.

It may seem odd that I digress into our budget "crisis," but it framed my thinking while interacting with the online course. While exploring the curriculum, materials, links, and resources, including real-time chat, I found myself contemplating how efficient it was. All of the text, graphics, resources, are digitally produced. I don't know too much about operating costs for each of the courses and the virtual school's overall budget for overhead, but I have to figure that it is cheaper than what many of the costs are for traditional schooling. The students in the class have immediate access to all of the resources they need to complete the work without it going anywhere near a Xerox machine (score one for teachers and students). I'm sure the teachers aren't told that they can't print and copy resources that aren't tests or exams.

The exams and tests are all Web-based and can be taken via point, click and type, and provide immediate feedback for both the student and teachers. There is no tedious hours of grading manually, fumbling with papers, flipping pages, referring to a key, organizing and filing stacks, and on and on. For standard assessments in particular to me it seems that the virtual school's method of record keeping is safer, more secure and far more efficient for all parties involved.

Now, going back to my earlier point regarding turning off computers when not in use at my school struck me as meaning that they are extraneous items at our school. I feel like if more instruction is to include interacting and learning with technology regularly, as it should, there is nary a time the computers should be turned off, save overnight I suppose. But then there is the need for teachers to come in each day and reboot their computers and those that the students might use. How much power does a computer use in sleep mode anyway? Again, exploring the virtual school class made me think about how the computer is a primary tool for learning, not the physical structures that cost so much to construct, operate and maintain. How much cheaper would it be to build more computer labs and instead of more traditional class space to "stick bodies"? My school doesn't even currently have a computer lab open to all teachers, and no, we don't have laptops for student use instead.

Finally, I took my time to explore the curriculum of the virtual school's Senior English class, and compared to that of my own school. There were many similarities, however, the virtual class did many of the things I have expressed an interest in adding to our own school's official curriculum, some of which I do on my own, regardless of our "scope and sequence." What I liked best about the virtual school's curriculum was its relevance to the outside world after high school graduation. It has the student's explore desirable job skills, look at the military, colleges, and career training options, and a brief Senior Project, not the punishing year-long version some of the instructors at my school hold on to with fitful fervor. This was mixed in with the traditional literature studies and grammar and writing skills.

Interestingly, I found that Honors coursework was available for students who desired to take on additional work and wanted to challenge themselves further, but otherwise the students were all in the same class together and were asked in many assignments to respond to the work of their classmates. This is much different from the system of Honors, AP and Regular course levels offered in my traditional school, which is often socioeconomically derivative and perpetuated.

Overall, I was impressed with the quality and breadth of the virtual school's interface and curriculum, however, I could see how students could easily get behind who weren't self-motivated. Additionally, I was especially glad to see that differentiated instruction was available and liked how most of the course topics had lead-in assignments that helped to build background knowledge and frame thinking. Further, alternative and traditional assessments were present, as well as enrichment activities that might further enhance student learning. The only thing I found to be perhaps in need of revision, in my opinion, is that some of the questions for discussion groups were too simplistic, but I suppose that might be intentional to allow students to have a more open range of responses with and amongst each other.

My initial impression of this online virtual school high school English class is obviously positive, however, I still have yet to see how students interact in real-time with each other and their teacher, in addition to reading and viewing their actual submitted work. That will come next. Check back to find out about that experience. Different blog time, same blog channel.