Teacher education

As you note, my new Geoloc maps stopped working. Because e-mail that I received, and a web Geoloc, the French Im not sure why, but I’m working on trying to fix it.may get bogged down in a flurry of other students or any person extending the teacher tossed in. It’s good in some ways, not so good in others. In its view, this is the best way to class that you have, but really arent interested in but shes not born to it. She struggles. Its taking her considerably longer to get through this unit she has to wait for feedback from teachers and tutors. She has to wait til a white board tutor time is set and then she has to wait some more. Shes getting a mid B in the class, right now, at the midway point and its getting harder. A face to face experience would probably have been better for her and were in search of a tutor who can give her some extra real time attention to help her improve her skills.

Comment by Denise March 30, 2005 @ 11:15 am | Reply

You might find this pilot site of interest.

It’s a gateway to two SEAL sites, one for primary schools the other for secondaries .

SEAL I’m sure you’ll remember stands for social and emotional aspects of learning.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Young People&s User Involvement and Participation in Their Drug and Alcohol Service .

The Children’s Society have been commissioned by the NTA to develop a policy briefing on young people&s user involvement and participation in their drug and alcohol service.

If you have examples of good practice where this happens, please send them to susie.ramsay@childrenssociety.org.uk , tel: 0207 841 4573.

Filed under: treatment , users voice , Children’s Society , NTA

I asked if Id give people a health warning in schools Conference:

The Thomas Coram Research Unit are putting on what looks to be an interesting conference:

This conference aims to provide participants with new ways of thinking about promotion of the health and well-being of children and young people. Themes and topics to be addressed include:

-alcohol use

-bullying

-sexual health

-physical activity, obesity and healthy lifestyles

-mental health and wellbeing

The conference will be on 14th May in London.  You can download the flier from here .

Filed under: Conferences , Institute of Education

mrschili
March 15, 2007 at 6:03 am

Welcome, Saintseester! I love my readers, and new ones make me happy!

Just to update you all on this little situation; I’ve not heard a peep from our boy Dave. My suspicion is that I called his bluff; he wanted me to cave to his (oh so eloquent) argument without calling anyone else in on the party. I’m pretty sure he’s smart enough to know that his “excelent” and “factual” research paper would probably get a LOWER grade from another teacher, and he’s not willing to risk that.

What I didn’t point out to him when he complained about how little the extra credit changed his grade was that, while I was taking four zeroes off his average, he was adding two ON by not doing his homework. I’m a drooling moron when it comes to math, but even *I* can figure out the effects of that!

Reply

9 Comments.
Organic Mama
March 7, 2007 at 2:56 pm

DEEEEEP Breath.

Hey, there HAS to be a starting point. You are their teacher and you must continue to show them examples of good writing regularly so they see (god I hope so) how it can be done. Why not ask them if they think THEY can write as well as one of your fave pieces of short writing and when they say no, insist that they produce a list of the issues they see standing in their way. Who knows what you’ll get?

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Dear Loopers,

A very interesting exchange of notes and thoughts on assessing learning has “resurged” in the Loop. This is very good pedagogical issue to ponder on. When we assess measure the quality of education, just what do we mean? Which education, in the first place, should we measure? What should we measure and why? Let me contribute some earlier thoughts on the long-run debate on the meaning of “quality” which I penned in the early 90’s under socio-economic development backdrop. I thought this will open a more spirited conversation not just on educational assessment but will bring us back to the fundamental question of teaching and learning. Pagtiisan nyo na lang ang haba. Happy reading.

Napoleon B. Imperial

Lifelong Learning and Human Development: Towards a Re-examination
of the Concepts and Indicators of Quality Education byNAPOLEON B. IMPERIAL
Social Development Staff
National Economic and Development AuthorityThe main purpose of this paper is two-fold, one is to help establish a paradigm for analysing lifelong learning through a critical analysis of its socio-educational foundations and the other is to raise some possibilities as regards methodologies and measurement of the impacts and outcomes of quality education under that paradigm.The Learning Society, “Open Learning” and Lifelong Learning For purposes of policy, the concept of lifelong learning in this paper is built around the intertwined and broad meanings of “learning society” and the concept of “open learning.” The term “learning society” is essentially viewed as a social goal that underpinned many countries’ efforts in universalizing the provision of basic education to all who will need and benefit from it. This is the same long-term vision in embodied in the Education for All (EFA) Philippine Plan of Action (PPA): 1991-2000 in the area of continuing education for development (CED) which are in turn based on the World Declaration of Education for All. The PPA envisions: “the development of a learning society where people continue to learn on their own to the end that they can improve their quality of life and participate in national development efforts.” Thus, while EFA is concerned with basic learning needs andbasic learning tools , the PPA’s CED component, nevertheless, also calls for a reconfigured national learning systems called alternative learning systems (ALS) that encompass other channels and higher levels of learning, both informal and nonformal, running parallel with the formal system.The envisioned scheme basically follows the idea of an open

Nothing to do with virtual schooling or K-12 online learning from the remainder of the day, I wanted to use this forum to remind folks – particularly Canadians – of a dark day in our history.

Twenty years ago today, a 25 year old man walked through the doors of Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal and spent the next 45 minutes hunting women. In the end 14 women lay dead, over a dozen others injured, with the killer having committed suicide. Stories surfaced of how he walked into a classroom, separating the male and female students, then allowing the male students to leave as he began shooting. In the days following, it was discovered that Marc Lepine had applied to the engineering program at Ecole Polytechnic, but was rejected. He blamed this rejection on the school’s affirmative action policy, which he perceived to be passing him over in favour of women. [For those unfamiliar with these, the CBC Archives has a fairly good entry on the Montreal Massacre .]

Months later, the federal Government passed gun control legislation. You see, even those Lepine had been turned down for the military service because he was deemed to have mental issues. And while the military found him unfit to carry a gun, the regulations in Canada at the time allowed him to simply fill out a form, check a box that he was mentally fit, and then he received a permit to allow him to own any kind of firearm available for purchase in Canada – from a simply handgun to a military-style, semi-automatic assault rifle. Primarily due to the events on 06 December 1989 the laws were eventually changed to require a much higher standard for obtaining a firearms acquisition certificate, many of the weapons previous available were banned, and all gun owners had to register their guns in a national registry.

The current Conservative (i.e., right-wing – not the former Progressive Conservatives of old which were more centre/centre-right – this current group is made up largely of elements from the far right of the former Reform Party) have essentially left the gun registry die. It is still on the books, but the Government has not provided the funding, have not done any of the maintenance, etc. to the point where the registry is so out of date that it has become a useless tool for law enforcement. The current Government is even floating ideas that would lift the current restrictions on certain hunting weapons that play well to their rural and western base (as if somehow a rifle used to shoot a deer couldn’t have been used almost as effectively as the weapon that Lepine chose to go hunting with).

On this day, a day which has become known in Canada as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women , remember these women and continue to fight for kind of gun control that would help in preventing this kind of gendercide from happening again

I apologize for the delay in posting these items, but the conference hotels do not provide free wireless access. The first paper in the K-12 Online Teachers: SIG-Online Teaching and Learning session was:

Who’s at the Keyboard? A Description of K-12 Online Teachers in the United States

Schedule Information:
Scheduled Time: Tue, Apr 14 – 12:25pm – 1:55pm Building/Room: San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina / Newport Beach
In Session: K-12 Online Teachers

Authors:
*Leanna Matchett Archambault (Arizona State University)
Kent J. Crippen (University of Nevada – Las Vegas)

Abstract: Virtual schools continue to grow in popularity as a realistic alternative to traditional education. Because of this, a growing number of teachers throughout the nation are facing the challenge of creating and presenting quality online content and instruction. Little is known about this population of educators and how they compare to traditional teachers. This study presents data gathered as a result of a national survey of 596 online teachers and describes the characteristics of a group of K-12 online teachers from 25 different states. By studying this particular population, teacher educators can better understand the specific needs of online teachers. This, in turn, can inform changes, adaptations, and improvements to teacher preparation programs across the United States.

So, I missed the first few minutes of Leanna’s and Kent’s presentation, as I was trying to find the well-hidden Newport Beach room in the Marriott. This portion of the presentation was based on Leanna’s dissertation.

The study itself was based on a national survey that was solicited via e-mail – using the Keeping Pace report and Google searches to identify the various virtual schools. She was able to contact a variety of different types of online teachers.

She used an interesting model for contacting the teachers, which she called “Tailored Method Design (Dillman, 2007)”, which I think was useful for other researchers. It followed:

Step 1 – pre-notification e-mail
Step 2 – E-mail with survey access link
Step 3 – E-mail with survey access link
Step 4 – Follow-up e-mail
Step 5 – Final e-mail (included an MS Word version)

Leanna specifically mentioned that she received positive feedback from the respondents concerning her use of this model, particularly Step 1. She noted that none of the teachers completed the MS Word version (i.e., they either completed it online or not at all).

In her searching, Leanna identified 2262 potential respondents. Based on the e-mail sent out in Step 1, 413 bounced back as undeliverable – 48 were corrected and re-sent for a total sample of 1897. Of those, it was determined that 102 teachers did not meet the criteria so the survey was sent to 1795 online teachers.

There were 549 respondents and the sample represented all 50 states, although none of the online teachers in Michigan or New Mexico completed the survey. Of those who did complete the survey:

-77% were female

-63% were between 26-45 years of age

-91% were Caucasian

-they had an average of 14 years of overall teaching experience

-they had an average 4 years of online teaching experience

-62% had Master’s degree and 13% had more than Master’s

-54% full time and 36% were part-time

Compared to traditional teachers, there were 21% more online teachers with Master’s degree than brick-and-mortar teachers. Also, there were 6% more online teachers with higher than Master’s degree education than what is found in brick-and-mortar schools.

In looking at some of the differences between part-time online teachers and full-time online teachers. For example, part-time online teachers had on average 4 more years teaching experience and 0.4 years more online teaching experience.

Of the online teachers who responded:

-81% reported teaching asynchronously

-38% reported to teaching in state-based schools, while 31% reported to teaching in an online school managed by a local education authority

-80% of respondents taught all of their classes online with an average of 97 students

Interestingly, when asked who authored the content that the online teacher taught with, they responded:

-38% the teacher themselves

-42% a content provider

-20% a curriculum specialist

-15% a colleague

-7% other (e.g., a team of teachers – and the online teacher may have been one of those, a textbook provider, etc.)

With the qualitative data, the teachers were asked an open-ended question about why they taught online. The responses included:

-ability to work from home (19%0

-new model of education (14%0

-need for employment (10%)

-flexibility (8%)

-retirees (3%)

In response to another open-ended question, K-12 online teachers also reported:

-63% reported a positive response to teaching online

-29% had mixed experience (challenging, but rewarding)

-8% had a negative experience

Finally, participants found online distance education allowed them to work more one-on-one with students and being able to provide them with more individual support, moreso than the brick-and-mortar environment.

Again, sorry I missed the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) stuff that Kent presented at the beginning (which formed the lens through which Leanna looked at this data). If you’re reading this Leanna, please add a few sentences in the comments to describe the part that I missed.

This was an e-mail about the symposium and keynote videos, but I’ve tried to edit out the stuff about the evaluation while still publicizing the keynote videos.

Dear Symposium Attendee,

Thank you for participating in Michigan Virtual University’s® Fifth Annual Online Learning Symposium on Dec. 3. We hope that you found the event engaging, informative and thought-provoking.[stuff deleted] Videos of the symposium’s keynote addresses are also posted at the same site.Link to Symposium [stuff deleted] Keynote Videos: http://www.mivu.org/symposium/ More than 350 people like you attended this year’s symposium. We hope that you will be able to take the discussion about disruptive innovation and the future of online learning back to your schools and offices, recruiting more partners in the mission of promoting and improving online learning.Again, thank you for taking part in this year’s symposium. Because of people like you, we believe this year’s event was one of the best we’ve ever hosted.Sincerely,Jamey FitzpatrickPresident & CEOMichigan Virtual University

Why Copyright? Canadian Voices on Copyright Law (Annotated Edition).

While not exclusively about K-12 online learning, an important issue for all of those involved in K-12 online learning – particularly in Canada

Thanks to D’Arcy Norman dot net for pointing this out (see why copyright? ).

Friday Funnies.

Late in the day again, but at least I made it on Friday this week. As usual, these are courtesy of Darren over at Teaching and Developing Online .

- A thought

- I never want to hear

- Profanity

- High School Training

Until next week…

elise
November 16, 2006 at 2:02 am

Oooh, I just discovered you through the NaBloPoMo thing and am thrilled.

You see, in my circle I am referred to as the “Spelling Nazi” but it’s never really been limited to spelling .

Do a post on answering the phone!

“Hello, may I speak with Mr. X?”
“Yes, this is him ”

Aaaaaggghhh! It kills me.

Reply

8 Comments.
feather
November 14, 2006 at 5:47 pm

My brother has stopped watching sports shows in the living room because I inevitably wander through and complain about the announcers’ grammar.

Though I do admit to frequently messing up well and good in the “How are you doing?” instance. The fact that most people, myself included, drop the implied “doing” from “I’m well” trips me up. And what about if you drop the “I’m” completely and just give a one word response? It sounds strange to say “well,” and it would probably get me very strange looks if I did it here, in my small midwestern hometown. I think that perhaps this is one area where language is evolving past the rules of grammar. In practical day-to-day usage outside of English departments it seems perfectly acceptable, maybe even more appropriate, to say “good” in response to “How’s it going?”

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3 Comments.
organic mama
November 13, 2006 at 10:16 am

Why do you WANT one?

Perhaps you’re nuts. Maybe it is to show you can. Why not? I mean, aside from the years of work and piles of money.

Ph.D. is the pinnacle, the ultimate academic achievement, and I want to go for one too. Why? Well, because it predicates a great deal of specific, primary research that it entirely up to YOU. Instant expert, albeit in a narrow field, as a result of courses you want to take, things you want to write about and research that YOU direct. I feel like the next few professional years are clandestine research for what I will eventually want to scrutinize for a Ph,D,.

PLUS at the end of the road there’s a squishy hat and really cool robes.

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There’s a new post at my new blog .

Another example of something powerful in mathematics that seems at first meaningless to the students is the name of properties (distributive, associative, etc.) However, the full payoff only comes in abstract algebra (which most students will never take!) so it wasn’t as good as an example as functions.

This is being updated weekly now so unless I need to make a supplemental post I don’t plan to update here each time there’s a new post. (I do plan to still update here. I have a magic trick I tried with my students last week I’d like to write about.)

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

- When vocabulary isn’t the issue
- Math Videogame Scorecard
- A reading experiment
- How to Lessen My Workload

Filed under: Education , Mathematics

Standardized Test Class.

So my summer program is officially done, and while I’m going on vacation next week with my wife (it’s been two years, we desparately need one) I should be able to get back to writing with more regularity.

I have a new class next year called AIMS Math. AIMS is the standardized test in Arizona that students must pass to graduate. The class is for seniors who have not passed the AIMS yet.

So, the skills vary wildly across the board, including some special education. There’s no real set curriculum since teachers are still experimenting, so I get to plan this out on my own.

The only directive: get students to pass the test and graduate.

How we can reach that is up to me. We’ll need to review some things not normally thought of by algebra teachers — i.e. the times tables — and simultaneously we need to cover (pretty much) all of algebra and geometry in an entire semester.

I figure it will help to write my thoughts out, so I’m going to write them out here where I hope to simultaneously pick the brains of all you smart people out there.

(To those out there who think I might be going through hell in a handbasket working on a standardized test class, well, it isn’t so bad. It’s just reviewing math, really. I have no plans to grind test questions a la The Wire.)

Filed under: Education , Personal