Topic 3

1.  What did the report tell you about the current state of research in K-12 online schooling? What surprised you? What was confirmed for you?

There is still a lot to learn about K-12 online schooling. Most people want to know if online learning works, but the real question is under what conditions does online learning work? Online learning is not for everyone. Students should be self-motivated and need to be trained for online learning. They also need parent support during the program of study. Students who have and use their own technology tools daily do not know how to use the tools for online learning. A successful program must be willing to train, not only their staff, but the students too.

In listening to Dr. Ferdig, I was surprised to hear how schools are unwilling to change the way they are teaching teachers. Since technology is the way of the world, we really need to get schools onboard to train future teachers. One way teachers could be trained is with the simulation idea Dr. Ferdig shared during the video. Teachers could use the simulation to get a feel for what it is like to be a teacher in the real world. This would be a great exercise for teachers in the beginning of their program to see if it is something they think they would like to do for a living.

The thing that was confirmed for me was the fact that online schools are growing despite the fact that some people do not think online learning is better than face-to-face learning. Hopefully, we will continue to see growth that we’ve seen over the last decade. I relish the opportunity to learn more about the online schools and can’t wait to become part of the reform.

References:

Ferdig, R.E. (2012). Research into K-12 Online Learning. Retrieved from http://virtualschoolmooc.wikispaces.com/research