NOTE: This is a post from this last spring that seems timely now with schools being closed due to the swine flu. Note that because I have a new group of students, and we have not been able to access our laptops yet (and 19 of them have been rendered moot) I could not do this … YET!.
Think of all the learning time being lost by those students already on leave because of the H1N1 flu issue. What if this did become more widespread and we did have many students out of school for a week or more? My school district has already informed us that if even 1 student is diagnosed at our school with H1N1 then they would close that school for 5 to 7 days AND those days don’t have to be made up at the end of the school year. That’s a lot of lost learning time AND lots of free time on the hands of kids that may lead to other issues.
My students are at a bit of a disadvantage over others simply because not all of them are connected at home, but if I had time I could probably make this work for 60 to 80% of them if they were sent home due to a flu outbreak or other reason in the future. My wife’s students are 100% online at home, so think of this in terms of whatever your situation might be.
What could I make work? I could make school happen for my students from home. How?
Well first all my students blog, so I could leave them assignments on our class blog for them to research, write about and then submit to me to check and even comment back to them about. In fact just using their blog I could carry on a conversation about their work on almost any topic. I could even post math problems for them to do, science, social studies … really almost any subject. I could post photos on our Flickr account (and elsewhere), videos for them to watch, links to web pages of all kinds on any subject for them to read or interact with and then report to me about their learning in a way where I can interact with them about it. Oh, and they could do the same, posting video or photos they’ve taken (maybe just with their or a parents cell phone), to demonstrate learning or to build content to present online to the rest of us. And “US†doesn’t just have to be our class, others could join in or at least view and comment on our work.
I could even provide a field trip or guest speaker from anywhere in the world via Ustream or Mogulus and they could interact about it in the chat – ask questions, and then write about it afterwards and even have discussions.
Using Google Docs I could even enter a document with a student or even a group of students to work on or ask questions about or get feedback about.
Also we could collaborate on any of the above activities along with other students anywhere in the world.
Using the links we already have on our class wiki page I can have them visit different free online math, language, science, social studies activities and more … and add new ones as needed.
All for free, using tools students already know how to use. And understand, we could do this easily – including collaborating with other students because we already do this, we already have the contacts and network with other students and teachers set-up. We already blog and use Google Docs and Skype and wikis and more with students all over the world. We are ready to go.
Now I have just scratched the surface here, applications like Ning, Moodle, Elluminate and so many more could further facilitate what I described above.
So time spent at home instead of school could be just about as productive as being in school – I assume I’d still be getting paid even if school has been closed for the flu (or other reason), students have something productive to do, aren’t spreading germs, do you see a downside? – I’m not.
I hope others will further elaborate how they see this working as comments. I really held back on ALL that is possible here so have at it!
Too bad school couldn’t be more like this all the time!
Learning is messy!
Tags: SwineFlu,
What a wonderful way to get the students learning.
Scribd is good to download assignments and comment on them.
There are lots of Web 2.0 applications that were not there when I was a student, out for 6 weeks 10 years ago.
It would be great to explore the opportunities of virtual field trips or excursions.
Just yesterday 80% of the schools in two different cities where I teach have canceled classes for one week. Yes, one week!!!! and the snow has not even begun to fall. The cancellations are not because of H1N1 but because of the other kind of flu. Whatever that might be because there are so many different kinds. It is kind of ironic since the majority of the teachers and students were vaccinated.
My point is that how are these students going to catch up. If they were using the technology available, they would be able to teach from home and the students could complete their projects from home. I find that this will not take place. What a waste for education!!!
Carol/Kalamazoo, Michigan
Thought I would give my students in Intro to Special Ed a chance to reply to this blog for their weekly reflection. Let’s see what they might come up with to impress an old professor who can’t seem to part with his Apple IIGS computer and holds class despite power outages!
After reading this blog I was impressed with the ideas that were listed. I agree 100% that missing one week of school can really put students far behind in their learning. Children today are very interested in technology and will use it any chance they can get. I agree that if school is cancelled children can still be very productive with their school work through all of online activities that are out there today. As said in the article you do have to take in account that not all students are connected at home, but if they were this could definitely work. I also feel that in the future all of the things listed in the article will be become more known and technology is going to become an even bigger part of a students education.
Thank you for being creative in different ways to integrate technology! I agree that missing a week of school would completely throw off the students’ learning schedule. The teacher I am currently aiding under has talked to me about the effects even one teacher institute day can have on the behavior of the students in her class. If they are very rowdy, she has a difficult time teaching the lesson. She also informed me that she finds it hard to be creative in her lessons because she has to prepare her students for the test. If students were to lose a week of school, teachers would have to scramble in order to cover all the material needed for state exams, which could make learning very painful and boring for the student. My favorite of your ideas on activities your students could do over the web was having students watch a guest speaker online. Having someone besides you speak to your students can really help them learn. Occasionally students tune out their teacher, and a new voice will interest them and reinforce what you are teaching. One suggestion I have for integrating technology is Hot Potatoe. It is a web 2.0 tool that you can use to create crossword puzzles, matching activities, and quizzes among other activities that you could then email to your students. Thank you again for your innovation!
Thank you for creative suggestions for integrating technology in or outside of the classroom. I definately agree that a week off of school can seriously disrupt your students’ learning. The teacher I am currently aiding under has informed me of how damaging even one teacher institute day can be to her students’ learning. She said that her students tend to be rowdy when they have a shortened week. Their rowdiness makes it difficult for her to teach. Imagine what the students would be like after one week off! Also, a decent amount of time would have to be spent on review. Furthermore, the teacher I am aiding under says that she has a difficult time being creative in her lessons because of the amount of material she has to cover for state testing. If students had a week with no academic learning, the teachers would be scrambling to prepare them for state tests. This would make learning painful both for the teachers and the students.
My favorite suggestion that you made was to have students watch a guest speaker and then respond in a chat. Sometimes students tune out their teachers simply because they are used to their voice. A new voice can reinstate focus and help drive home a point. Thank you again for your innovative ideas!
As I read the blog, I felt that it brought up many interesting as well as important points. As we all know it is that time of the year where students tend to get sick, however this year has been different as schools have been closing down for a week. Currently, at a school I am teacher aiding at, students who claim do not feel well get sent down to the nurse and if they have a fever they are sent home and told not to return the next day. Although I think that is a good idea, I don’t think it benefits the student that is going home or the students that remain in class. This week alone, we had 3-4 students go home in one day which meant that there were days where we had 8 students in class at a time. Though I feel it is a good idea for the school to be precautious, I don’t feel it is beneficial to all of the students. Therefore, I think that the use of technology to teach and communicate with students while they are at home is an excellent idea. I also think that this method of teaching will excite students as well as encourage them to do their work. As for the students who don’t have access, arrangements can be made.
Upon the first glance of your post, I have to admit that the student side of me kicked in. Often times, when a teacher/professor requires learning outside of the classroom, I struggle with it. Learning new ideas for me is hard if I don’t hear it or experience it first. However, after thinking about it, I figured out that if technology outside the classroom was used in the right way, it has potential to be extremely beneficial. For example, I stumbled upon this great web-site called glogster.com/edu that allowed teachers to generate their own posters that included videos from other websites, games the teachers created, questions the teachers generated, textual information and I could just go on an on about all the innovative ideas found on the website. Therefore, I feel that creating a learning environment outside of the classroom, as long as it is done in the right way, is what all teachers should be aiming for.
As a future secondary education teacher, I think the best idea to keep students engaged when there is no school is to provide online services. Considereing many students are using facebook or myspace, the most effective way would be to contact them that way. I’m not suggesting that students have access to their teacher’s personal page, but maybe a group could be started where assignments that are due will be posted. This is just a simple and effective way to keep students engaged even when there is no school.
Normally, since I am a student, my vote for having learning while school was cancelled, would be a negative response. But, being a potential teacher I would say that having the students be able to have learning while school is unable to meet is a great idea. More and more schools and colleges are using technology as a resource in order to contact students about certain assignments or a place to post grades and comments where the student is able to view them, as well as parents. Having assignments sent to the students in this way will be a positive addition to the classroom seeing as how the students would not get behind with assignments. Students of this generation are becoming more technology-savy, so incorporating technology in their assignments will also potentially increase the possibility of having positive attitudes about having this type of homework.
Being a future upper elementary teacher, this method of teaching while not in the classroom could potentially be very beneficial for the classroom. Students from this generation are becoming more technology-savy, so having the availibilty of homework assignments online would prevent the class from falling behind, and the students would have the ability to complete the assigments. If a method such as this is being used, then the teacher should create deadlines for each assignment in order for the students to have motivation to complete the specific assignment.
By reading this post I do agree cancelling school does set children back. Even though, everyone loves to have a day off once and a while children do need to go to school every day to better their education. Becoming a health teacher I thought of ways I could have my students continue their education even though they may not be in school. I thought I could set up a website with all different health questions on there that relate to the topic we are talking about in the classroom. I would have the students gather information from different health websites that relate to the topic of the questions. I think this would be a good way students can improve their research skills and also learn different information we do not have time to learn in class.
After reading this blog I was impressed with the ideas that were listed. I agree that missing one week of school can really put students far behind in their learning. Children are very interested in technology now a day. Everything that they do in life is associated with technology in one way or another. I think online activities are a good idea but you still have to keep in mind that not all children will be able to access the internet at home. This is a great topic and needs to discuss more, to try to figure out a solution to this problem. More and more kids are staying home because of the H1N1 flu issue. I can’t wait to see what other ideas other students come up with.
I enjoyed this blog very much. I am studying to be a Secondary English Education teacher, and I feel that when students spend more than a few days out of the class, it is a bit hard for them to become reconnected with the material being covered (think how hard it is for most of us to get to school or work on Monday mornings!). With new internet programs and computer applications continually be created, students are teachers have found new ways to stay in touch and take teachings out of the class. Technology greatly appeals to young people, and I feel that they will most likely take an interest in online blogs, discussions, and assignments. I like the ideas that you suggested in your blog. You make a good point about how teachers should stay in tune with students in case there are emergency school closings. Teachers cannot afford to grant homework-free days very often – not because teachers are wicked people who enjoy handing out busywork, but because they only want the best for their students.
I think this is a great idea. It sounds like a online class. I have experienced my share of online classes and none of them were this fun and interesting. I think if teachers used sites like these then students could learn and have fun on the break from school. The web is full of sites that can be used to teach and learn. Capzles is just one example. This site allows the person to make a time line with pictures and videos. My only question to this is how do you make the students participate. Will the students see the break as a time to relax and play video games? Or will they see it as an opportunity to learn? Also how do you enforce this and get the students to participate?
I have the same feelings about this article as Joe Gomez did. Though I believe that missing one week of school would hurt the learning process of many students I think that if an outbreak of H1N1 is in a certain area the right precautions should be taken account. Now I am not saying the kids should miss weeks of school, I am saying that in extreme cases we as educators should use the technology available to us and send home assessments and/or online lessons to keep the kids updated on lessons so they are not behind in school when an extreme case comes about like H1N1.
Well this is the second time I’m going to try and post on this issue of teaching out of school and I disagree even more now. The reason for this is because my first blog entry I tried to post is nowhere to be found and lost in the technology black hole. This is my number one reason why teachers cannot use via internet to teach students outside of school. Technology is confusing and unreliable. Students do not deserve to be put through the hassle of unreliable internet and other software that causes them to lose work that they worked hard on. My second reason is no matter the socio economic status of your students there will always be one out of the norm who will not have access to a computer. This is not fair to put this student in the dark and cause them to be embarrassed and not complete the work. Also if you want your students to really dislike you for the rest of the year then make them do rigorous work during their time off. Yes as an educator we want students to learn no matter if there’s a break or not. The reality is though the students don’t want to do work when they can be having fun. Trying to be super teacher will only put you in a bad spot and cause much confusion and turmoil for you, your students, parents, and administration. Students will be coming up with excuses for why the work wasn’t done, how they did the work and it got lost (like mine just did), and how the internet doesn’t work, how they don’t know how to use the software. Parents will also be calling up complaining saying I had to go out and buy a computer, or had to take off work to drive my son or daughter to the library, ect. A better solution would be to learning while on time off is to assign a project. Make a project fairly large and give the students the necessary tools needed to complete the project when on break. Make the project due on the day school starts up again. Once again stick to pen and paper. Technology is no fun!!!! Let’s try and post this again!!
I believe that it is possible for most teachers to carry on schoolwork with students when at home. However, I don’t think that this would be possible for the very young grades and students with special needs. I am studying to be a Special Education teacher, and I think it would be very difficult to send assignments through the computer, as the type of students that I want to teach (severe intellectual disabilities) would have trouble using a computer. Most of their classwork would be adapted for each student, and the teacher often needs to be present to help the student in the appropriate way.
However, this would be very possible for students in the upper grades, especially in the subjects of literature and social sciences. Math and science could also be done online, but it would be trickier. For the teachers of the language subjects, it would be very worthwhile to post on a blog or assign research to be done at home. The students also already use the internet for a lot of classwork in these subjects, so it would not be much of a change. Some classwork can be modified for the internet, and some cannot. It just depends on the curriculum, student resources (internet at home, etc.), and the teacher’s technological knowledge.
This article was very interesting to me. I agree that missing one week of school will put a student behind in school work, and not as much learning will be able to take place. I do agree with all the ways in which students could use the internet and technology to continue to learn at home, but it is very important to keep in mind that not all students have access to the internet. Another thing to keep in mind is that if the school is closed because one person has the H1N1 virus, not all the students are sick so they may not be at their home during the day. The students may be somewhere else because his or her parents are working and may not have access to a computer.
This blog was very interesting to me. I agree that missing an entire week of school puts students behind and there is less time for learning. I also thought that all of the ways that were mentioned to keep students involved at home were good, but its very important to realize that not all students have access to the internet. Another thing to keep in mind is that if the school is closed because one student has H1N1 the other students are not sick, so therefore they may not always be at home. If their parents work the entire day they may be somewhere else such as a grandparents house, which is less likely to have access to the internet.
I found this article pretty interesting. I think technology is a great way for teachers to stay connected with students…especially if school is cancelled. Rarely there may be a glitch using emails or other communication based programs but in all it is quite effective. I think the internet is a great way for a teacher to keep in touch with a student who is absent. They can easily access an assignment through their email and once it is complete they can just simply send it back. This is a better solution than waiting until school opens back up and everyone is trying to play catch up and carrying piles of papers home. As a future teacher, I will encourage my students to communicate with me via email especially if they are absent or need help with an assignment.
PROF POST’S STUDENTS:
I’d be interested to know what class Prof Post has that is reading this post as an assignment. : ) What school is this? I know it’s about Sp Ed.
I’ll try to respond to some of your points and comments:
When I wrote this post last spring it had dawned on me just how sophisticated my students had become using technology as a tool in our classroom. Note that my students are 90% from poverty and second language learners. What helped me come to this conclusion, that I could run class from home in a pinch, was the reaction by substitute teachers that worked with my students. Lesson plans often had students working on their blogs, reading others blogs and leaving “quality comments” (as we came to call them), then working on math partly with paper and pencil, but often by going online to do an activity or game to build understanding of whatever the concept was. Followed by online typing practice, followed by reading about our science topic online and writing a piece about what they learned about that topic … again on their blogs. Subs would comment how engaged and on task students were.
As a side note also know that I got into teaching through my experience with outdoor education. Although I fully embrace tech use as a way for students to process their thinking and learning quickly and gain a public audience for their work, I also believe in getting students outside. My class averages at least one field trip per month that we archive with digital cameras and notes that we take. Afterwards we write about our experiences and share our photos and video on our class Flickr page. We work on projects like building a web site for a local animal park, or a local non-profit that takes in donated bikes, fixes them up and then sells them for cheap and gives many away to those in need. We write about and process all these experiences to build language skills.
I also have 8 special education students that participate fully in these activities and they often have some of the first really successful experiences producing and sharing content, and making connections to learning that they have had. The computer is ever patient and allows them multiple, multiple chances at editing their work. It also allows them to share their success with relatives and friends where ever they live. Relatives in Mexico or the Philippines or Vietnam or where ever, can see their work and leave comments for them. And you should see how motivated they are to participate and do “real work.”
Some of you wondered about those that would not be able to participate from home because of no connection or someone nearby with a connection. I mentioned that probably 80% of my students at that time would be successful connecting and having things to do. Its a bummer that 20% might not be able to participate, but what about the 80% (or even if only 40% could participate). I think it would be poerful to have them doing things instead of being bored at home … and those not connected will be fine … I wouldn’t cover material they would miss out on that was part of our class study, I would focus on just keeping them writing and reading and practicing math and so on.
We had a classmate last year last year travel to Vietnam and blog from there about his experiences and we commented back to him. What a great experience for all of us. You might be interested in seeing some of the award winning work my students have done that last few years. Here is our class wiki page:
http://crosbyclass.wikispaces.com/
Note the “Our Projects” links at the bottom.
This project, if you haven’t seen it already will really blow you away. The students (some that didn’t speak any English at the time but got speaking parts in this video – can you pick them out?) wrote, produced and edited this video that has now been downloaded from the net over half a million times. Check it out:
http://www.arisleyschool.org/Inclusion.mov
Hope that helps some … just touched some main points.
Brian
I don’t really know how I feel about this. I am not good with computers at all, and I think that a lot of times students have problems with computers when they do need to use them. I think that it would maybe just make things difficult. I liked that the author added that he would make sure that the students knew exactly how to do everything because like I said, I know that I am not good at using computers. Also, I think that having all of the school assignments on-line would be easy for students who have lap tops, but it might not be as convenient for students who do not have access to good computers. For example, I still have Dial-up for my internet service at my house, so any assignment that I have to do on-line takes me forever. It is not just nice and easy to do assignments on-line when your computer moves very slow. It gets frustrating. I think that the author has a neat idea, but for students like me, who hate using computers, I don’t think that this is the best idea.
I know that I am trying to become a teacher, but I still feel for the students. I remember loving when school got canceled. That is part of what school is. The students will get days off when they don’t expect it, and I couldn’t imagine making them still do work when school was canceled. Maybe giving them one assigment, but not continuing the whole school day on-line.
As a teacher you’re going to want to teach your students as much as you can in the time allotted. When sicknesses and school closings cut into this, precious learning time is wasted and puts the student behind for the next year. I think that interaction or homework during the time off is a really good idea! As much as the students might not appreciate it, it really is for their benefit. I know when I’m out of school for more than 2 or 3 days I get really out of the “school” mentality and it is hard to get back into it. The article mentioned that not all students in his class are able to get online, that may be true for at home, but there are public libraries that allow students to use their internet. Students that absolutely cannot get internet access should not be docked for not being able to complete the tasks over the break. I really like the idea of a field trip. Odds are the students will be way more receptive to this than homework, or even sitting at home bored. Even though I think giving some tasks to do during the break is good, I do not think all of their time should be taken up. They aren’t in school and technically don’t have to do anything other than their normal homework activities.
Teaching while school is out is tough for teachers. The time spent together is cut and it’s harder trying to teach online; harder to explain things. However, homework interaction online is a great idea if it’s the only choice! Even though some students aren’t able to get online at home, there are free libraries that offer the internet for students to use. Just make sure the assignment isn’t hours long! Some students may not be good with computers, rather than making a fancy assignment, do a simple search homework or blog homework that requires some amount of thought and interaction. Field trips are a great idea also. Perhaps the class can take a trip somewhere and spark up the break with some educational materials.
Teaching while school is out is tough for teachers. Due to the lack of interaction with the students and teacher. However, I feel that online assignments is a great interaction tool. Teacher could assign short brief assignments such as a simple search or blog. Hence the fact that some students aren’t good with the computer, complex assignments will take up too much time and complicated because the teacher isn’t available to assist the student. Make, assignments short and not hours long. Some students may not have access to the internet at home and therefore, they have to use the library computers, they are cut on time with the library computers. Field trips are a great idea. Its something fun and can spark some educational materials to students while on break.
This article brings up a very good point. What would be the best thing to do if school had to be cancelled for more than a couple days? I think it would be an excellent idea for teachers to continue lessons via internet. Students today are already very involved with computers and technology and providing students a way to continue learning in a way they are familiar with is a good idea. By continuing class online, students will be able to stay up-to-date on the lessons and assignments that would have been presented in the regular classroom. If school were to be cancelled basically without warning, a teacher could be in the middle of finishing a lesson. By continuing the lesson online, students will be able to recall the information taught more easily than if they had to remember what was taught 5-7 days before when school resumes. Overall, I think continuing class online is a wonderful idea, but some considerations must be taken into account. While most students have access to the internet, not all do. If a student is not able to have access to a computer, the teacher will have to provide another way for the student to continue learning. Also, what about the students who are ill? They cannot be expected to continue class even if it is online. Will they have to make-up all the work they missed and that was taught online? Hopefully not too many schools will have to deal with these circumstances this flu season.
Brian,
Thanks for your update and how ironic is it that one of my students that was scheduled to do a presentation in class today called me last night with a 103 degree fever and a confirmed case of H1N1. I assured her that she would get to present when she allows herself to get healthy.
I teach several courses here at Trinity which is a private college just outside of Chicago in Palos Heights. The students that have replied to your blog are in my Introduction to Special Education course which is required of all education students. The students also do 50 hours of teacher aiding in a special education placement as well. Unfortunately a student in one of the schools where my students do their aiding died a couple of weeks ago from complications related to the flu. This student had Angelman syndrome and was medically fragile but ti does point to the seriousness of the situation.
I have really enjoyed having my students reply to various blogs. As you indicate it can really be motivational knowing that one is writing towards an audience (besides a teacher with a grading pen) and it gets students to take some time away from textbooks and consider what is happening in the real world.
I actually taught high school students with special needs for 30 years before coming to Trinity at a school called Elim. I echo your sentiments about getting students outside and since we had 32 acres on which our school was located we could build some walking trails (with mulch provided by the electric company) and rototill some areas for gardens to grow everything from tomatoes to pumpkins.
I have a seven year old granddaughter that loves to use the computer and would probably do a good job of figuring out how to post on a blog. I was recently enjoying a reading program that she was doing that put her (virtually) in the forest. As she picked up things labeled “paper”, “plastic’, “garbage” – cure little woodland creatures would come out and cheer her on. It was great. But even more fun when Grandpa said, “Ok, Skylar – you’ve seen how it is done – let’s go out and do it for real – trust me the graphics are even better!”
Thanks again for providing another avenue of learning.
Prof Post
Though I think that it is a good idea to take proper safety precautions in light of the recent and increasing outbreaks of H1N1, I agree that there should be an alternative to compensate for time lost in school.
I think that your ideas as to what actions could be taken to fill this gap are incredibly outstanding, a very resourceful approach. It is also a magnificent example of how technology can enrich education if used for the proper purposes.
Google Docs, blogs, wikis, skype–all are very useful tools for exchanging information and expanding knowledge. I have recently read up on virtual learning environments–which are mostly used in colleges, but I think that they could deeply benefit k-12 students as well. Perhaps this would be another avenue to consider.
Of course there would be disadvantages to not being able to meet with students in a classroom setting–particularly in the areas of science or math where “hands on” teaching is especially beneficial to students–some more than others. There is also an sense in which certain aspects of social interaction between students and their peers is lost, which is not very desireable.
All in all, I would say “You gotta do what you gotta do”–and with education being a necessary part of growth and development, we should always be open to exploring new ways to achieve this despite external influences that create very difficult obstacles.
Thank you for sharing these ideas, I will keep them in mind for future reference, especially if I ever find myself in a similar situation in my future classroom!
It is beneficial to everyone that educators are planning ahead and considering how to teach outside of the classroom incase need be. I think as a teacher, you must always think creatively and plan ahead. The ideas in this article definitly work towards filling the gap in the education system if kids were to have to stay home and learn.
In my technology class the profesor showed us a tool where a teacher could post a live video of themself teaching a lesson and multiple students could view it. It was free and very useful. This kind of tool would allow students a class-like experience by using technology. It also would allow them the ability to ask questions directly to the teacher and other students involved in the video session.
This is an interesting topic to consider and I would like to hear of all the possibilities.
This is a great idea in a perfect world – the use of techonology for all. However for my kids this would not be a reality. Most of my students come from low income homes. They are all on FRL and are fed breakfast and dinner for free through the school. Unfortunately most students do not have a computer in their home, much less a family car. If the schools where given enough money to buy every student a laptop – that would be outstanding! Unfortunately technology is not a way of life for my low income kiddos.
This was great to read! including all the blog comments from the college students working to become teachers. As I read this I can’t help but think how far we have come with the technology has come and the many advantages and new oportunities for bringing the love of learning to our students. With the same breath we need to recognize the limitations of the technology and continue to encourage our students to read books and write their thoughts! I never would have thought about putting my classroom on line for my students who are unable to attend school. And the student who bloged about his trip to visit his family was amazing, blows my vacation journals out of the water!!! Thank you for these fantatsic ideas of using Tech to broaden the horizons of my students and myslef.