I am very optimistic about the prospects for virtual schools and classes. The quality of our online discussions only reinforces this. An important aspect of virtual schools that I had not thought about is socialization. This was identified as a potential drawback of virtual schools. I need to do more work in this area. I'm not sure if online courses can deliver social skills that rival brick-and-mortar schools. I simply don't have the background on child development. Maybe this points to online courses being offered in conjunction with those in physical classrooms.
I don't think my viewpoints on online education has changed. Socialization and academic integrity issues are important, but the positive aspects outweigh them. Online schools provide broader course offerings, gain access to teachers in other locations, and gain access to non-traditional teachers (e.g., stay-at-home moms, part-time business and academic leaders, retirees, etc.). In addition, the digital nature of the classes make it easier to assess students, teachers and the curriculum.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
About Me
Background
> I am a second career teacher. For fifteen years, I was an investment analyst in New York City and Minneapolis at Lehman Brothers, UBS/PaineWebber and American Express. Five years ago, I started teaching at a private school in Connecticut. It has been a great career move. I love my job and my two daughters attend the school too. I teach math and computers at the Middle School level. I am also the technology coordinator tasked with trying to increase the use of technology in the classroom. I do not have formal teacher training, so I am pursuing a Masters in Education. It turns out that I am a lifelong learner and enjoy learning from teachers at my school, as well as, other school. Towards that end, I have invested considerable time building my own PLC (personal learning community) to network with other teachers. My PLC is like oxygen to me and I can't keep up with all of the great teaching ideas I discover. I have a professional blog and a resource wiki. I am active on Twitter (johnfaig) and Delicious/Diigo (johnfaig).
What made you interested in this course?
> I am pursuing my Masters in Education strictly online and I believe that virtual classes and schools are a very important trend.
What experience do you have with online learning?
> I take all of my graduate classes online. It has been a very productive mode for me. I have participated in synchronous classes and meetings for many more hours than I would have been able to sit in a classroom. Likewise, my asynchronous class experiences have been excellent. Fortunately, all of the classes were well-designed and interesting to keep me motivated after teaching all day.
> I am a second career teacher. For fifteen years, I was an investment analyst in New York City and Minneapolis at Lehman Brothers, UBS/PaineWebber and American Express. Five years ago, I started teaching at a private school in Connecticut. It has been a great career move. I love my job and my two daughters attend the school too. I teach math and computers at the Middle School level. I am also the technology coordinator tasked with trying to increase the use of technology in the classroom. I do not have formal teacher training, so I am pursuing a Masters in Education. It turns out that I am a lifelong learner and enjoy learning from teachers at my school, as well as, other school. Towards that end, I have invested considerable time building my own PLC (personal learning community) to network with other teachers. My PLC is like oxygen to me and I can't keep up with all of the great teaching ideas I discover. I have a professional blog and a resource wiki. I am active on Twitter (johnfaig) and Delicious/Diigo (johnfaig).
What made you interested in this course?
> I am pursuing my Masters in Education strictly online and I believe that virtual classes and schools are a very important trend.
What experience do you have with online learning?
> I take all of my graduate classes online. It has been a very productive mode for me. I have participated in synchronous classes and meetings for many more hours than I would have been able to sit in a classroom. Likewise, my asynchronous class experiences have been excellent. Fortunately, all of the classes were well-designed and interesting to keep me motivated after teaching all day.
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