I know that my school is not equipped to handle any of these scenarios. I believe that most schools are not equipped to handle these HUGE technology and curriculum changes. The last two schools that I worked at (K-8) were definitely not equipped. Each school has one computer lab that is usually occupied most of the time by students taking one standardized test or another. There just simply is never enough technology available at my school to offer courses online. This has not been an issue thus far because, no parent or student has ever asked for this option, probably because they do not realize that this service must be given if requested.
I do not think that these changes will happen rapidly, at least in the urban areas that I've worked. I believe that more and more technology integration will continue to occur but probably not as fast as it should. If a student were to ask for a class that was completely online, my school would absolutely not be ready to provide.
I am not sure that my school is doing much about ensuring that online courses are available to students, however, as I mentioned in an earlier post, we are building a high school in 2016 and they will definitely need to get moving on this. Ideally, we would have several computer labs and technology carts available to the students as well as several classes offered in a variety of subjects.
It is extremely important to stay ahead of the curve, unfortunately, many schools do not have the resources available to do this.
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ReplyDeleteI think that being able to afford new technology is a problem many districts face. My building got a new lab and laptops recently because of the changes in state testing. This was great, but there are still so many other things we need. We still need new classroom computers. Additionally, I think my school and one other elementary building still does not have a class set of ipads. I have been buying a few at a time because that is all my budget will allow. Now I am applying for grants because I think that will be the only way I can afford to buy more.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing is, because technology is ever changing, by the time you get your new classroom computers, it'll be time to get new equipment in the lab and new laptops. Affording the technology is definitely difficult in some schools more so in others. I believe that my school has it's fair share of technology but definitely not enough for school wide testing.
DeleteEncourage your teachers to uses Donors Choose. :)
If a student or a parent requested an online course is there a process in place to how course will be handled?
ReplyDeleteVicky, good question. I have no idea how this would be handled and truthfully, I'm not sure that we even have a plan in place for that. I'm guessing we would suggest an outside source to supplement what the student wants to learn. This is something I will be checking into but I have never heard of a plan for this at my school.
DeleteVictoria,
ReplyDeleteI think of the charter school I work at and how much technology they have on hand. Its the instruction that I'm worried about as well as the training for the teachers. Students have access to tablets, laptops and labs yet I rarely see instruction taking place. This goes back to the resourced advantages vs. the under-resourced disadvantages.
Wow. You would think with all that technology available that they would take advantage of it and use it appropriately. It's a shame. Just as Debbie mentioned above, some schools barely have an iPad cart for the whole school!
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