EDUCATION BLOG

Welcome to Can You Imagine?, author Patricia McKissack's blog. If you have a question or a comment for Pat, (about any of her books), please feel free to submit it here!

To read more about Pat and her work on the page and on camera, please scroll through the last year's posts on this blog. You can also learn about Pat's videoconferences by clicking here.

Jan Zanetis of Tandberg presented at MODLA last week on KC³ Kids Creating Community Content. Last year was the first year of the student videoconference project, and they plan to continue it into this school year. Here are some details from the guidelines listed on the website:

PROJECT OVERVIEW

From east to west, urban or rural, we each live in a unique community. What can we learn from our area, from our varied citizens or natural resources? What can we share with others that will enhance their view of our country or our world? This standards based project seeks to tap into the creative nature of students as they look at their community with new eyes and explore ways to share their findings with others using videoconferencing and technology as a resource.

Requirements include, in part: 

• Student Teams will research a topic in their community. Examples of this might include a historical place or figure, a natural resource, a unique place of interest.
• Students will develop an informational program geared toward a specific audience educating them on the topic.

Students all over the country participated- from Oklahoma to Hawaii! Jan shared some clips from the videoconferences that were really great. Students were teaching others about their community; for example, the students in Honolulu taught their mainland peers and about hula and about aquaculture. Students in Texas educated others on Fire Ants. The kids on both ends were totally engaged, as were the participants in Jan's session. I can't wait to get St. Louis area schools involved.

Have soaring gas prices pushed online course enrollment past the tipping point? This is a question addressed in a July 8, 2008 Chronicle of Higher Education article titled, "Rising Gas Prices Fuel Increse In Online Learning." Author Jeffrey R. Young presented some compelling data, including the following:

• The Tennessee Board of Regents reports that summer enrollment in online courses is up 29 percent this summer over last year.
• At Brevard Community College, in Cocoa, Fla., summer enrollment in online courses is up nearly 25 percent.
• Harrisburg Area Community College, in Pennsylvania, saw its summer online enrollment rise 15 percent to 20 percent.
• At Northampton Community College, summer online enrollment is up 18 percent.

Noting this increased interest, the article further highlights how certain online schools and traditional schools with online programs are now endeavoring to capitalize on the trend, as explained below:

• The SUNY Learning Network, the online incarnation of the State University of New York, offers prospective students access to an online calculator that helps them determine how much they will save in gas costs by taking classes online.
• Colorado State University, which is launching a new online program this fall, has decided to waive the program's $50 application fee to attract more students concerned about gas prices.

Despite the reported increase in online enrollments, administrators at the University of Phoenix, the largest provider of online education, repot that there has not been a spike in online enrollments this summer nor have representatives heard much about gas prices affecting students' choice of formats.

This might be due in part to Phoenix's ground classes being designed to minimize drive time by meeting just once a week for four-hour sessions, with textbooks and library services delivered online.

The evening courses I teach for DeVry are designed similarly: classes meet once a week for four hours with an online component designed to provide two to four additional hours of educational experience. That being said, I still have students who admirably drive upwards of 30 miles to the campus from places like Delano, Wasco and Shafter. I also have one student that drives more than 40 miles from Lake Isabella!

I suspect that as gas prices continue to climb there will be increased demand for online classes. Anecdotally speaking I have seen an ongoing increase in the advertisement and availability of online courses -- both individual classes, certificate programs and degrees.

While I can't verify this, I feel as if I have seen more schools offering additional programs during the past few months. Likely, if it is true, it is merely a coincidence, because developing and launching an online learning experience is not something you can do in just a few months.

Nevertheless, as an online adjunct instructor and as someone who feels technology can both increase the availability of education and enhance a student's ability to learn (in classrooms or online), I am pleased to see the increase in online education -- whatever the reason might be. Personally, I welcome additional opportunities to teach online because I would appreciate a chance to save a few (hundred) dollars in gas!

Teachers, check this out, from the Global Nomads Group website:

"Today, the climate is changing faster than any time of the last 65 million years. Warmer ocean temperatures are feeding more powerful hurricanes, while mega heat waves and droughts are occurring in record numbers.

In partnership with The Offshore New Harbor Project (which is part of the Antarctic Geological Drilling Program), GNG will host a series of Virtual Classrooms from Antarctica from October - December to study evidence in Antarctica from the last time carbon dioxide levels were this high — 34 million years ago! By examining our world's past, we hope to get a glimpse of our future — as global warming has become an inevitable reality. Click here for more information."

As more information becomes available, I'll share.

The GLOBE Program (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) was a TechLearning article this month.  This is an excellent example of distance learning.  I believe the program is an great way to bring students from all around the world together.  The skills involved in this program are geared towards the 21st Century learner. 

In the program, primary and secondary students complete hands-on, inquiry-based investigations of the environment around them.  Then, the results and measurements of the investigations are added to the collective database.  GLOBE has been around for 13 years and now has over 18 million measurements in areas such as "atmosphere and climate, hydrology, land cover biology, and soil."  Over 21,000 schools have been involved in this collaborative global science project! GLOBE takes the scientific method and inquiry-based learning to a more authentic level by having these budding scientists work together around the world.  Here are some questions and answers about the GLOBE program:

Who pays for this?  NASA, NSF, and the U.S. Department of the State

What are some states that are currently involved?  New York, Texas, and Alabama

How does it work?  classroom teachers get trained with GLOBE and identify a research project and then get connected with other schools in other countries working on the same scientific questions

Want to get involved?  Go to www.globe.gov

[caption id="attachment_278" align="aligncenter" width="486" caption="More students are learning at home"][/caption]

In the oil shortage chronicled by the players of World Without Oil, the resistance to telecommuting quickly went by the wayside, so to speak. Employers were eager to relieve their workers of the commute burden – infinitely preferable, in their eyes, to helping them with their fuel bills.

And now, here in the real world, an article in the New York Times relates how gas prices have driven students, so to speak, to taking classes online. The article reports online enrollment is up 50% to 100% in some schools, and "the greatest surges have been registered at two-year community colleges, where most students are commuters, many support families and few can absorb large new expenditures for fuel."

Can employee telecommuting and virtual business travel be far behind? Thanks to loyal reader Laurel for the tip. Photo by wrumsby via Flickr.

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is this "Are Online Degrees Worth It?  and "Will an Online Degree Actually Further My Career?"  - I personally think that the answer is a resounding "yes!" .  Learning in any form is a positive experience and online learning affords many opportunity and afford ability that might not other wise exist.

But, if you're serious about distance education you need to read an ebook that I recently found called THE TRUTH ABOUT ONLINE DEGREES.  This report is a must read if you're seriously considering tens of thousands of dollars on an online education.  Not all degrees and institutions are the same and this ebook will help you sort it all out and protect your investment.  Let me know what you think.

Today Martha is attending the 2008 Flat Classroom Workshop in person at MICDS, and Stephanie is participating virtually this morning. Vicki Davis & Julie Lindsay are co-founders of the workshop and organized this event, as they have done for a few years now. The aim of the workshop, according to www.flatclassrooms.com:

1. To promote academic excellence through the use of leading technological tools.
2. To promote connection and understanding between geographically dispersed, ethnically and culturally diverse groups of students in meaningful, global cooperative authentic learning experiences.
3. To simplify and document pedagogical best practices for such projects.
4. To duplicate "ourselves" and practices to encourage the open proliferation of such projects as a standard part of global education and digital citizenship.

I'll be off for a good part of the week at the Lake of the Ozarks presenting at the Missouri Distance Learning Association annual conference. If you are attending, please stop in my session Thursday morning! I will be talking about our videoconferences between authors & K-12 classrooms.

I was recently reading the article Distance Learning: Universal Design, Universal Access by Sheryl Burgstahler.  She raises some very important issues of equity when it comes to students with disabilities and distance learning.  While governmental websites must comply with Section 508 of the ADA, distance learning programs are not often strictly monitored to follow these guidelines.  However, it is important to not create another type of "digital divide" between students with disabilities and others in distance learning classrooms.  One must remember students with disabilities when creating and implementing a distance learning course.  It is better to be proactive than reactive by designing distance learning courses to be accessible to all students.  Often, changes that are made to accomodate these learners also benefit other students.  This is often referred to as the Universal Design for Learning.  Appropriate sizing, spacing, coloring, captions, and a variety of platforms are necessary to help learners.  (One can even induce seizures if not careful with flashing on a webpage between 2-55 hertz).  By being aware of these situations and looking at appropriate guidelines and other sites that are in compliance with Section 508, it can be of benefit to not only students with disabilities but all students. 

As Burgstahler states, "Designed correctly, distance education options create learning opportunities for everyone. Designed poorly, they erect barriers to equal participation in academics and careers for potential students and instructors with disabilities."

Other helpful sites related to the topics of distance learning and assistive and adaptive technology can be found on:

Designing web pages for people with disabilities 

The Center for Applied Special Technology