Virutal Schools

1. Identify and discuss 5 pros and 5 cons of online virtual schools.

Virtual Schools allow parents and students to create a new learning environment. The first pro is that parents can have a hand in their student's teaching. On Insight, and WAVA the parents are able to review the student's curriculum and print out various pages. Looking at a sample reading lesson for a kindergartner, the parent plays a specific role in the child's learning. Not only will the parent have a part in their student's learning but the parent is able to have their child at home and spend time with their child. Another pro of online school is that the student will be able to learn on an individual basis. The student will be able to start a lesson when he/she needs to and can take their time to in learning a particular subject. Continuing with this idea, another pro is that the students will be able to do everything on their own time. For instance, if there was a high school student that had to work certain parts of the day, he/she could do their work at night rather than during the day. Finally, another pro of online virtual schools is that students will be able to get all of the information they need online. They will be able to do everything on the internet and this is a very easy and fast way for children to learn.

There are many pros to online schooling but there are also many cons. The first con that is apparent is that the students will not have other students to learn social skills. Children need to spend time with other kids to be able to learn how to socialize and learn people skills. Whereas with WAVE and Insight, students will be learning by themselves and not given a chance to work in groups or with other students. Another disadvantage is that one parent would have to be home for younger children. A lot of the lesson plans require the parents to be there to read various stories or do other things with their child. Whereas a public or private school the parent can continue to work during the day etc. Another con that has to do with the parents is there is quite a bit of prep work. The parent has to go online and look at the students schedule for the next day and has to prepare the papers and lessons for their child. Online schooling can be very time consuming so parents may find that this is not the choice for them. Another con of online schooling is that the student's attention level may not work well with online schooling. The student will be spending an ample amount of time at the computer, and a lot of little children cannot handle sitting starring at a computer screen all day. Finally, the students will not be able to learn how to deal with different adults. In regular schools, the students may face various different teachers, such as the art teacher, gym teacher and a music teacher. They learn how to interact with other teachers, parents and how to treat adults. Along side of this, the students learn how to be without their parents for the day. The students learn how to be independent, and online schooling may not allow the students to have a slight independence from their parents.

2. Discuss how you think virtual schools might impact your future teaching.

Virtual schools such as WAVA and Insight can impact my future teaching in various ways. With the way the economy is going, when I leave school I may not be able to find a job. I could use online schooling as a door way to a different way of teaching. I could be an online teacher and help with schools such as WAVA and Insight or work on a program like Black Board or Elearning. Online teaching can also impact my future, because if a student enters my classroom, as a previous student of online classrooms, the student may not be fully prepared for the class. The student could be behind or ahead. I would have to gauge the student's knowledge and figure out where the student should fall within the classroom and adjust accordingly. Also if the student entered my classroom from an online class they could lack various social abilities, so I would have to help the student adjust.

Emerging Technologies

I chose three different emerging technologies. The emerging technologies I chose to explore were the SMART board, Skype and Wikis. I chose these emerging technologies because I felt that these could be used in an effective way in the classroom.

The SMART Board is a new technology that will change the classroom. Teachers can utilize the smart board to create interactive lesson plans. The SMART board can be used as a white board or a sketch pad. The SMART board comes with notebook software that the teacher can utilize for lesson plans. The most exciting thing about SMART boards is that it can enhance any lesson plan or presentation for the classroom. Not only can the SMART board enhance the lesson but teachers can use the SMART board to cut down on preparation time. The teacher could use word or the notebook on the SMART board and be able to write notes on the page. This will cut back making overheads or having to write everything out on the whiteboard. Last of all technology could impact the students learning because they could be involved in their own learning. The teacher could have students come up to the board and demonstrate an activity or learned skill. The teacher could also turn the SMART board into a learning center in which the student could use various programs to enhance their learning. More information about the SMART board can be found at http://smartboard.com

Skype is a fantastic new emerging technology. It allows the individual to connect and communicate with various individuals around the world. All that is needed for this emerging technology is a computer camera and a fast download of the Skype program. This technology could have an impact on my teaching because I could have a Skype account to connect with other teachers, parents and maybe even children depending on what age group. I could use my Skype account to help improve teacher parent communication and have brief conferences with parents. Students could be impacted by Skype by using the program itself. They could potentially contact me if they have problems with homework or an assignment. Students could also use Skype to keep in contact with others or use it to work on a collaborative project. More information about Skype can be found at www.skype.com

Wikis are also an exciting new emerging technology. Wiki's allow individuals to create personalized websites with various education. You can put educational information on wikis or even use it as a way to post ideas and fun gadgets. Wikis can always be changed and if you are the creator you have endless things you can do with your Wiki. Teachers can use wikis by creating a classroom website. The teacher can use wikis to keep parents updated with lesson themes and lesson projects. Teachers can also use this site to create their own WebQuests. Students can use wikis by using their teacher's wikis to find information. Students can also create their own wikis on various projects etc. More information on wikis can be found at various wiki websites such as, pbwiki.com