There are many features available on the science teacher's virtual office. The first thing I noticed on the web site was an area called "course information". It included the following items: Teacher Contact; Education Orientation; Teaching; Getting Started; Pace; Contact-Drop Policy; Standards; Materials List; Student Resources; Integrity; Calendar; Modify Contact; Task Sheet; Surveys; New Surveys. My host teacher explained each of these features to me.
The science course is divided into modules similar to a textbook. There is an agenda for the student that includes an assignment sheet, points for each assignment, and time to complete each assignment. There is a course navigation section that includes the "extreme agenda", which provides the student with the background information in science on that module; there is an upload section that includes content, resources, and assignments. If a student is in an advanced course, there are additional assignments to complete.
Teachers have several ways to supply feedback to students. They can make phone calls, emails, and IM their students for discussions. The student and teacher participate in Elluminate! sessions, whiteboard sessions, and chat groups. When a student submits an assignment, the teacher tries to have it graded and returned within 48 hours (my teacher reported she had 54 assignments to grade at the present time!) The teacher makes monthly calls to the parents, and can submit progress reports. Each student is asked to complete two oral exams each semester that covers the content of the completed modules.
Some comments about the science course. The state has recently updated the science standards, so my host teacher is participating in the realignment process. She is also involved in several new course developments along with a team of teachers.
Do the students and teachers ever get to meet each other? The teacher said that occasionally Barnes and Noble book stores host an open house for virtual school students that live in an area of the state. They also may participate in group field trips to science-related attractions, museums, or centers. These activities are often difficult to coordinate.
I wondered how a student would complete a science lab with an online course. The middle school science students complete labs at home. Each student has to fax in a completed lab contract to the teacher stating the student and parents agree to adhere to lab rules. The student and parents have to supply their own materials. At the high school level, the school will mail the materials to the student for more complicated labs, such as a chemistry lab. The student has to reserve and request the materials. The school will mail the materials to the student's home. The student will complete the lab, submit the lab report to the teacher, and mail the materials back to the school.
These labs are done physically by students. I wonder how a virtual science laboratory would work? The New York Times ran an article posing this very question (please see http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/education/20online.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin). I have used virtual dissections on a computer CD of invertebrates, frogs, and pigs in my own classroom. My students love the simulation. I couple the virtual dissection with the dissection of a real specimen. Over the next several weeks, this is one of the areas of the virtual school I plan on investigating. Can a virtual laboratory really replace the classroom laboratory? How would you navigate AP labs? I asked my host science teacher this question, and she is going to ask the virtual school AP science teachers, and get back with me on it. Look for future blog posts from me on this interesting topic.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
The NY Times has a point. They noted that students have the potential of going into second year college level science courses without ever having used a Bunsen Burner let alone dissecting anything. I would love to get your perspective as a science teacher on the virtual labs. It sounded like the students enjoyed it but do they learn what they should? Is part of completing dissections and other labs the ability to careful work with chemicals and tools properly? Are we old-fashioned because we still think things were good as they were when we had to do labs?
I had not considered how students in virtual science classes would complete the lab component of the coursework. As I read what you discussed as well as the article from the New York Times I can't help but think that the use of virtual labs would be used in the traditional classroom a great deal more as well simply due to the educational financial cut backs of recent. While the complaint that students may reach their college level science courses without hands on lab experience seems valid, it should not be considered detrimental as students who are in the traditional classroom are taught how to use the equipment in a matter of minutes and the knowledge of the equipment and proper usage of the equipment would have been learned in the virtual labs as well. Evidence that virtual labs are working to educate students are found in the passing scores of the vast majority of virtual students in the advance placement science courses. I look forward to reading more about these issues in your blogs!
Post a Comment