Week 6 Reflection

Has your view of the schools you chose to research changed from the first week you looked at them? If so, how? (To answer this, you should look over the descriptions of your schools in the wiki and at your blog entries. You should also review how you placed your schools in the Google spreadsheet and see if you want to make any changes.)

The 2 schools I chose to research were:

During the first few weeks of researching on these 2 schools I had an impression that these schools fill in the void of the 21st century learning that some brick and mortar school are lacking. However, this was not the case as both schools are not taking the full advantage of Web 2.0 integration as part of the curriculum. In addition, from what I gather online, courses offered are merely simple digital translation of textbooks to electronic version. Shouldn't there be a better way than to just digitize textbooks?

I understand schools need to align with state standards and hiring only certified teachers, but shouldn't online schools who market themselves as 21st century learning, offer 21st century skills teaching? As some of the readings suggest, managing online schools, teachers, staffs, and students is not simple as it seems but if schools do not want to fall in the same 'failure' as other traditional schools, they need to integrate and embrace 21st century head on. As the saying goes, you fight fire with fire.

On the bright side of things, my initial thoughts on students who were/are online schooling might lack social skills and that panned out to be a false statement. Reason being is that both schools I researched provide a social gathering for students and parents either through school trips or after school activities. Providing an avenue for students to mingle and socialize outside of the online environment is the right answer to the legendary myth about online schooling students.

This week our class discussed about the pros and cons for online discussion boards. I brought up several times about cultural awareness and how students might interact online versus f2f. I didn't mean to keep on "beating the dead horse" with my sermon on cultural awareness but I think it is very important issue that everyone needs to be aware of. If I did, my sincere apology. ;)

However, I do highly recommend this book that I'm currently reading for my other class. It's a great reading about cultural awareness and minority in schools.