Online Learning

 

    I am currently an in-person classroom teacher in an elementary school classroom, although I have had several opportunities during the covid pandemic to teach remotely. I would have to say that after transferring to a new school during the pandemic, and at a time where everyone was required to wear masks full time (even outside), no contact, no group work, all students in forward facing tables; moving to online learning came as a welcome relief! It was a relief to finally see my students faces for the first time after having taught them for half of a year. It was a relief to have everyone in a space where they didn't feel fearful and paranoid of spreading germs. It was a relief that students could meet and interact in groups to share ideas. Now that we are mask free (for the most part) I am grateful to be back in the classroom face to face with my students. 

    I rely heavily in my classroom on Google suites and make sure that all students are connect through both google classroom as well as Edsby to find digital copies of all of their units. Parents at my current school are active on Edsby and regularly use it to look at students assignments an print worksheets at home if needed. I have found this to be particularly useful as I commonly have students leaving for long periods of time, either on vacation or returning to their homeland for extended visits. This allows them to keep up with what we are doing in the classroom. Having all units available online keeps students and families accountable for their learning.

        Our class representatives and presenters for this topic outlined specific advantages to online or distance learning such as collaboration, student centered learning, special design of environment and material by instructor. I would say that a many learning theories can be seen throughout the different platforms, and that it would depend how you are using the platform and material and what the student expectations are. The effectiveness of online learning would be specific to the learner, where elementary school students certainly require not only the supervision available in a face-to-face classroom, but the structure and social interactions that come with in person learning. As students mature and become more responsible, having options for online learning could be beneficial for certain learning types and depending on the content. Obviously online learning requires a high degree of self-discipline.

        

        I found the section of the presentation on commercialization interesting as I thought about the different platforms that were at one time free and then came at a cost. Or tools such as Edpuzzle which I use regularly but am limited with the free version. There are certain online learning tools such as Mathletics that I find myself fighting for endlessly to obtain student accounts. This resource is expensive to purchase yearly subscriptions and since it is not supported division wide we have to seek parents council support to get class subscriptions. It is frustrating because after using both hard copy and online Mathletics for years, I have seen the benefits to students learning and progress in mathematics at an elementary level but yet it is so hard to obtain due to the price.

        As a student I appreciate the option to have online courses available to me through this masters program. As a teacher, I am happy to know that we could successfully go back online with students at a moments notice, but in-person learning at an elementary level is crucial to child development. As a parent of an elementary and high school student, I am beyond thankful that they are back face-to-face with their peers and teachers, up and about and out of the house daily!