I can think of several examples in my community and state of online learning. At our local high school, the Latin program was discontinued last year, and the students that wanted to continue in the program were offered an online option. These students go to a class period in the school with a facilitator, but the entire course is actually online. I would consider this to be blended online learning. My daughter took driver's education online through the community school which is associated with our local high school. She completed this course entirely at home online with the exception of the driving portion. I think this would be a hybrid class because of the driving component. I guess it could also be virtual because she took other classes at our local high school as well, and it would be supplemental. Our county has an online campus which just graduated its first class in 2012 http://www.gwinnettonlinecampus.com/. It served just high school (9th-12th) last year and has added middle school students (6th-8th) for this school year. Next year, the campus will expand to upper elementary school students. It is considered a full-time charter school and is a cyber school.
Currently, I am aware of two online public schools in the state of Georgia. One is the Georgia Virtual School http://www.gavirtualschool.org/ operated by the Georgia Department of Education, and the other is the Georgia Cyber Academy http://www.k12.com/gca currently for K-11 students. The Georgia Virtual School offers particular courses to middle and high school students. It appears to be a virtual school. The name says it all. The Georgia Cyber Academy School is a cyber school. Again, the name follows the description in the readings for this week of the MOOC. Most of the courses that I took to complete my Master's Degree were hybrid with some face-to-face and some online at different times. Some of the content was synchronous online.
Flipped was mentioned as part of blended learning in the readings. This has been a hot topic at several conferences that I have attended. It is a unique concept. I don't know if it would be feasible for the technology portion at home for a school like mine which is Title I and very low income, but it is for sure an interesting idea.
2 comments:
Hi Sharon! I am amazed at the number of online/blended learning classes and schools. How wonderful that a Latin class was offered through an online platform at the high school. Was that a GCPS school? I am really impressed, in many ways, that GCPS is pushing the envelope. Also, I read extensively about 'The Flipped Classroom' this summer. Your concern about the lack of funds was mentioned in an online newspaper article that I read. It was cool that 'posters' were trying to solve the problem! I think in time, the cost of technology will come down and open up more avenues. And hey, let's do figure out a time to go to Gwinnett's Online Campus. Great post!
Hi Sharon! Wow! So many options in your district! I have been keeping up with the concept of the flipped classroom through blogs. I like the idea because as class sizes go up, it may be the only way to talk to students in small groups or one-on-one, but I am still trying to figure out how schools can motivate students to do the work at home and what to do with the students who don't have access. I have met with a lot of resistance to the concept when discussing it with teachers, yet the Instructional Technology head in our district is going to conferences and trying to learn more and there's a few high school teachers on board. I wonder how it would work with younger grades. I think the high schoolers and perhaps some middle schoolers would have more discipline than elementary students.
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