Online+Learning+Presentations

Online Learning Presentation

Assignment: For this week’s Learning Community contribution, summarize and share the results of your online learning presentation. After reading about your community members’ experiences, offer a suggestion, resource, strategy, or additional idea to at least one of your community members.

**Ellen Campbell**
I recently presented a slideshow presentation about online learning to my Headmaster, a fifth grade teacher, a first grade teacher and a middle school science teacher. My Headmaster, the fifth grade teacher and the first grade teacher were all unaware of online learning modules. The middle school science teacher was very excited to watch the presentation because she is familiar with the concept of online learning. The slideshow sparked great conversation. My Headmaster was interested in the concept of online learning. He was excited because the online learning module could allow more classes to be offered to our students. Our school is a small, Pre-Kindergarten through Twelfth grade college preparatory school. Through the use of online learning, the students would be exposed to a world of knowledge. Our school could possibly open our online curriculum up to home schooled students in our area, thus expanding our student population. The fifth grade teacher and the first grade teacher were very curious about RCampus ([] ). They both wanted to know how online learning could benefit them. I took them to the RCampus website and showed them what the site offers. They were amazed at the organizational aspects, as well as the simplicity of the online learning modules. The website is easy to navigate through and set up classes, assignments and grades. The responses of the fifth grade teacher and first grade teacher were both positive. The middle school science teacher expressed interest in spearheading the online learning program for our school. She was energized during our meeting because online learning would be a great step forward into the 21st century for our school. Overall, the presentation went well and was met with optimism.

Dawn to Ellen

My Colleagues were also excited to here about online learning. Where we live it is limited personal contact with anyone except who lives in the village. So, I can see online learning a great advantage for our school. Do you think your school will pursue the online learning? Will you be able to get involved more? As I was reading further, I came across Flipped Classrooms. This might be something to present to your colleagues. You Tube has several videos for this. Good LUck to your school on the next great step forward!

Ellen to Dawn

Thank you for the idea of flipped classrooms. I will research this!

Jessie to Ellen

I like RCampus as well. I felt that it was user friendly because it is easy to navigate and add work to the class. I also have used RCampus for their rubrics. They have such a nice selection designed by other educators. Also, the set-up of their rubric maker is very easy to operate. I hop that you see it as an opportunity and you see a positive change in your students.

Jessie: High School Science [ My Presentation for Virtual Classrooms ]
Our science department has been talking about different tools that we can use in our classrooms to enhance our student's engagement and learning. We have had many conversations around non-negotiables for our students. Some of those non-negotiables include limited lecture time, movement, collaboration, discussions, and feedback. I found this presentation to be an opportunity to address how virtual classrooms can help with these non-negotiables. I designed my presentation around the ideas of collaboration, feedback, and lecture time. I presented to my Professional Learning Community who included the other science teachers and the education technicians that work within our classrooms.

I presented the use of Juno for quizzes because it provides the students with instant feedback and provides an item analysis of the quiz questions. Other teachers had used Juno in their classes and found it to be user friendly. During our discussion, it was determined that Juno would be a useful application and we would investigate its application further. Secondly, I addressed the use of Moodle in the classroom. Our district has a Moodle account and encourages the use of Moodle for classrooms. However, during its explanation it was determined that it is not very user friendly but we are willing to have the IT department complete a training on its application. Moodles ability to provide a place for online discussions and collaboration is one of the benefits for the tool. Also, the announcements section would decrease the amount of emails that we send to our students.

Our conversation turned to further discuss how we could use these tools. At this point, I turned the presentation to how we need to focus on Literacy 2.0 and we talked about media literacy. We want our students to be able to analysis media. One method of combing the media literacy, virtual classrooms, and our non-negotiables was the idea of a flipped classroom. It was seen that it would be a great method for exploring more information in the classroom and supporting our students. Questions that were of concern about the flipped classroom was geared towards the issues of students not completing the lecture preps for the classroom activities. How would we manage these students? It is a question that we are going to further explore. The flipped classroom allows us to reduce the amount of lecture time and increase student engagement.

Our groups is exploring the possibilities of how to make more use of the one to one laptops and increase student engagement. I feel that I was able to provide my PLC with an introduction to technology tools that would be useful in the classroom. Mariza to Jessie In some of our eighth grade team meetings we have discussed flipped classrooms and Moodle. Like you, we feel Moodle is not user friendly. One of them suggested Schoology.com because it has a "facebook" feel, making it more apealing for students and teachers. It also is easier to navigate and use. Our Math teacher has been using Moodle mostly to post homwork and long term assignments, but he has found it difficult to create quizzes and tests. Moreover, we are not at a point yet that we can be sure all of our students can access the sites at home. He still has many students giving the excuse they cannot login at home because of connectivity problems or access to a device or computer. I am thinking of giving Schoology a try...let me know if you do!

Dawn Davis After presenting my powerpoint about Moodle to my colleagues, Craig, my principal, Kayla, a high school teacher and Allision, a middle school teacher, I felt so much better seeing how they were excited and actively talking about how they thought Moodle might be a great investment at the school especially in the middle and high school side. My colleagues were especially excited about keeping students in touch with each other and allowing them to work collaboratively in a number of different ways. It is especially good for students with a high enough level to be classified as “independent users”.

So, as of now, I have asked Kayla and Allision to join me in the research process. We have agreed to meet once a week to discuss and assemble our findings to present to the district office. “Learners and Leaders work hand in hand” according to Dr. Barth. This is because in order to become a good leader, you need to be a good learner and always be on top of new information and make what you believe in happen.

Jessie to Dawn

Our district has been using Moodle for a long time. I have just recently gotten a moodle page to experiment with but there are many middle school and high school teachers who have Moodle pages and use them regularly. I know that one middle science teacher had set up his Moodle for all of the worksheets, quizzes, and tests to be on the site and the students would receive an instant response about their answers. It took time for all of this to happen but he says it save him time now on grading and the student get a quicker response about their learning. I think the one way that Moodle is very useful in our school is because all middle school and high school students have access to laptops at home and school. This play a large part in the success of online learning classrooms.

Mariza Carbone

There were several common themes that emerged from both the teachers and the administrator that I shared my Online Learning Presentation with. First, everyone agreed that there is a definite need to provide enrichment for students who excel academically. One teacher mentioned that teachers spend more time working with remedial and struggling students and often ignore the needs of kids who need to be challenged. Likewise, my administrator discussed how enrichment programs in the middle school were the first to be sacrificed during tight financial times. Therefore, there is a definite need for this type of program. The second theme that emerged was like a UPS commercial. Everyone discussed the “logistics”. All stakeholders noted that despite the independence that on-line learning courses offer, there still needs to be a physical person or a staff member assigned to them. This begs the question which teacher, who already has a full schedule, would run this? My administrator noted that there are other factors that would need to be addressed as well. These included which students would be selected, using what criteria, and how would this process be shared with other stakeholders like the board of education and the parents so that there is “buy-in”.

Moving forward, I am going to collaborate with the IT teacher and my administrators to develop a survey using Survey Monkey for the students in my Spanish classes and their parents to gauge their level of interest. Based on this data, I am going to select up to five students and pilot this process with Moodle and Rosetta Stone using whatever language is noted in the survey results. As I reflect on the process to implement change, I realize that I must first experience it myself if I plan to model for my colleagues. In doing this, I will be better equipped to discuss the rationale and benefits while working with teachers as they receive the necessary professional development.

Ellen to Mariza

Did you look at Moodle or RCampus? I was just curious because I liked RCampus because it seemed easier to navigate through and easier to organize data. Your administrator brought up valid points. The "logistics" are the issues that everyone who begins online learning would have to work out as they begin. Have you or your administrator considered classes that are partially online and partially in person? I feel that this would be the best model for younger students. This may reduce the stress of finding teachers to cover these classes, and may help put the parents at ease. Good luck with your pilot program and your further professional development!