eLearning eVolution

Can students learn literacy effectively in the virtual classroom? The answer is a resounding YES! And this blog entry, “Legitimate Literacy Instruction in the Virtual School,” explains how.

“I believe that because this literacy instruction and the overall course content is being delivered digitally, it is more engaging and authentic for the students than what they might encounter in the traditional classroom,” says Florida-based blogger J-Lang. He also makes the larger point that online instructors can work to improve literacy, regardless of their content area. In other words, it’s not just about reading.

As the Elluminate Goddess of Communication, I talk with a lot of customers, and I’ve heard first hand about the advantages of the virtual classroom from instructors and students for five years now.

In fact, one of our 2008 Elluminate Centers of Excellence, Broward County Public Schools, developed a pilot project to recapture those students who didn’t pass the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) reading subtest. One of the results of the pilot was that the experience created life-long learners of many of the students, who are now seeking academic courses in the online format.

So keep on Elluminating!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

A customer recently commented that the virtual classroom enables them to move from a regimented, formal situation to promoting the use of collaborative groups where kids help each other and teachers are facilitators, not power brokers. This fits right in with the discussions I’ve been seeing that debate the roles of teacher versus facilitator in the eLearning environment.

Here’s the thought-provoking blog entry by Leigh Blackall from New Zealand that started me thinking about this. Turns out this topic is on a lot of teachers’ minds as there were 20 comments posted that last time I looked. Here’s a related blog entry from Graham Wegner in Australia. Like Graham, I like the comment from Canadian middle-school practioner Konrad Glogowski who has the roles meeting somewhere in the middle as content or subject matter expert.

I guess I’m thinking it doesn’t have to be one or the other or the other but rather moving from one to the other to the other, and/or some how blending the roles, depending on the age of the student, the content, the objectives, and so on. Perhaps this is a new area for instructor professional development. What do you think? Like my previous post on online learning communities, this topic would be a great one for an Elluminate webinar. I’d like to hear from you.

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

With the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina upon us, it’s clear that schools throughout the country need to be better prepared for that next disaster, whatever it may be.

In fact, Education Week just published an article about a report by the Southern Education Foundation. The report says the federal government’s response to challenges faced by storm-tossed K12 and higher ed institutions along the Gulf Coast was a “massive failure.” Fortunately, the report also says that it’s not too late to change our course.

So where do we start? Of course, we should be able to look to our federal, state, and local governments for assistance. However, I think it’s important that academia and business work together to develop solutions as well. Case in point: The Hurricane Education Leadership Program (HELP) Team, a consortium of businesses, associations, and nonprofits organized by Intel.

HELP is urging educators to get disaster recovery plans ready NOW! And one key area of any plan should be learning continuity. Recently, we held a webinar about disaster planning, organized by HELP, with guest speaker HELP Team Project Manager Melinda Dinin of Intel. She shared what HELP and its partners, like Elluminate, are doing to develop a 21st Century learning model that can be easily replicated by other states and countries.

Click here to access the recorded session. You’ll also want to check out this related eSchool News article.

We must all, as Melinda Dinin says, start thinking about what we need do today to prepare for the inevitable and to address issues of how we will provide continued learnining. People cannot affort to wait. And, of course, she’s right.

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication