Marcia's Summarizing Statements from the Dallas Conference

Summary—and my opinions

Parents
Parents are an important factor in a student’s success with online courses. Only one of the sessions I attended stated that the parents are not expected to actively participate. The rest expect the parents to motivate/encourage students, as well as make sure the students are logging in and working in their classes. Some expect regular interaction with the teachers.

Students
Students say traditional classes are boring. I partially agree—nothing can be exciting all of the time. I think the problem is that schools are designed to provide a general education, and this education is paced according to the needs of the “middle” students—leaving the gifted and talented unchallenged/underchallenged, and the lower students lost and confused. I think this is what the students really mean when they say classes are “boring.” I can see how online classes would be more stimulating. Students are able spend as much or as little time as they need to learn individually, as opposed to a daily 40 minute classroom experience. Furthermore, the students are quite “connected,” and online classes would be appealing.

As all of the presenters stated, online classes are not for every student. The students who spoke to us stated that they (and their friends) thought the classes were easy, although the presenters stated that the classes are not easy at all. Online classes require responsibility as well as motivation, and the students need interaction with their teacher, according to one of the students.

Some things that might inadvertently help students succeed…
The fact that students choose to take an online course gives them some ownership. They receive a computer, and all the components necessary for their class, and this is “cool.” They can set their own time schedule, and they know they can contact their teacher (and they know how to contact their teacher) if they need help. They do not have the distractions that happen in traditional classes, and there are no face to face classmates who can bully or tease them. There is some freedom in the anonymity—if you said/wrote something embarrassing during a group discussion, you don’t have to face the others all day.

Mary Rich, one of the students who spoke to us, made a point I hadn’t considered. When discussion distractions at school, she said, “There are distractions at home, too, but they are YOUR distractions and you know how to handle them.”

Teachers
“A good classroom teacher is not necessarily a good online teacher.” This was repeated throughout the sessions.
Teachers need a great deal of initial and ongoing training and support, and need a mentor for guidance. They also need a mentor or a trustworthy group with whom they can “vent” confidentially and to combat/conquer frustration.
There is a “time factor” that will have to be considered, not only with training teachers, but with managing their online classes. The symposium attendees who were not teachers generally thought that online classes/teachers actually save time, but those who teach online stated that, initially, it takes more time, and eventually becomes about the same amount of time as a teacher would spend in a traditional class. Most classes contain at least ten, but not more than twenty, students. One group allows a veteran online teacher to accept more students.

Starting a Virtual School
I received some excellent information, and even a worksheet to help plan a virtual school.

Plan, plan, plan!

Creating policy is very important—have all of your ducks in a row and you will avoid many problems.

All presenters stated that you need to find a partner to help financially. It is important to determine at the beginning which partner will be responsible for providing each aspect of the virtual school. Again, planning—know exactly “who” is responsible for “what.”

A man from Colorado told us that they were creating their own curriculum materials, because the cost of purchasing curriculum is prohibitive. He and his team are quite computer-savvy, and have access to many community/business resources we do not have. At this time, I do not feel I have the ability or knowledge to create an online course that would have the “bells and whistles” of a prepackaged curriculum. The little bits of these courses that I saw were truly fabulous. According to the presenters, there are all kinds of prepackaged programs, and some of the least expensive are basically correspondence courses. “You get what you pay for” was the phrase they used, and said it definitely applied to prepackaged curriculum programs. They suggested that whatever program is chosen, it should be one that can be altered to meet state standards, and can be updated.

All presenters suggested that starting small was the best way to begin; it’s better to be successful with something small, than have something large that is just OK. A successful experience will fuel progressively large ventures.

“Yes, but…” or “Yes, and…”

During this symposium, I think Chic Thompson has managed to change our way of thinking. Instead of thinking a negative “Yes, but…,” we are thinking “Yes, and…” and seeking the positive. Turn things around—look at “What would we never do?” Sometimes, changing your viewpoint makes all the difference.
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I went to this symposium because I wanted to see what other people are doing with online education, and how they are doing it. I wanted to learn what others did “wrong”(in hopes that we could avoid it), as well as what they did “right.” As a teacher, I wanted to see the quality of the curriculum available, and I wanted to discover what I would need to do to become an online teacher. (The only thing I’d still like to do is view the Language Arts courses from various programs.)

I left the symposium feeling that a virtual school is something that we CAN create, and it will be successful. The “road” to that virtual school is going to be difficult, with many decisions and a ton of planning…and it will be a great learning experience for everyone. And… I am willing to be one of the teachers,… but I have to test drive the curriculum first!
Marcia