A look into the world of PA Cyber Charter Schooling

What is it?

On a certain level, Pennsylvania Cyber Charter schools can be equated with both public schools and homeschooling.  Similar to public schools, the students enroll in the program, attend classes, and have teachers.  Yet like homeschooling, they work from home.  How is this done?  Students "attend" their classes by means of an advanced computer provided by the program.  However, there are differences and many benefits that come from joining this Cyber school.

Why join?

Why would  PA Cyber  Charter Schools be a good choice? Like public schools, there is no cost for schooling.  Parents are given greater level of involvement and choice where classes are concerned.  Additionally, "PA Cyber combines highly qualified teachers and intensely personalized instruction with a dynamic, interactive curriculum…"  Students are provided with quality and choice. PA Cyber proudly claims that their school gives families the ability to construct their own school, "out of choices, not bricks."

If you have more questions about this program, visit their FAQ page for specifics: http://www.pacyber.org/faq.jsp?pageId=2161392240601291902139417

 

Teachers perspective:

Advantages of teaching for PA Cyber Charter schools:

There are many benefits to being a teacher for PA Cyber Charter schools.  Because the classroom is located on the internet, teachers are given 24/7 access to their class materials.  This provides flexibility for travel and time zones.  Teachers can leave the state or the country and continue working.  This can also benefit teachers who are stay at home parents receive an income and raise their chilren.  Teachers are also given the opportunity to develop personal relationships with their students because of the individualized aspect of education. 

PA Cyber Charter school teachers are also given the chance to join a community of learners and teachers on the web.  On the home website, a blog explicitly for teachers is provided. Teachers can share materials, teaching strategies, and any ideas or information they wish to.  This blog also recognizes teachers for their accomplishments. http://www.pacyber.org/staff.jsp.

Disadvantages of teaching for  PA Cyber  Charter Schools:

Possible disadvantages of working for a PA Cyber Charter School could relate to students.  In some cases, the students who enroll Cyber schools are troubled teens who feel like outcasts within their previous school.  Pregnant and young teenage mothers also join.  While teaching these students presents a great opportunity to support them as role model, problems can arise from their attitudes towards school.  Self-motivation is key to Cyber schooling.  Students are responsible for turning in assignments, logging into class, and joining in class discussions.  But there is also an element of independent work that is required.  Without motivation, this could present a roadblock that the teacher must address. If the student does not make himself available online, the teacher will have to find alternative ways to address the problem.

 

Student perspective:

Advantages of attending  PA Cyber  Charter Schools:

The advantages of attending a Cyber school are abundant.  Students are at home and interactive with their siblings and parents.  From this, they can build  strong family relationships and learn directly from their parents throughout the day.  They are also given much flexibility.  For those who are deeply involved in sports, music or any other interest, cyber school allows for an adaptable and moldable education.  Students can watch recorded lessons on the weekends or at early hours in the morning. This also provides convenience for families who travel.  Other obvious benefits would be the ability to earn a degree at home, flexibility with classes taken at public schools or colleges in addition to classes for Cyber school, and a social network of those in the area also participating in the school.

Disadvantages of attending  PA Cyber  Charter Schools:

Despite the many advantages of joining Cyber schools, there are the possibilities of a few draw backs.  One in particular is socialization.  Students have the opportunity to connect with those in the community, however this depends on the willingness of the student to join.  In addition, despite  the interactive aspect of classrooms online, students could possibly sense isolation on the daily level from staying at home for classes.

 

 

 

 

For further information, check out their home website: http://www.pacyber.org/

 

 

 Grace DeWalt (Post Author)
Megan Daugherty
Sarah DeMar

Alyssa Baldwin
Group 10

Response to 21st Century Learners

   In one of the first Comp 204 B class periods at Grove City College, this video was presented to the class. For me, it provoked quite a bit of reflection; I couldn't understand how students seemed to believe it was the teachers responsibility to engage students in the classroom using technology that is most widely used as forms of entertainment.

   This video is basically 16 students asking their teachers to engage them, as they are "21st Century Learners" who respond best to modern technology. They argue that a traditional classroom setting is not the best learning environment, and hold up laptops, MP3s, cameras, and cell phones. While I have nothing against appropriate use of technology in the classroom, this request comes across as demanding an almost lazy approach to education.

   Let's look at this from the students point of view. As kids who seem bored with school, they are asking for integration of something that excites them. I can see students using a blog to sum up history lessons, write book reviews, or a number of out-of-classroom assignments. They want to be excited about school, and as a future teacher that excites me! However, the description these students give of the ways they already use technology and their unwillingness to engage themselves doesn't lead me to think abandoning a traditional classroom setting is a good idea. 16 and a half hours of watching tv, 3 and a half hours gaming, and 5 and a half hours on the computer every week is not my definition of using those resources well.

   These students want to use technology to share information with each other. What kind of information? Thoughts on literature or the latest pop-culture trends? They don't realize that the "education" they are asking for doesn't involve anything besides mindless pleasure! They are asking to be engaged because they don't realize what they are learning at school is valuable content, all they know is mindless entertainment. 

   What can you do with students who have this perspective on education? As a teacher, one of your goals should be to develop a love of learning in your students. You need to reach out to them in order to teach them, but you can't go all out and do everything they request. For these students, I would recommend incorporating things that interest them as motivators to complete their out-of-classroom assignments. I don't support their request to transition to a curriculum based in technology, and I strongly value traditional education, but I want these students to succeed. If they are motivated to use technology and I can use that to introduce them to an appreciation of things like the value of American history and the importance of analyzing literature, I would consider that an appropriate and successful use of technology. 

Alyssa Baldwin (Post Author)
Megan Daugherty
Sarah DeMar
Grace DeWalt
Group 10

 

Live Binders

Maegan E. Slaten collected, what she feels, is the Top 10 technology tools for Elementary Educators. As I was reading through them, I found a website called livebinders.com. This website is an online 3-ring binder which allows anyone to collect websites, photos, documents, etc. into an easy to navigate "binder". Students can use this in the classroom to collect information for projects.

When creating the binder, the information is dropped into your binder on different tabs. The tabs can then be labeled to allow easy navigation to the information that is needed. On these tabs, students can paste links from other websites for easy access to more information. 

The binder is easy to use and is recommended for young students to keep information online in a neat organized way. The binders can be shared so that others may see the work that the students did. It can also be shared to the teacher for an easy grade. 

Pros: free, easy to use, works on any computer with internet connection, can be shared, can be public or private

Cons: runs on pop-ups, must have internet access to use, 
no customized links for sharing (like blogger uses for sharing)

Teachers can also use the live binders for in-class exercises for the students. Exercises in math, science, history, etc. can be easily dropped into a binder. They can be accessible to all of the students at the same time.   

Technology has become an important tool in the classroom. Teachers are sometimes forced to use the technology given to them in the classroom. I think using the live binders allows the students to use technology effectively in the classroom. It allows the students to put order to the information they are gathering. I would definitely use this website in my classroom if we had access to the computers and internet that is needed for this. 

In my classroom I would have my students use live binder to collect information for a project (for example, a history project). They could look up dates and events that happened in a certain time period and place them in the live binder to keep everything together. They could put the information that they gathered into a chronological order. I as a teacher can go on and look at their progress. I can also grade them on their project right online, instead of  having them turn things in on paper. In doing so, we would be saving paper, ink, and time. 

I love this website and I would recommend viewing it at your convenience. I would also recommend looking at the other technology tools that Maegan Slaten says are the top 10 tools for elementary educators. 

For more technology tools for Educators: http://www.slideshare.net/mes285/my-top-10-tools-for-elementary-educators

This is the live binder website with some examples of binders: http://www.livebinders.com/

Posted by: Sarah DeMar
Group number: 10
Members: Sarah DeMar, Megan Daugherty, Alyssa Baldwin, and Grace DeWalt

Technology Integration for Elementary Schools

I found a website that talks about how technology should be used in the elementary classrooms. The journal was written with tips from Paulette Williams, a technology-integration specialist and veteran teacher, who talks about how to make the most out of digital tools in our classrooms. 

Start with the standards. Use technology only when it enhances your content -- not the other way around. It's less effective if you use technology for technology's sake.

This is good because we really shouldn't use technology just for the sake of using it.  Everything before was done without technology and we can use it only when it truly helps the learning. 

Put the tools in kids' hands.
* Interactive whiteboards: They don't call 'em interactive for nothing. When these large-display screens that connect to a computer and a projector arrived at Forest Lake, Williams gave teachers six months to wean themselves from their interaction-less overhead projectors. Students can touch the interactive boards to solve math problems, play games, or write and edit text. When one student is running the board, Williams suggests keeping others engaged using remote clickers, personal dry-erase slates, or manipulatives. 

This idea sounds like it could really add to the learning in the classroom.  I may be mistaken, but it seems like these screens are like smartboards, making the tools less messy than markers or chalk would be.  That is also an added bonus!

Maintain the same rigor as in pen-and-paper projects. Students still have to do the same level of planning and research, whether they're producing an old-fashioned poster or a podcast. Give them your rubric up front, so they know what's expected of them. If possible, show examples of model work. 

With elementary students, large projects like this may be more rare.  However, we can still take the advice and try to be as clear as possible so our students will learn to the best of their abilities.

Overall, technology can be a very helpful thing, or a very disastrous, distractive thing.  We as educators need to educate ourselves to learn just how technology can add to our students' learning instead of hindering it.

In my future classroom, I can see myself using a little bit of technology, but I'd like to try and teach without needing it for absolutely everything.  I am certainly not against the technological world, (hence this blog) but I do think that technology truly has its place, and does not need to be used for everything.  

Here is the link to the original journal website: 
http://www.edutopia.org/stw-differentiated-instruction-technology-integration

Megan Daugherty (Post Author)
Sarah DeMar
Grace DeWalt
Alyssa Baldwin 
Group 10