More than one million U.S. high school students drop out each year and more than sixteen million students live below the poverty line. Children in poverty now make up nearly half of our public school students and many of them are underserved by their school systems. In the area of technology access, there are disparities in ownership and internet access across all socioeconomic groups. There is good news, research shows that if ask-risk students gain ready access to appropriate technology used in thoughtful ways, they can make substantial gains in learning and technological readiness. Continue reading “Using Technology to Support At-Risk Students”
Online Learning and Building a Sense of Community
Higher education as well as K-12 is moving increasingly online and educators need to quickly learn how to effectively teach in this new digital environment. Students tend to be less satisfied with completely online courses when compared to traditional courses and fully online courses also experience higher attrition rates. In 2001, Hara and Kling conducted a study of online courses and found that feelings of isolation were an important stress factor for online students. Continue reading “Online Learning and Building a Sense of Community”
How to make formative assessment effective online
Assessment Types
Summative assessment is the assessment of learning, while formative assessment is an assessment for learning. Summative assessments measure what the student has learned; formative assessment informs the instructor on how they are doing with their teaching and the student on their progress. The use of formative assessment is critical for the instructor to adjust their teaching and also to provide feedback for the student. Continue reading “How to make formative assessment effective online”
A short history of online learning
Through the Mail
Distance learning is not a new concept in the field of education. Distance learning began in 1873, when Anna Eliot Ticknor, daughter of a Harvard professor, founded the Society to Encourage Studies at Home. This was one of America’s first correspondence schools, it was a distance learning school conducted through the mail. The school was targeted at the education of women and provided six disciplines to study; English, History, Science, French, German, and Art. Once accepted into the program, educators mailed syllabi to the students, who were then responsible for submitting assignments through the mail.