Concerns about K-12 Online Learning, Part Two

Post date: Jan 19, 2017 8:07:06 PM

Blog post part two: My own experience Teaching and Learning Online

I taught online classes for more than 15 years at Hawkeye Community College and Buena Vista University: I also had the opportunity to take some online classes myself during graduate school at the University of Northern Iowa. I am also a pioneer of the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) at Hawkeye, beginning in 1994; it is one reason that I was hired full time in 1996. I loved teaching on the ICN with all of its technology, and it was my first experience using technology at that level. I taught a number of classes where I had students in the main campus classroom plus students at up to three remote sites.

I also taught ICN courses for Buena Vista University where I was the only person in the main campus classroom in Waterloo and my students were all at a remote site! I used either a publisher’s website or a simple free website called Nicenet.org to post announcements, simple documents, web links, and used a simple discussion board. I was doing this before WebCT, Blackboard, Angel or Canvas were around.

I began teaching online in 2002/2003 and continued until my retirement in August 2016. Several key lessons that I learned:

1. Students need to interact, so I used discussion boards and themes to engage them.
2. Students need structure, so I set up my class with a fixed schedule, posting materials in sequential order, including a calendar and list of due dates.
3. Students need to see the big picture, so I put together a course pack of all of the essential handouts, including the syllabus and course calendar, grading slips, and handouts for each unit. While materials are posted online, I found that few of my students ever printed out the syllabus and calendar, much less any other materials. The course packs were available in the bookstore and cost around $16.
4. Students respond well to instructional videos. I used my iPad and an app called Educreations. Students watched the videos to get the content. I also posted informational PowerPoints on the chapters and used the videos to discuss the assignments and highlight important concepts. I tried to inject some humor, sometimes referred to my grandchildren or used pictures of them in the videos. Students liked it and sometimes commented on my grandchildren when we talked.
5. Students need contact with their teacher, so I sent weekly email messages with reminders of what we were working on, due dates coming up, and sometimes attached the next grading slip or a midterm checklist to the email.
6. Students need to understand each writing assignment and revise their work, so I avoided assigning letter grades and used a point-based checklist instead. I assigned points to various aspects of the writing assignment (outline, citing sources, introduction with thesis, etc.) so they knew where they needed to improve. When they revised, I added points in the areas where I saw improvement.
7. Students need feedback, so I used software built-into our online Course Management System (Canvas) that would let me comment on their essays and let them revise. I did one phone conference over the “big essay,” spending 45 minutes to an hour visiting with each online student, and while it was time-consuming, it proved to be valuable.

Even with all of my hard work, NOT ALL students were successful. I worked with students of all ages, races, and backgrounds. I had increasing numbers of High School students, international students attending other colleges, and students from outside of Iowa enrolling in my online writing courses. Almost every class included a handful who struggled: some did not log on until several weeks into the course. Some never logged on: some never dropped or responded to my many messages to them. Some logged on sporadically and only dropped after multiple email messages.

My younger students (those in High School) varied in their abilities to do the work. Many of them did excellent work. However, I also had a couple of students who needed to talk on the phone almost weekly; I spent almost an hour a week with one high school student who struggled to understand the assignment guidelines as well as the types of writing we were doing. I cannot imagine working with younger children in a totally online class.

For children who have severe health problems that keep them out of school, I believe a more hybrid approach would be better. Why not keep a connection with their teacher and classmates by using webcams? Children can continue to participate in class and see their friends.

Children who have been bullied may need to be transferred to a different class or school; however, there is much work to do to educate children, parents, and staff to prevent bullying of any kind to flourish. Simply removing the bullied child does not guarantee that the bully will not repeat his or her behavior. I would not want to see the bullied child isolated by the technology of taking classes online.

I do not think that many special needs children would do well with a totally online environment. I have had autistic students, vision impaired students, hearing impaired students, and physically disabled students in my face to face college courses. I did everything that I could to help them be successful, which often meant trying to compensate for the deficit. Some students who had more severe problems came to class with an aide—an interpreter for the hearing impaired student and an aide for one student who was in a wheelchair and had difficulty communicating and little use of his arms.

Children who are looking for more flexibility in schooling due to athletic, musical or acting careers may benefit from online school; however, I would hope that they would be closer to high school age than middle school or elementary. It seems to me that the primary audience for K-12 online school would be home schoolers, but I worry about the impact of isolating children behind computer screens. Not all families go to church or are involved in their communities: what contact will these children have?

After reading the Annual Report of Iowa’s two online schools, I was dismayed: they bragged about having clubs that kids could participate in with other online students. However, only 29 students were enrolled in one school’s clubs, with only a couple of students per club!

The Annual Report also failed to disclose what kind of follow up is done with students who drop out or fail to complete coursework. Is that money returned to the school district? Can the student re-enroll in their old school? Does anyone from the State Department of Education follow up to find out what happened? Does Retention matter to a for-profit entity? The survey results themselves were discouraging, with such a low rate of participation. I was left with more questions than answers.

I do not like seeing Iowa’s school children being seen as a cash cow to out of state companies, who operate for profit while decreasing the revenue needed to pay the bills in our local schools. If you care about education and your local community, please think twice about enrolling your students in these for-profit online schools. In addition, be prepared to hire a tutor or make a plan to cut back on work, or stay at home: these students need a parent or tutor to guide them through their lessons. However, the bottom line is that children who are developing their social skills need to interact with more than a teacher on a webcam and mom: clearly, online courses for K-12 are a great compromise, with the price tag being too high.

Last updated January 19, 2017