Module 2 Reflections

So, now that I've read all the articles and watched all the videos, what have I learned?

1)  Online learning is much bigger than I originally thought.  Barbour (2008) says that online education has been around in North America for 20 years.  I did not know that over 1/2 the states already have a virtual state school and most states have at least some form of online education.  Online learning is estimated to be growing at around 35%/year.  Many students are now required to take at least one online class.

2) Online learning is still in a state of development.  Barbour (2009) notes that the documentation for what constitutes effective asynchronous learning is only beginning to come out.  While online learning has been around for 20 years and it has matured quite a bit, it still is not "mainstream" in the regular education community.  It has proven itself in that no one can dispute its value, yet it still maturing.  For one thing, Moore (1989) points out the online community hasn't completely defined its terms for the different type of online learning and the different styles or modes of online learning.   Granted, this was written over twenty years ago, but I am so new to the online community I don't know if these problems have settled down yet.

3) Online learning is the future of education.  With the internet and globalization, online education is the way to reach the millions of people who haven't had access to high quality and costly education before.   I believe that we are just on the cusp of online education's possibilities and it will eventually replace brick and mortar education as the mainstream in educational delivery

4)  As with most learning, the haves are getting the benefits of online learning, the have nots (those who would also be best served from online learning) are not.  Barbour (2009) points out "The majority of the literature may portray K–12 online learners as being primarily highly motivated, self-directed, self-disciplined, independent learners who read and write well, d)and who have a strong interest in or ability with technology."  Clearly, those who don't have access to online learning (those economically or socially disadvantaged) don't have access to these materials.  If good online education were available, I am sure this could help in improving their circumstances.

Here's my Popplet.

Also, since I just found out that we need to have some media input in our blogs each week, here's a picture of a satellite that we track in my classroom (that little thing that looks like a beach ball).  It operates on standard ham radio frequencies and since I have a ham license, I'm authorized to talk to it.  The satellite belongs to my friend, Ivan Galysh.  He works for the Naval Research Laboratories and he built it.  It is testing a new chemical that when a voltage is applied to it, provides thrust for the satellite.  A couple of times a week we send it commands to burn its thrusters, then telescopes in Hawaii and Germany tells us its new spin rate.  From there we can calculate how effective the thrusters are.

What does this have to do with online learning?  Well, you just learned about this online, so...that's the best I can do this week.  :)