Mike Hanley, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Education & Early Development I believe that the biggest stride that we have taken is not around pedagogical strategies but rather around a recognition that we can and should be offering our students so much more. As we cling to traditional techniques, our students leave us with gaps in learning strategies and knowledge that was easily accessible. I believe that a growing dissatisfaction with what our students are getting-especially in small schools, is the driver of change around distance delivery. Interestingly, various pedagogies have gained pockets of support and have erroneously driven the efforts of individuals with good intentions around the state. I say "erroneously" because when the tool becomes the driver, we cling to that tool even though the ultimate goal is greater access and greater opportunity for kids. The right tool has to be chosen for the right situation and the right student. Curriculum companies can become those drivers.
Dan Walker, Assistant Superintendent, Lower Kuskokwim School District The major strides we have made over the past 20 years are multi-fold. LKSD started out using the TV studios at KYUK to broadcast inservice trainings out to our sites. This was one way and not very interactive. If you fast forward to today we have a robust two way interactive video conferencing set-up with 3 full time studios. These are used to deliver a variety of VTC classes to students and PD to staff. One of the biggest strides we have made is the ability to make VTC as interactive as possible. Our teachers and PD staff are using delivery techniques that keep students and staff engaged in learning. Without this interactivity the material tends to be dry and boring. Because we are at a distance, our teachers must find ways to go beyond stand and deliver and find avenues and uses of technology that keep kids excited about learning. Who would have thought just a few short years ago that we could teach an advanced, hand-on, Robotics and Engineering class over the VTC, or that we would be blending different modalities of learning and combining course content into a variety of face-to-face, online synchronous and asynchronous experiences.
There are also constant challenges in keeping a distance learning network going. You have to up time approaching 100% or you lose opportunities to teach and it is hard enough to find enough time as it is. If you then have large amounts of down time due to technological glitches people will lose interest. This is only accomplished by having reliable networks and enough bandwidth to make it work. It is very challenging and expensive.
Ryan Stanley, Director of Tech Ops, SouthEast Regional Resource Center The accessibility of synchronous tools like videoconferencing, especially within districts that have good enough bandwidth, is probably the most notable stride over the years. A lot of money has been invested in and spent ongoing on maintaining synchronous VTC bandwidth and equipment.
The second most notable stride would be the evolution of correspondence school into web-based asynchronous or blended courses like those from VHS and AKLN. These are coming along and quite effective for individual, self-driven students when proficient/engaging online teacher/materials are involved.
The pedagogy behind synchronous VTC is pretty much the same as the pre-existing sage-on-the-stage, stand-and-deliver pedagogy. It allows teachers to continue delivering the way they've always delivered (mostly). Students on the recipient end, tho, are just as likely (if not more so) to space off when looking at a talking head on a TV.
The pedagogy for many online courses is similar to that of correspondence school - which doesn't always take advantage of the myriad of opportunities for online interaction but are instead focused more on delivering materials to the student. It's easy to confuse animation with interactivity. More and more courses are making use of online discussions, but folks are only beginning to understand how to get students working on projects together, asynchronously, over distance.
Synchronous VTC in many cases is quite expensive to maintain. One lesson to be learned from this is that often a simple telephone speakerphone would do the same job for a fraction of the cost. The video doesn't allow a teacher to *really* see what is going on in that remote classsroom. Instead, a simple telephone with great speakerphone would suffice, especially if a proctor is present in the remote classroom. Additionally an inexpensive webcam and computer/projector in the remote classroom can provide less expensive options to let the teacher "see" the students.
The other huge lesson to be learned is to put infrastructure first. I've seen so many schools that make the easy technology purchase, whether from a vendro-written RUS grant with top-of-the-line VTC gear, or iPads, or Smartboards, or computers, but they lack the network, wireless, bandwidth, and organizational infrastructure to meaningfully integrate the tools.
Spike Jorgensen, Former Superintendent, Alaska Gateway School District Education has to be based on the needs of the students statewide in a comprehensive curriculum.
Technology allows for adaptations of the curriculum to include culture and language. The power of the computer to build that structure and then deliver it is available to you and distance delivery understands that better than anyone else.
Distance delivery is limiting in allowing the teacher to get close to the student to assess what they really need.
Alaska Gateway SD has gone from getting the highest per-pupil reimbursement was the highest cost in our district. We have gone from that to ¼ of the base-student allocation for distance education, through a series of funding changes. The transition began with correspondence schools, including Alyeska, to local correspondence that does not require attendance. Now there are approximately 200 students who do not have regular attendance. I believe there are about 5,000-10,000 Alaska students who are not being educated. Parents do not declare they are homeschooling their children.
To do a proper job of distance delivery in Alaska to include EED and UofA as well as K-12, it would be in the $billions. It can be done - to address all the comprehensive standards that need to be taught, the assessments, the teaching strategies and then options for various types of learning and instruction.
Mt. Edgecumbe = moves the kids to the education. Parents and state do not like this. Shift from education to economic motivation. It moves kids out of the home school into a regional boarding school.
Larry LeDoux, Former Alaska Commissioner of Education My thoughts on digital learning began with the TRS-80 I brought into my classroom in the Fall of 1978 and have become increasingly cluttered (albeit more passionate) over the years. I have been working with technology as a tool to help enhance student learning ever since. My brain is full of great memories, some disappointments and lots and lots of students and teachers transformed by the power of digitally assisted/enhanced learning. So much has been done and so much to do! What do you believe are the major strides that have been made in the history of distance education in Alaska? 1. New learning options for students. 2. Professional support for isolated rural teachers. 3. Professional Development 4. Access to learning resources 5. Isolation Resolution 6. Student access to content specialists. Alaska Native Teachers and Learners A. Increased access to language and culture bearers. B. Increased access to age and interest peers. C. Anonymous sharing of thoughts, concerns and ideas by students and teachers. D. Preservation of culture projects. (i.e., Old Minto) E. Cultural simulations F. Increased access to professional role models, information, post-secondary opportunities. G. Increased access to content expertise 3. Dissolution of Statewide correspondence Program (Alyeska). The bureaucracy had become moribund and driven by the momentum of past practice. While a step forward relevant to the possibility of increased innovation, the exit of DEED from direct interest, beyond the enforcement of regulations, left innovation of e-learning in the hands of a number of districts, for-profit correspondence companies and educational entrepreneurs. ALVN was designed to fill this leadership vacuum.
Rx2) What do you believe is the pedagogy behind them?
Well, the pedagogy was more of the same initially. In a way, correspondence programs, pre and post the emerging internet-based communication modalities, reflected the teacher-led, knowledge-based instruction predominant in the majority of American classrooms. The synchronous classroom teacher was merely replaced by a book.
Just as in regular classrooms, students with strong parent-support foundations were successful while students with risk factors slipped out of the system.
However, distance instruction that combines/blends opportunity for peer social interaction, synchronous and asynchronous instruction and constructivist teaching practices that allow students to learn naturally. is beginning to emerge. Commentary: While this is theoretically true, the recent national emphasis on certain strategies/assessments that deemphasize student creativity, innovation and problem-solving are at odds with the skills and attitudes necessary for students to achieve 21st century application focused standards. We take one step forward and then shoot ourselves in the other foot.
Rx3) What lessons were / could be learned?
In a nutshell, "Doing more of what doesn't work using digital learning tools will not work"
As classroom instruction becomes more student/knowledge-centric and students are granted the freedom to communicate, collaborate, problem-solve, innovate ..... digital learning assets will find a natural place in both instruction and learning.
In the late '80's I became responsible (among many other duties) for Kodiak's correspondence program. Because I had some "hippie" teachers, who were almost universally looked down upon by classroom teachers for their constructivist tendencies and emphasis on relationship-based instruction, the program was very effective. However, budget cuts were used as a reason to reduce staff to a point where they shifted papers. The program was no longer a place for traditional and non-traditions students to find success and freedom.
Later, I used correspondence as effective credit recovery option in the grant-funded alternative program I supervised. My staff and I worked to heal their mind, attitude and learning self-esteem while the courses served to earn lost credit. I always felt a bit guilty about breaking lots of rules in those days but the legacy of student success by my graduates has assuaged my conscience and validated my continued state of instructional rebellion.
John Monahan, Director, Alaska Distance Education Consortium (AkDEC) My experience working with rural communities is that lack of bandwidth speed limits the possibilities of distance education. It used to be that we were the leaders in distance education by virtue of correspondence - cutting edge correspondence distance education was consider mailing out packages of books and materials, but really wasn't that exciting or motivating for the traditional student. What has really recently significantly changed in Alaska, is increased bandwidth speed and the opportunities that it provides. Being able to do video conferencing, for example, using CILC (Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration) for taking virtual field trips, and accessing other institutions resources to broaden community access. . BTOP (Broadband Technology Opportunities Program), Alaska Department of Education's Ed Tech, and the things the Alaska TelCo's are doing to increase speed and capacity within the system are what have recently been instrumental in making distance education work in Alaska.
2:20 I think pedagogy changes depending on the resources available. What I can do via a fax machine is very different than what I can do via a major bandwidth with video conferencing. The pedagogy has to change with the resources and the access that you have. Even given good resources, the 'sage on the stage' has a part in good instruction. It has to be balanced with interactive and group learning. We send teachers to school to get educated and learned on their expertise not so they don't say anything, I think some of the techniques out there recently enhance the sage on the stage. For example: a flipped classroom; let a teacher do a presentation or have a guest speaker and let the student and teacher and parent observe that and then the teacher can guide the learning that follows that conversation. Things like that are changing how learning looks; not necessarily how the classroom looks; but how learning is taking place. 4:50 We have an agreement with CILC that allows for schools and classrooms to access other collaborative sites. There are currently over 300 institutions globally in the CILC consortium that allow for student to interact with each other. This is a good example of what could blossom on the Net. 6:15 One of the things that I think that we've learned in Alaska is that we have to keep the equipment as least complex as possible because we don't have the infrastructure needed for some of the equipment attempted previously. I looked at "Big Sky", "Star Schools" and lived through "RATNET." Whenever the dish got out of wack, you had to wait for someone to come out there and fix it. That could bring a site down for a long time. As I think about what keeps a program operational, it's the ability to not get bogged down with the technology and the things that could prevent it from happening. There are also the standard actions we all know. You have to put time into training and bringing everyone together to build relationships. It takes the blended learning of face-to-face and then support via distance to build a network.
started by Roxanne Mourant on 10 Jan 14
I believe that the biggest stride that we have taken is not around pedagogical strategies but rather around a recognition that we can and should be offering our students so much more. As we cling to traditional techniques, our students leave us with gaps in learning strategies and knowledge that was easily accessible. I believe that a growing dissatisfaction with what our students are getting-especially in small schools, is the driver of change around distance delivery.
Interestingly, various pedagogies have gained pockets of support and have erroneously driven the efforts of individuals with good intentions around the state. I say "erroneously" because when the tool becomes the driver, we cling to that tool even though the ultimate goal is greater access and greater opportunity for kids. The right tool has to be chosen for the right situation and the right student. Curriculum companies can become those drivers.
The major strides we have made over the past 20 years are multi-fold. LKSD started out using the TV studios at KYUK to broadcast inservice trainings out to our sites. This was one way and not very interactive. If you fast forward to today we have a robust two way interactive video conferencing set-up with 3 full time studios. These are used to deliver a variety of VTC classes to students and PD to staff. One of the biggest strides we have made is the ability to make VTC as interactive as possible. Our teachers and PD staff are using delivery techniques that keep students and staff engaged in learning. Without this interactivity the material tends to be dry and boring. Because we are at a distance, our teachers must find ways to go beyond stand and deliver and find avenues and uses of technology that keep kids excited about learning. Who would have thought just a few short years ago that we could teach an advanced, hand-on, Robotics and Engineering class over the VTC, or that we would be blending different modalities of learning and combining course content into a variety of face-to-face, online synchronous and asynchronous experiences.
There are also constant challenges in keeping a distance learning network going. You have to up time approaching 100% or you lose opportunities to teach and it is hard enough to find enough time as it is. If you then have large amounts of down time due to technological glitches people will lose interest. This is only accomplished by having reliable networks and enough bandwidth to make it work. It is very challenging and expensive.
The accessibility of synchronous tools like videoconferencing, especially within districts that have good enough bandwidth, is probably the most notable stride over the years. A lot of money has been invested in and spent ongoing on maintaining synchronous VTC bandwidth and equipment.
The second most notable stride would be the evolution of correspondence school into web-based asynchronous or blended courses like those from VHS and AKLN. These are coming along and quite effective for individual, self-driven students when proficient/engaging online teacher/materials are involved.
The pedagogy behind synchronous VTC is pretty much the same as the pre-existing sage-on-the-stage, stand-and-deliver pedagogy. It allows teachers to continue delivering the way they've always delivered (mostly). Students on the recipient end, tho, are just as likely (if not more so) to space off when looking at a talking head on a TV.
The pedagogy for many online courses is similar to that of correspondence school - which doesn't always take advantage of the myriad of opportunities for online interaction but are instead focused more on delivering materials to the student. It's easy to confuse animation with interactivity. More and more courses are making use of online discussions, but folks are only beginning to understand how to get students working on projects together, asynchronously, over distance.
Synchronous VTC in many cases is quite expensive to maintain. One lesson to be learned from this is that often a simple telephone speakerphone would do the same job for a fraction of the cost. The video doesn't allow a teacher to *really* see what is going on in that remote classsroom. Instead, a simple telephone with great speakerphone would suffice, especially if a proctor is present in the remote classroom. Additionally an inexpensive webcam and computer/projector in the remote classroom can provide less expensive options to let the teacher "see" the students.
The other huge lesson to be learned is to put infrastructure first. I've seen so many schools that make the easy technology purchase, whether from a vendro-written RUS grant with top-of-the-line VTC gear, or iPads, or Smartboards, or computers, but they lack the network, wireless, bandwidth, and organizational infrastructure to meaningfully integrate the tools.
Education has to be based on the needs of the students statewide in a comprehensive curriculum.
Technology allows for adaptations of the curriculum to include culture and language. The power of the computer to build that structure and then deliver it is available to you and distance delivery understands that better than anyone else.
Distance delivery is limiting in allowing the teacher to get close to the student to assess what they really need.
Alaska Gateway SD has gone from getting the highest per-pupil reimbursement was the highest cost in our district. We have gone from that to ¼ of the base-student allocation for distance education, through a series of funding changes. The transition began with correspondence schools, including Alyeska, to local correspondence that does not require attendance. Now there are approximately 200 students who do not have regular attendance. I believe there are about 5,000-10,000 Alaska students who are not being educated. Parents do not declare they are homeschooling their children.
To do a proper job of distance delivery in Alaska to include EED and UofA as well as K-12, it would be in the $billions. It can be done - to address all the comprehensive standards that need to be taught, the assessments, the teaching strategies and then options for various types of learning and instruction.
Mt. Edgecumbe = moves the kids to the education. Parents and state do not like this.
Shift from education to economic motivation. It moves kids out of the home school into a regional boarding school.
My thoughts on digital learning began with the TRS-80 I brought into my classroom in the Fall of 1978 and have become increasingly cluttered (albeit more passionate) over the years. I have been working with technology as a tool to help enhance student learning ever since. My brain is full of great memories, some disappointments and lots and lots of students and teachers transformed by the power of digitally assisted/enhanced learning. So much has been done and so much to do!
What do you believe are the major strides that have been made in the history of distance education in Alaska?
1. New learning options for students.
2. Professional support for isolated rural teachers.
3. Professional Development
4. Access to learning resources
5. Isolation Resolution
6. Student access to content specialists.
Alaska Native Teachers and Learners
A. Increased access to language and culture bearers.
B. Increased access to age and interest peers.
C. Anonymous sharing of thoughts, concerns and ideas by students and teachers.
D. Preservation of culture projects. (i.e., Old Minto)
E. Cultural simulations
F. Increased access to professional role models, information, post-secondary opportunities.
G. Increased access to content expertise
3. Dissolution of Statewide correspondence Program (Alyeska). The bureaucracy had become moribund and driven by the momentum of past practice. While a step forward relevant to the possibility of increased innovation, the exit of DEED from direct interest, beyond the enforcement of regulations, left innovation of e-learning in the hands of a number of districts, for-profit correspondence companies and educational entrepreneurs. ALVN was designed to fill this leadership vacuum.
Rx2) What do you believe is the pedagogy behind them?
Well, the pedagogy was more of the same initially. In a way, correspondence programs, pre and post the emerging internet-based communication modalities, reflected the teacher-led, knowledge-based instruction predominant in the majority of American classrooms. The synchronous classroom teacher was merely replaced by a book.
Just as in regular classrooms, students with strong parent-support foundations were successful while students with risk factors slipped out of the system.
However, distance instruction that combines/blends opportunity for peer social interaction, synchronous and asynchronous instruction and constructivist teaching practices that allow students to learn naturally. is beginning to emerge. Commentary: While this is theoretically true, the recent national emphasis on certain strategies/assessments that deemphasize student creativity, innovation and problem-solving are at odds with the skills and attitudes necessary for students to achieve 21st century application focused standards. We take one step forward and then shoot ourselves in the other foot.
Rx3) What lessons were / could be learned?
In a nutshell, "Doing more of what doesn't work using digital learning tools will not work"
As classroom instruction becomes more student/knowledge-centric and students are granted the freedom to communicate, collaborate, problem-solve, innovate ..... digital learning assets will find a natural place in both instruction and learning.
In the late '80's I became responsible (among many other duties) for Kodiak's correspondence program. Because I had some "hippie" teachers, who were almost universally looked down upon by classroom teachers for their constructivist tendencies and emphasis on relationship-based instruction, the program was very effective. However, budget cuts were used as a reason to reduce staff to a point where they shifted papers. The program was no longer a place for traditional and non-traditions students to find success and freedom.
Later, I used correspondence as effective credit recovery option in the grant-funded alternative program I supervised. My staff and I worked to heal their mind, attitude and learning self-esteem while the courses served to earn lost credit. I always felt a bit guilty about breaking lots of rules in those days but the legacy of student success by my graduates has assuaged my conscience and validated my continued state of instructional rebellion.
My experience working with rural communities is that lack of bandwidth speed limits the possibilities of distance education. It used to be that we were the leaders in distance education by virtue of correspondence - cutting edge correspondence distance education was consider mailing out packages of books and materials, but really wasn't that exciting or motivating for the traditional student.
What has really recently significantly changed in Alaska, is increased bandwidth speed and the opportunities that it provides. Being able to do video conferencing, for example, using CILC (Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration) for taking virtual field trips, and accessing other institutions resources to broaden community access. . BTOP (Broadband Technology Opportunities Program), Alaska Department of Education's Ed Tech, and the things the Alaska TelCo's are doing to increase speed and capacity within the system are what have recently been instrumental in making distance education work in Alaska.
2:20 I think pedagogy changes depending on the resources available. What I can do via a fax machine is very different than what I can do via a major bandwidth with video conferencing. The pedagogy has to change with the resources and the access that you have. Even given good resources, the 'sage on the stage' has a part in good instruction. It has to be balanced with interactive and group learning. We send teachers to school to get educated and learned on their expertise not so they don't say anything, I think some of the techniques out there recently enhance the sage on the stage. For example: a flipped classroom; let a teacher do a presentation or have a guest speaker and let the student and teacher and parent observe that and then the teacher can guide the learning that follows that conversation. Things like that are changing how learning looks; not necessarily how the classroom looks; but how learning is taking place.
4:50 We have an agreement with CILC that allows for schools and classrooms to access other collaborative sites. There are currently over 300 institutions globally in the CILC consortium that allow for student to interact with each other. This is a good example of what could blossom on the Net.
6:15 One of the things that I think that we've learned in Alaska is that we have to keep the equipment as least complex as possible because we don't have the infrastructure needed for some of the equipment attempted previously. I looked at "Big Sky", "Star Schools" and lived through "RATNET." Whenever the dish got out of wack, you had to wait for someone to come out there and fix it. That could bring a site down for a long time. As I think about what keeps a program operational, it's the ability to not get bogged down with the technology and the things that could prevent it from happening.
There are also the standard actions we all know. You have to put time into training and bringing everyone together to build relationships. It takes the blended learning of face-to-face and then support via distance to build a network.