Students, say goodbye to snow days -- and say hello to school at home - CNN.com - 15 views
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A day later, when students logged in on school-provided laptops, they were able to ask teachers questions, work through assignments or jump into class discussions, even if they sometimes took breaks to shovel the walkways.
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Amanda Lerma on 02 Mar 14With the use of "virtual school days", it seems students can have the opportunity to continue learning and not fall behind. Throughout the day, they can complete assignments at their own pace and at any given time as long as it meets any established deadline by the teacher. Overall, it provides opportunities for teachers and students to remain in contact despite not being in their normal physical classroom.
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Sean Getchell on 02 Mar 14I think virtual school days are a great idea, especially in those areas of the country that have six or more months of winter a year. However, I think it would require a great deal of discipline on behalf of the teachers, parents, and students. However, as long as each are committed to their respective roles, I see nothing but positives coming out of it.
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Jose Banda on 03 Mar 14Any means that enhances learning is a great way to continue the learning process. This concept of learning at home requires a huge committment that parents must take on. We are assumming that every has the technical skills and internet resources at home.
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Maricela Gonzalez on 03 Mar 14Jose- Yes, I totally agree. Virtual schools are the way to keep education going when the weather is not best to be out. But I think that you bring up a good point. I work at a school with many low income students, of which many do not have computers nor internet access. Therefore, the schools may want to brain storm a way to help faciliate virtual school opportunites to students that can't afford it. I hate making up inclement weather days, perhaps this is the solution. Great article.
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Maricela Gonzalez on 03 Mar 14Sean, I'd hate to be living in Chicago where the weather is fierce. Making up inclement weather days in my school is bad enough...I wonder how it is for them up there? I think that the teachers will indeed need to have a great degree of discipline when it comes to coordinating their instruction. They will need to be able to coordinate times and assignment deadlines with their students. However, in the end it will all be worth it- as this is the way that education is headed in the long term.
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danielraguilarjr on 03 Mar 14Great article! Jose and Maricela, I agree with you on taking into account the schools we work at and low income students who do not have access. Our schools may also not have the resources to provide a laptop to take home for each student. Our hurricane days usually fall within summer break but in case we get a late storm it is important to start thinking outside of the box. Teachers will also have to be very in tune with different types of technology and programs but a few training's on that should help. I think this is a great idea and just taking the technology that we all want to implement in our classes to the next step. On the plus side the students in the article seemed to really enjoy managing their own time and surprisingly enough the attendance to "school" on the virtual class days was higher than a regular day.
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Amanda Lerma on 03 Mar 14Maricela and Daniel, I do not have any teaching experience but from what I understood in the article and maybe either of you can correct on me on this, a school has a certain number of days allotted for these types of closures but when they use them up, they must tap into vacation periods like Spring Break? I'm sure it is frustrating for teachers to have their lesson planning thrown off and also trying to keep their students on track with the curriculum as a result of school cancellation. I know the a virtual school day may not be possible for all but I think it can definitely exist as a possibility for some schools and having them avoid having to tap into extra make up days. I think it can help keep the learning paths on track without major interruptions. I know some students may not be enthusiastic about a virtual school day but I think in the long run it will benefit them.
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Rene Zuniga on 04 Mar 14Daniel, you make an excellent point "Teachers will also have to be very in tune." We all know that some Teachers, even with training, will not be in tune with the technology. Let's face it, there are educators who feel that teaching will not be improved with technology. Some educators strongly feel that technology is just a fad, short-lived, and will not transform teaching and learning. This way of thinking does not help students who literally are born with technology. Also, this way of thinking will never improve learning in any siginificant way.
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Martin Rodriguez on 04 Mar 14This is an alternative method that the district is using to keep the learning process moving. It is an excellent example of how technology can become a powerful educational tool when used properly. Think back at when most of us were in school, this was nowhere near being an option for us or for our teachers. This is really thinking outside the box; wish more of this was being done.
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Martin Rodriguez on 04 Mar 14Daniel, I could not agree more, teachers need to really be on top of their game in order to keep up with the ever growing technological trend. A lot of the research that I have done on teacher absentee has shown that it's not so much that teacher do not want to participate it's just that they do not know how.
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Lucretia Human on 04 Mar 14Martin, My kids think when I was in school dinosaurs roamed the earth. Yes, we have come a long way, when it was a snow day (in my case a hurricane day) it really was a snow day. However like Joseph Cirasuolo, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents said, "If we are going to personalize education for children, we need to take advantage of what technology offers us and online programs are one of the things that technology makes possible." I like the interactive online programs that the schools in the article came up with for good use of the down time away form school. I think it would also be beneficial if the teachers used the snow itself to create lessons and then the students could post findings and observations so that classmates could review and comment on them. In the article below one school did just that. The students were learning how snowflakes were made and building 3 snowmen in different parts of the yard and determining which one melted faster. The school said that every snow day, the lesson plans were revised to include other activities to continually engage their students. I do like hands-on learning. http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Could-technology-make-snow-days-a-thing-of-the-5286160.php
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Jose Davila on 05 Mar 14I agree with all of you. Teachers need to get more educated on Technology and be able to utilize it more in the classroom. However, I know several Teachers that feel that technology is just a fad and there is no need to learn and integrate it in the classroom. Moreover, we all know it is a very important tool that needs to be utilized because its the way of Education and life. Technology is here to stay whether Teachers accept it or not. I just feel they need to embrace it and learn more about it for the children's well being along with themselves.
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danielraguilarjr on 05 Mar 14Maricela: Yes, there are a few days set aside for inclement weather however, when there are unplanned inclement weather days they start taping into breaks and sometimes even extend the year. In my class everything is posted online (since I am really trying to push technology and help the students become comfortable with it). If every teacher could move to this model then everything would be uniform and teachers would not have to rush to post things. If all districts could move to training teachers to do this then it wouldn't be extra work for teachers. When I was getting my bachelors degree in Education I can't remember there being many technology classes for teachers.. it was mostly hands on learning. Has that changed for recent graduates? That may be where teaching teachers about applicable classroom technology needs to begin.
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Laura Esquivel on 05 Mar 14Having technology as a back up for days like this is awesome! the students and teachers don't stay behind. They are still able to access their assignments and also able to get in touch with their teachers. Technology has grown so much the past years. I remember when we had to missed school due to weather related issue I dreaded going back because of all the work that we had to do. In order for this to be effective all the teachers need to be on top of the technology tools that they can utilize for this certain issues. If the teacher is not willing to stay in tuned with technology then it will not be effective.
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Chris Aldrete on 07 Mar 14I see this as a great way to continue education through the use of technology. I do have to agree that a great deal of discipline and culture is needed in order for it to be effective with all the learners. Yes, it is always difficult even in the classroom to reach out to all of them but I believe this can work with proper planning.
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Chris Aldrete on 07 Mar 14I see this as a great way to continue education through the use of technology. I do have to agree that a great deal of discipline and culture is needed in order for it to be effective with all the learners. Yes, it is always difficult even in the classroom to reach out to all of them but I believe this can work with proper planning.
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Amanda Lerma on 08 Mar 14Laura, Great points. I'm not a teacher but I imagine having to miss school for several days can place teachers in a bind. They will need to rework lesson plans and still have to make sure they get their students back on track once classes resume. Its great that this could be potentially be an option for some schools rather than having to use up other days or run their risk that their students might fall behind.
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Tougher yet is the technology. Most schools don't have one-to-one programs that supply students and staff with computers, and home Internet connections can still be spotty. Teachers polled for a 2013 survey by Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project said more than half of students had sufficient access to digital tools at school, but only a fifth could access digital tools at home.
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The access to an internet connection as well as actual devices is something a school district definitely needs to consider prior to implementing virtual school days. While many students probably have access to some type of device whether it be a laptop, tablet, or phone, how many of these have sufficient internet connection at home? Plus, if a school is having to cancel due to bad weather, it is possible that this weather might impact a family's access to internet or other power sources.
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A very good point. I have had to stop myself on several occasions because I made assumptions about other people's access to technology and at-home internet. I now have to internally stop myself and ask my clients about any potential shortcomings as far as access to a certain level of technology or a certain internet speed. I then look at local elementary schools and how they currently lack enough computers to support a program like this. It will be an interesting balancing act to watch as technology requirements continue to grow proportional to the available budgetary constraints.
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The digital divide keeps growing with students that do not have the means of resources. The argument of public access points also is invalide since that would require a committment to go to the point of access. Schools and teachers should clearly plan when using technology tools.
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How do you keep an entire class moving forward with a virtual school? Monitoring students who are not directly in front of you can prove challenging. Maybe video chats, or live confrences when the students are on the clock will prove helpful. I think that when teachers are planning their instruction to zone in on these inevitables, they will be able to make the virtual school a more successful experience for all. I think that the concept behind virtual schools will definitely be very feasible in a mass scale soon enough. As educators we have to think to the future and technology technological mediums such as Web 2.0 is it.
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Sean, I too am guilty of those same technological assumptions as well. Its very easy to assume others have the same access as you especially if most of the people you interact with have sufficient internet access as well. The school district will need to consider this aspect when working on the development plan for virtual school days. I'm not sure how they would go about handling students that do not have access at home since I'm sure in every school there will be at least one family that falls in this case.
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Amanda and Sean, I think most of us have that same assumption. However, there is an organization working toward providing 30 million Americans with reduced Internet access within the next 3 years. Families with K-12 students that qualify for reduced or free lunch are the focus. "The consensus is that a big piece of how we are going to work in classrooms is with digital tools, both in class and at home," said Zach Leverenz, CEO of Connect2Compete. "Kids living in homes without the Internet are increasingly at a disadvantage as coursework and workplace skills become more dependent on technology." http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/03/internet-access-for-everyone-a-new-program-targets-low-income-students/ Look at the website Everyoneon.org to find out how this is happening and how you might could help. http://www.everyoneon.org/
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Thanks for sharing this article Lu. I had no idea that there was initiative like this in process. I think its great. Technology is used so much today, it makes me think just how much it will be used in our classrooms over the next few years. It would be unjust for students to be left behind as the article mentions. I also like how they will be providing training as to how the Internet can be beneficial. I use the Internet frequently and still discover new things I can use so I think this type of training is necessary for individuals that have rarely used it due to a lack of access.
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Technology in schools is a great tool to use. At schools all the students have opportunity to utilize it, but whats happens when they get home. The majority of the students might not have internet access and don't have the advantage to learn those tools more. I think there should be some type of program to help those without internet. It could be provided only during the school year for a low cost. This will give those students the chance to practice what they are being taught.
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Lu, you are on top of up-to-date information. Thanks for sharing with us what you read. It brings the point that today's education should be "just-in-time" education and not "just-in-case" education. We are actually using what we are learning. Technology, by the way, plays a vital role in the "just-in-time" education. Employers expect employees to know the most up-to-date information. Just as well, teachers should expect student to have the most current information. Without the Internet or mobile technology the "just-in-time" education is a bit more challenging. I applaud all of you who are making comments and keep me on the cutting edge of information.
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Money here is the issue and it always will be. Every time that the conversation about technology comes into the classroom finances are always touched. I still believe that plenty tools our in our reach but we need to educate the students and our teacher's of the tools and how to utilize them. Financial support is huge but starting with what we have is important.
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Chris, I agree. I think we can at least begin to take small steps with what we have. Proper training for both teachers and students will help them reap the benefits of technology. Not all students have access to technology at home but at least we can do what we can to help them utilize technology to the fullest in the classroom.
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Online, he finally heard some quieter classmates speak up. "Having it all out on Twitter, people have that little barrier," he said. "It was kind of open to a lot more opinions."
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I've mentioned this in other posts, but I consider myself quite the introvert and appreciate the opportunities that technology provides as far as "giving a voice". I don't know if I would speak out as much in a traditional environment and find myself more at ease in sharing opinions through this virtual medium. I think this would be one of the benefits of virtual school days which could provide somewhat of a change for the quieter students. They may view it as an opportunity to become more involved with discussions.
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I have to agree with you, Amanda. As a closet introvert (had to force myself out of my shell for professional pursuits), I completely empathize with anyone that might have difficulty in sharing their thoughts and voice with an audience of any size. With technology, you no longer have to feel like you're standing up in front of the masses and they are staring at you like a three-headed cow. Now, we have the opportunity to share our voice in a variety of forums, probably provided in a more clear and concise manner, and meet new people with much less societal pressure. Technology continues to advance education and our society in new and inventive ways!
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Great thinking Amanda and Sean. Technology allows introverts to come out of their shell and extroverts to learn to listen. This plan allows introverts to voice their opinion and fosters learning for the extrovert. The thinking of those giving feedback and receiving feedback is improved. We need to be sure, however, that introverts do not become fascist.
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Amanda, Sean and Rene, Coming from a very extroverted opinion, I know first hand about learning to listen to those introverts when they use technology. I really am glad to have had the chance to learn so much through many of the introverts that have been in my classes throughout this program. The old quotes about listening really should ring true in all ears of extroverts, " We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." Epictetus http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/listen.html#VD4tAUXyaoYVTDs0.99 I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to listen to those that are not as outspoken as myself. They have taught me so much about subject matter, about when to be quiet and when to speak (still working on that one) and to remember to do the same for my own students.
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Amanda, I agree with you. I consider myself an introvert as well, because I like how technology gives us a voice. I am one of those students that is a bit shy and can not engage easily in a conversation like others. They would definitely view it much more easy to engage in discussions.
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Lu, Thanks for sharing that quote. I love it. Jose, I agree. It's great that technology can help give a voice to others. I actually was a bit hesitant about pursuing this master's program in the beginning since I had never taken an online course. Looking back, I think this was the best option for me.
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I am the type of learner that will sit in class quiet and shy the entire time. Yet, if you sit me in front of the computer in an online class I am the complete opposite. I interact, collaborate and stay engaged most of the time. I have the opportunity to voice my opinion and thoughts without having anyone looking straight at me. I also get to express myself while working with a team fluently. It is so much easier to just engage and collaborate online since there are minimal distractions. It is a great way of communicating because it forces all team members to listen and then actively provide feedback.
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In my Edmodo classroom, students who never ask questions, timid, and quiet in class among other classmates are those students who ask more questions through Edmodo than the other students. I have found that online classrooms have given the shy students confindence in communicating with me, their instructor, to progress through the course.
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I agree that online discussions give those who find it difficult to join F2F conversations an easier in. I think some of us process information differently and may benefit from reading a post, having time to formulate a response, re-wright if needed, and then let it fly for all to see. Hopefully with a supported ability to edit or delete. F2F just does not lend itself to that level of control.
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This article discusses how some schools are using technology to hold "virtual school days" and continue the learning process during periods of school cancellation because of inclement weather.
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Do you feel more schools should use technology to hold "virtual school days" during periods of school cancellation or should they just let a "snow day" be a "snow day"?
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This article discusses how some schools are using technology to hold "virtual school days" and continue the learning process during periods of school cancellation because of inclement weather.
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I can see how school districts heavily investing in 1:1 device solutions could go to a virtual school day for some grade levels (once a month or once a week) to immerse students in the digital environment and possibly recoup some of the cost. Thought is that students need to function at a distance whether it be for regular school, higher education or ultimately at work.
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I like the idea of using virtual school days. It is the best of both worlds: stay home and learn. Students are able to spend more time with the material and allows students to think for themselves and explore new ways of learning. Nonetheless, there are several assumptions in virtual school days: Everyone has access to the information. We all know that is not the case. While all technology produces engagement not all engagement is positive. Another very important aspect is attendance. Funding is based on attendance. How will schools count one day attendance. Just giving much work does not necessarily means that students were "in class" a full day. In spite of these issues, I feel that virtual school days will work. This concept allows students to look at learning in different ways and to stimulate creative thinking.
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Rene, You bring up some good points. There are still many potential issues with "virtual school days" that a district would need to consider. It won't be perfect in many aspects. However, I think the pros outweigh the cons and this strategy could definitely be beneficial for a school suffering from many cancellations. As you mentioned, it would be a change for some of the students, enable them to learn in different ways, and help maintain the learning process without any major standstills.
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I like the idea of "virtual days" for those "snow days." The students are able to stay in focus with school. This will help them stay in check with their school work and not make of it as a day off. Schools can do practice drills on virtual days with their students to see how it will work. This gives the student the chance to learn the virtual world. This way the students learn how to log on and attend class through their computer devices.
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This article opens the possibilities for school anytime anywhere and I applaud the efforts made and taken by this school district. With all of the advances in technology the current student generation will wish they were their parents or siblings who got to stay home due to weather closing schools and instead groan when they receive notifications and emails about assignments on a snow day. Additionally, this should be used to expand include sick days to keep the student informed and actively participating in school activities and turning in their school work. UTB has a similar plan when a hurricane is barreling towards the south Texas coast to switch many face to face courses to online and blackboard modality to minimize the downtime and not have to make up or extend the term. I believe this is a great use of technology and happy that it was added here for our review. Great article!!
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This article discusses how some schools are using technology to hold "virtual school days" and continue the learning process during periods of school cancellation because of inclement weather.
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This article discusses how some schools are using technology to hold "virtual school days" and continue the learning process during periods of school cancellation because of inclement weather.