Scenario 1

In 2011 Michigan made it a requirement for all students have to have an online experience before they graduate. This online experience can be fulfilled in three different ways: students can take an online course, they can have twenty hours of online learning with a face to face teacher facilitating, or they can be in a school were technology is infused into all of the required courses. This seems like a great idea but there are some challenges that students might face with online classes.

With students taking a completely online class through a virtual school or a recovery program there are certain issues I could see students facing. For example, I am not the best writer and I struggle with reading comprehension, but I am successful enough to get by. However, if a student had more issues with reading and writing, online classes could be a real issue for them. Another issue that online classes could have on a student is, if they are slower workers, they might not get done with their work during the class time and if they don't have access to a computer at home they might not be able to finish their homework. They could go to the local library and use their computer but the library has a lot of distractions that could cause issues for some students. Also, there could be an issue if the student has a question and the teacher doesn't respond in a timely fashion or if the teacher doesn't answer the exact question and the student ends up being more confused. With a traditional class, the student can just restate their question in a different way and get a response right then. With online classes a student might have to wait a day or two before getting their question answered. There can also be confusion between the student and teacher. Sometimes it is harder to read someones question or response to a question than it is to hear it. Lastly, with fully online courses it is hard to get a connection to the teacher and it might make it harder to ask questions if you have one. With a traditional classroom you get to know your teacher better and can feel safe asking a question. In an online class, not knowing the teacher could leave a student feeling a disconnect to the class and end up learning less than if they were in a traditional classroom.

The method of having twenty hours of online learning in a traditional face to face classroom seems very interesting to me. Some of the issues that the fully online classes cause would not be an issue here. If a student was having an issue with something or had a question they could ask the teacher right then and get an immediate answer. This makes this option seem better for students with comprehension issues. These students would also have the advantage of having a teacher remind them when something is due or if a large project is coming up, which would help students who have issues managing their time. Students would still run into issues with having access to technology at home or even in the classroom. This would be a real issue if a school didn't have the technology resources available for a teacher to fulfill the twenty hour requirement.

I believe the best scenario for students who work slower or have issues with reading and writing would be having technology in all of the required classes. However, that would require the school having the resources to have technology in all the classes. At Wyoming High School not all teachers had the resources for that. This would require the teachers getting creative with how they use technology in their classroom. They did have one computer for the teacher in each classroom and a projector. Teachers could find ways to use their own computer to include students in online learning.