Snow Day Learning

A very positive side of E learning is that it could allow learning to continue even if pupils are unable to attend schools due to extreme weather conditions like ones earlier this year which shut some schools for over a week. This would be particularly useful when pupils are approaching examinations.

Will the Government still be pushing for ICT in homes?

I earlier discussed about how I was worried that firstly many schools including my own were not equipped for electronic learning and also that the pupils in many schools would not be able to access E learning at home.
The Labour Party decided all homes would have broadband within the next 5 years during a conference last year. However this was before the country really hit resession and now I wonder is that financing still available.
If E learning is to work and keep moving forward not becoming stale it must have strong financial backing and not be organised purely by companies wishing to get this alone. A united governmental approach to this issue could be needed to ensure its success.

What are the 'things' that you find puzzling about e-learning in your own context?

I suppose to be honest the most puzzling thing I must say I have about E learning is has it really had a positive impact on learning that is recordable. There is a lot of work needed to be put in and does this mean once set up the same materials are used year in and year. Does it really cater for the students, and how can individual education plans be really used?

I find most puzzling is how do you organise a successful program of e learning and how do you ensure they are used correctly.
I definitely see the advantage of using computers in lessons in theory but think that in practice keeping pupils focussed can be difficult in the real classroom and resources need to be good enough to take it forward. Having said that if you give pupils the choice they would always choose computers to aid their learning over posters so maybe it is something we should take more seriously. ICT skills are vital in todays society and this would be developed using these tasks. On the other hand would it reduce english skills?

So many questions and so many possible answers.... is the main reason it doesnt happen more because we are scared of using elearning more?

What are the 'things' that interest you most about e-learning within your own context?

Whilst I am worried about certain aspects of E learning it is something i can see does have potentially very positive uses in my lessons and learning:

As I have already stated in previous blogs i feel it could be very useful in pushing pupils further in their own time, for assessments and homework. The use of interactive diagrams are really useful in science to cement pupil learning. For A level studies it would allow more access to wider materials for example in A level Chemistry the following site would help:
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/chemistry/gilbert/tutorials/ch12.htm

However I think in lower school the uses are definately possible if computer access is available could definately be used to concrete pupils learning. I think the issues needed to be asked though are whether or not all schools have good enough computer availability and whether curriculum time allows e learning to successfully occur.

What if the IT department cant get it right?

One school I trained in had an ICT department who didnt teach pupils but they followed a GCSE module of online learning and the teachers 'facilitated' the learning. The department got the worst results in the school by a long way. This is a worry, was it the teachers getting lazy due to the online learning, or was it the learning style making pupils realise they were being pushed forward?

This worries me, as you would expect ICT to be miles ahead.

• Are there any particular anomalies or inconsistencies between what is espoused as 'good practice' and what actually happens in reality?

My main worry about E learning is the lack of interactions between teachers and learners, I cant quite see how a Zone of Proximal Development could be developed over the internet? But I also worry that this would cause a lack of motivation in younger students and in some it would lead to the ability to cheat.
I know from teaching A level Applied Science some pupils would attempt to hand in Wikipedia instead of their own work and as a teacher it is difficult to always identify this as there are enough sites out there to avoid detection.
In terms of being the teacher ~I feel one of my strengths in teaching is that I pass on my enthusiasm to the pupils (its like they say regardless how you feel when you go into the classroom your teacher face goes on). My big worry in this respect is how do you pass this on with text? How many explanation marks do you have to put in to show you are enthusiastic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Global Warming is really important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As a teacher how can you form a relationship through E learning compared to face to face teaching?

As a form of extension work in theory E learning could be a brilliant tool but how do you convince pupils its worthwhile in real life? I am sure if done well schools could benefit from introducing E learning as a method of homework as i have previously mentioned but in my experience it just isn't work. I guess it needs to be a whole school strategy but who is going to train teachers of a age range of 23 years to 65 years of age to all implement and use E learning on top of the work they have to do already.

• Do you have a particular ‘vision’ for e-learning within your own professional context?

I think E learning is potentially a useful tool if I implemented it correctly. I think it would be very useful in extended the understanding and research done by 6th form students and could be used to assist in their revision towards exams. The time I would need to set up a website could be reduced by using pupils to create the information to go onto the website in a creation of tasks during the curriculum. Then pupils could use their own work in revision on the website later on. The use of blog sites like this one would allow pupils to communicate with each other and myself. Exam practice questions could be put on and then later mark schemes could be published.

The use of E learning is important in lower school as it could be used to ensure that pupils are more interested in tasks set. With pupils who have difficulty in understanding work it could be used to ensure pupils are able in their own time to go over work and work through interactive tasks. For gifted and talent pupils it could be used to stretch their understandings through tasks and research opportunities.

I think the use of interactive and e learning needs to be carefully monitored to ensure pupils are benefitting and all pupils can access work online.