Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
But on the other end of the exceptional educational spectrum, ALL districts are required by law to serve the most profoundly disabled children. In some cases, that means that the district itself has to pay for the services that the children require that they can't provide. I believe that ALL children should be able to be served by their public schools, no matter their exceptionality. I know two families with profoundly gifted children. Both had to leave our district, the top in the state, for a private school to get the services that they needed at their own expense.
There's a difference between getting the services they "need" and getting the services the parents "want". I'll give you a TRUE example. My old school system -- actually somewhat a leader in special ed services -- was once sued because they wouldn't provide weekly horseback riding lessons/opportunities for a special ed student.
You appear to think that is a good thing. It is not. The majority of elementary and high school students do much worse in cyber school.
I think that it depends on how cyber school is implemented. I have a friend who teaches AP virtually and her students do quite well. She’s trained to teach virtually and all the parents are on board with the virtual program. Assuming people actually do virtual school because they want to and the teachers are trained to work in a virtual environment, it can be beneficial for students.
What we had the past couple of years in public school is teachers not trained to do virtual learning having to teach kids who may not have the appropriate tools or environment to participate in virtual learning. FWIW, I have one friend who did virtual school for AP coursework and other advanced coursework and he actually did quite well. My guess is that for EDS’ child, a virtual environment might work fine.
Virtual settings can be used to have kids actually be present in school for virtual learning and supervised. I have one friend whose kid did a virtual program through a charter school. He had done horribly in a traditional environment and this was for behaviorally challenged kids. He was failing all his classes and behind by a year or year and a half. It seems like he must have been a smart kid, because he was able to catch up and graduate on time through this virtual program that allowed him to accelerate some coursework that he found easy. For him, it sounds like the social environment was the problem not actually learning. I think he ended up going into a trade after finishing high school.
You appear to think that is a good thing. It is not. The majority of elementary and high school students do much worse in cyber school.
It is a good thing, but it's not a model for everyone.
It's a good model for a pandemic where concerns about pandemic related issues are minimized.
In-person learning has its merits too of course, but for some, the social interaction can be distracting and even detrimental to learning. Some sped students who were affected negatively by the social interaction of in-person learning have thrived and some have even gotten off the IEPs when they exceled and made the transition to cyber school.
Cyber might not work because of the individual student and not because it's just simply "a model that doesn't work". All the high quality content is potentially available and one can even consider pacing themselves ahead of time. Cyber world helps minimize discrimination based on appearances too.
The so-called stats don't really address the reality of it all.
It is a good thing, but it's not a model for everyone.
It's a good model for a pandemic where concerns about pandemic related issues are minimized.
In-person learning has its merits too of course, but for some, the social interaction can be distracting and even detrimental to learning. Some sped students who were affected negatively by the social interaction of in-person learning have thrived and some have even gotten off the IEPs when they exceled and made the transition to cyber school.
Cyber might not work because of the individual student and not because it's just simply "a model that doesn't work". All the high quality content is potentially available and one can even consider pacing themselves ahead of time. Cyber world helps minimize discrimination based on appearances too.
The so-called stats don't really address the reality of it all.
All things to consider.
On balance cyber learning per K-12 has been a substantial net negative.
It is a good thing, but it's not a model for everyone.
It's a good model for a pandemic where concerns about pandemic related issues are minimized.
In-person learning has its merits too of course, but for some, the social interaction can be distracting and even detrimental to learning. Some sped students who were affected negatively by the social interaction of in-person learning have thrived and some have even gotten off the IEPs when they exceled and made the transition to cyber school.
Cyber might not work because of the individual student and not because it's just simply "a model that doesn't work". All the high quality content is potentially available and one can even consider pacing themselves ahead of time. Cyber world helps minimize discrimination based on appearances too.
The so-called stats don't really address the reality of it all.
All things to consider.
What is your experience teaching online? What platform did you use and what grade level did you teach?
What is your experience teaching online? What platform did you use and what grade level did you teach?
Mainly HS for 3.5 years. I've taught Grades 4-12 online, but Grades 4-8 was a very brief stint.
I used Blackboard Collaborate with k12 software. While there were some kinks, especially for the lower grades, it was a good system overall- especially for the higher grades.
Classroom management overhead is minimized and learning opportunities and safety can be very maximized with the right attitudes and knowledge.
I've taught a variety of courses including two types of AP.
I've run an international online chess club and provided in-person opportunities to build competition for the few students who happened to be close enough to me.
I also organized a dim sum trip (pre-pandemic) and with the connections I built up where some people drove 2-4 hours one way in order to attend the trip.
Using online as a teaching platform came very natural for me from the beginning. I was able to learn some commands and tricks on my own and show other colleagues, and I had a good flow with some keyboard commands, good with breakout rooms, understanding of Internet logistics and such also helped me transition over very well.
Most of my main interests translate during the pandemic to an online format very well.
Mainly HS for 3.5 years. I've taught Grades 4-12 online, but Grades 4-8 was a very brief stint.
I used Blackboard Collaborate with k12 software. While there were some kinks, especially for the lower grades, it was a good system overall- especially for the higher grades.
Classroom management overhead is minimized and learning opportunities and safety can be very maximized with the right attitudes and knowledge.
I've taught a variety of courses including two types of AP.
I've run an international online chess club and provided in-person opportunities to build competition for the few students who happened to be close enough to me.
I also organized a dim sum trip (pre-pandemic) and with the connections I built up where some people drove 2-4 hours one way in order to attend the trip.
Using online as a teaching platform came very natural for me from the beginning. I was able to learn some commands and tricks on my own and show other colleagues, and I had a good flow with some keyboard commands, good with breakout rooms, understanding of Internet logistics and such also helped me transition over very well.
Most of my main interests translate during the pandemic to an online format very well.
One of the biggest issues we had was students who disappeared when classes went online. They just didn't show up. Other students would log in at the beginning of class and then disappear. This was mostly with below average students. The top students will figure how to excel in any environment. We were using Google Classroom. My experience with Blackboard was as a grad student. The instructors did minimal teaching on that platform.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
