Learning around the clock for school?

September 26th, 2006

Studying online“A school … plans to offer pupils teaching around the clock“, BBC News report today. It seems that a college in Hampshire (England) is to open from 7am to 10pm and offer lessons via the internet throughout the night.

As a consequence of this measure:

  • learning modules would be available online at any time; students would be required to attend classes for some activities, and the rest would take place on the Internet.
  • teaching and administrative staff at school would work flexi-time;
  • families taking holiday during term-time could structure their kids’year so that they still get the full 190 days the English system requires. Likewise, teachers would be enabled to arrange their holidays more flexibly.

So much for the news story… Now here come my questions:

  1. Has this ever been tried before? I’ve always passionately advocated for blended learning, but this sounds going too far for a first step for me…
  2. Has anyone given a thought to the social aspects of learning, and the development of values which can only get developed through f2f interaction? The article fails to report what percentage of f2f meeting will be required (it just says some courses will still be taught in the traditional way, though school hours will be longer)
  3. Will there be fewer schools, to make up for the increase in length of school hours offered?
  4. Who has supervised the methodology the of online learning to be offered? This really intrigues me…

All new roads look a bit dark and unsafe, I guess… I just hope I hear more about this as the plan is carried out (the project is expected to last two years).

Gladys

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Why some online communities work, and others..

January 14th, 2006

Here’s a short but in my view good list of some key points on how to successfully facilitate online interaction: How can effective facilitation strategies help to sustain a Professional Learning Community?

I agree with every point Trena Noval makes, and my favourite two are:

  • “Create a rationale for your community” : I’ve found most of the time people join discussion groups just to see what they’re like, when facilitating we should “rush” to help them appreciate our reason for getting together, this is bound to make a difference in their commitment to the community, I guess.
  • “Give teachers concrete ideas of how to engage in the work of being part of a team”:  this might prove challenging, especially in communities where backgrounds are quite heterogeneous, and in those in which no one is supposed to “be in charge” (as APIBA‘S SIGs), but it’ll definitely make a difference in keeping everyone involved and helping them feel their online presence makes a difference to the community.

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    Online facilitation | Comments (2)