This is the area where I will post the required responses to the "other / additional" journal readings.

-- Anonymous, January 25, 1999

Answers

The following is my overview / response on a professional journal article taken from the the January / February issue of MultiMedia Schools magazine. The article was titled Virtual Schools: Charting New Frontiers, by Kathleen Rutkowski.

With the rapid growth of technology and the Internet, education has without question experienced many changes. Not only is technology assisting in redefining the instruction process, but it may be instrumental in providing entirely new opportunities for actual learning. Kathleen Rutkowski touches on this idea in this article and explains the concept of virtual schools.

Just what is a virtual school? A virtual school is a school without walls, without classrooms, without buildings! It is a place of learning that does not have a location on a map and does not have a geographic presence. A virtual school serves the educational needs of a dispersed group rather than one tied by a small geographic boundary. An exciting factor of virtual schools is that it is not governed by the same rules and space requirements that govern the traditional community school building. Virtual schools are not chained to their local area. Instead, they have a global reach. Anyone with Internet / Web capabilities can participate in what these schools have to offer. Time is not as important of an issue as compared to a traditional school. Their are no bells in a virtual school. With the exception of expected time lines and due dates for assignments, students enrolled in a virtual school have the flexibility to work on the various assignments when it is most convenient to them. On the flip-side, virtual instructors can offer unlimited office hours and can be globally available. Homebound students, at-risk students, and other unique populations of learners can truly benefit from virtual schools. In addition, virtual schools can also serve to assist financially strapped and over crowded schools and school systems by offering a variety of specialized courses.

Virtual schools are still quite rare. However, their potential impact on reshaping education should not be taken lightly. Virtual schools can easily cooperate, enhance, and partner with traditional schools to expand the possibilities of receiving and experiencing education.

-- Anonymous, January 26, 1999

The following is my overview / response on a professional journal article taken from the the November / December 1998 issue of Teacher Librarian magazine. The article was titled Virtual Schools: Gardners Theory, by Amy Brualdi.

In her writings, Amy Brualdi overviews Howard Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Gardner proposed this idea back in 1983 but it is recently and rapidly being incorporated in school curricula of today. This new outlook on intelligence differs greatly from the traditional direction of education, which usually recognizes only two intelligences, verbal and computational. Gardner defines intelligence as  the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural settings. Gardner goes on to further explain seven areas of intelligence: Logical-Mathmatical Intelligence, Linguistic Intelligence, Spatial Intelligence, Musical Intelligence, Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, and Personal Intelligence. Gardner claims that these seven intelligences rarely operate independently. Instead, the intelligences are used concurrently and usually compliment each other as a skill is developed or a problem is solved.

So how does all of this effect the teacher in a classroom? How can a teacher incorporate Gardners Theory into a classroom environment? If the theory states that all seven of the intelligences are needed to productively function in society, teachers need to think of all intelligences as equally important. Educators need to recognize and teach to a broader range of talents and skills. Teachers also need to structure the presentation of material in a style which helps to engage most or all of the intelligences. By tapping into a wider assortment of intelligences, teaching in this manner may provide for a deeper understanding of the subject material. This all sounds so easy but in reality can be very complicated. Even though everyone is born processing these seven intelligences, children growing up in different environments will cause each child to come to school with his or her own set of unique intellectual strengths and weaknesses. Because of this, it is near impossible, and impractical, for a teacher to structure each lesson to accommodate the different learning styles found within a classroom. However, teachers can actively strive to find ways to show students how to use their more developed intelligences to assist the understanding of a subject that would normally require the use of their weaker intelligence trait.

-- Anonymous, January 26, 1999

Hi Scott! This is in response to the article that you wrote about on "virtual schools". It sounds a lot like what we are currently doing for the Cohort program. I agree with the benefits that you mentioned, but as a primary teacher I would be concerned about the children's social skills. School is not only a place for academics, but it's also a place for children to learn how to get along with others, make friends, etc. And for many children, the walls of a school are one of the only safe places that they have in their lives. It will be interesting to see if these virtual schools are the wave of the future.

-- Anonymous, January 26, 1999

The following is my 3rd response and overview of a professional journal of my choice. This is to fulfill the April, 1999 requirement.

Thornburg, David D., The Future Isnt What it Used to Be. The Thornburg Center (1997) No one can accurately predict the developments of the future. In addition, no one has the ability to pinpoint exactly how society will need to adapt and react to these upcoming developments. One thing I believe that most of us would agree on is the fact that the future will definitely be made up of many technological changes. David D. Thornburg expands on this idea within this article. He does a wonderful job at looking into the future years and describes some of the challenges and adventures that we may encounter. He focuses mainly on the advancement of technology and describes how he believes it will affect our future lives.

He attempts to lay out a brief overview of the coming years by looking at some emerging trends. Thornburg highlights some global trends which are believed to have great impact on the changing role of education. Information itself is currently estimated to be doubling at a rate of 22 months. The time from discovery to the actual application of the information is also shrinking rapidly. In his words, These trends provide the sensation that time is collapsing. The advancement of the silicon chip in conjunction with the rapid popularization of the Internet and World Wide Web has helped to create what Thornburg describes as a digital tornado . Without question, these trends are having an affect on the education process. The concept of information literacy now begins to take on new meaning. Schools must prepare students with these needed information literacy skills. Thornburg explains that learners at all ages need to master two very important skills. The first is the ability to locate information specifically related to the question they are exploring, and the second is to establish the veracity and utility of this information. Business and education face a future filled with rapid change. It is up to each institution to decide how it will respond.

-- Anonymous, May 07, 1999

Hi Scott! "The Future Isn't What it Used to Be" is an understatement! Technology is changing so rapidly that I haven't caught on to the old stuff before I'm being bombarded with the new stuff - there are days when I want to try to "catch up" and other days when I simply want to "give up" in defeat. Gone are the days when high school students needed to know basic American or world history facts; now they'll have to get an overview and know how to locate specific information should they need to explore deeper. And as the article mentions it will be important to learn to investigate the truthfulness of the information and how to use it. "Digital tornado"...interesting term, but a rather scary one as well. Sondra

-- Anonymous, June 15, 1999