Week+7+(March+1+2010)


 * Acceptable Use Policies for Internet use.**

This week's readings were about **eLearning in Ontario**. The first readings discuss the use of AUPs (Acceptable Use Policies for Internet use), which are contracts between administrators, teachers, parents and students, to ensure that students are following rules and guidelines for internet use. Here is the [|OCDSB AUP] I think this is a fantastic idea because it gives individual students more responsibility and takes the pressure off of teachers to be vigilantes in the classroom. It seems much easier than blocking all sorts of sites, which can detract from learning and take privileges away from the students who do abide by the rules. Also, I think that it's a great idea that more than 50 courses in high school are offered online in the province. While I could see that this might make some people nervous because that gives students a lot of responsibility and independence, so many times I think we underestimate what our students are capable of. For those students who have hectic schedules, with work and extracurricular activities, this could be very valuable.

An LMS is a Learning Management system, which is the software teachers use for their online courses (for example, Web CT or Moodle). They can be used in different ways, depending on what the teacher likes, for example:
 * everything is online
 * there are chat times
 * there are dates that homework must be submitted

In terms of teaching an online course, I must say that I'm torn. I really enjoyed taking my first online course this year, but I would be hesitant to teach one for different reasons:
 * I am a fairly animated person and I believe that interacting one on one with my students is a huge part of my teaching style
 * I feel intimidated by the work load because I would have to have the whole course available in September for students to see (or do I? I know our prof did it this year, but maybe I could organize the course in sections, for example month by month... this is something to discuss in class)
 * There might be problems with assessment: how do I know if they are really learning if I don't see how they work and interact with others?

However, I'm definitely open to the idea. It seems that LMSs would be really handy for students and maybe I could find ways to have dialogues with them, using Virtual Classrooms, such as **Adobe Connect** or **Elluminate**.

In terms of **aspects I would like to use** with wikis, the possibilities seem so great that I don't know where to begin. Of course wikis are great for keeping in touch with parents and for keeping students on track by having assignments and due dates listed online (I love that idea). I also like the idea of using the software we learned about from our colleagues during their lessons to post things on the wiki (ie: the comic book software). This way students could get ideas from one another and learn collectively when they see what others have produced.

The **Virtual Classrooms** are really cool and I would like to use them in my French class next year. It would be wonderful to connect my class with a francophone class who was learning English. That way we could spend some days speaking French and other days speaking English. The students could have partners to talk to and interview the other students about their culture and their life. One of my teachers even suggested sending a box of things to the other class, filled with items that students thought best represented the city where they lived. That way each class receives items that they can discuss with their partners. ** I believe that video conferencing could have huge effects on second language learning. **

(image accessed at http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1264/869847216_72511aa360.jpg)