Blog Entry #4 - "Rural Districts Bolster Choices with Online Learning"

           The article entitled, “Rural Districts Bolster Choices with Online Learning” of the March/April 2012 issue of Learning and Leading follows four small rural school districts in Oregon and explores how each district encourages the use of online learning in classrooms.  The four school districts: Lane, Creswell, Pleasant Hill and Crow-Applegate-Lorane all use online learning to offer enrichment courses to advance students and help struggling students a way to retake courses to graduate.  Many smaller and rural districts are limited to offer a variety of courses in school due to the size of their staff, so many of these school districts have turned to online learning which gives students a richer selection of offerings.  The goal in using online learning is to expand the student’s knowledge, develop a free or low cost shared service and become innovative.  By using online learning, students are able to study and gain more knowledge about subjects that are tailored to their interests that they usually wouldn’t learn in a basic educational classroom, such as Mandarin or Computer Programming courses.  Most of these small rural school districts have seen their student’s grades increase and become more successful learners, however, there were only few cases where they saw a negative issue with online learning which was students becoming less motivated.  Overall, online learning is broadening choices for students, providing an effective alternative for students with learning disabilities and helping students graduate who usually wouldn’t by offering the opportunity to make up a course online.

                After reading this article, I realized how important it is for schools to include technological tools in their classrooms, whether it is iPads, laptops or mobile devices.  It was also very interesting to read the perspective from rural small school districts.  There are many studies that show students becoming more successful in school because of online learning.  However, I see that the teacher’s role is diminishing with online learning because their role has now become more of a mentor rather than a teacher.  With online learning, the teacher is there just to help and answer questions, as well as grade the assignments.  I do believe that online learning serves students at both ends of the spectrum by offering enrichment courses that allow capable students to move ahead and also offers courses that are available to retake for students that are failing.

                This article is related to the ISTE NETS performance indicator number six, “Technology Operations and Concepts”.  This performance indicator discusses how students demonstrate an understanding of technology concepts, systems and operations.  In this ISTE NETS performance indicator, students understand and use technology systems and select and use online applications effectively and productively.  The online learning structure of a classroom allows students to use and understand new technology systems and concepts.  By participating in an online learning classroom, students are involved in using technology systems that they aren’t familiar with.

Brown, D. (2012). Rural districts bolster choices with online learning. Leading and Learning with Technology, 39(6), 12-17.