Week+3+Discussion+5362

Week 3--Significant Quote--"By the time they reach higher education, most adults have acquired a degree of autonomy in learning, but younger students need to be scaffolded as part of the distance education experience. Virtual school teachers must be adept at helping children acquire the skills of autonomous learning, including self-regulation." This quote means a couple of things to me as a teacher--**job security and validation**! 

I know we all have thought about the future of our jobs and careers as technology becomes more and more pervasive. It is good to know that we will still be needed, even in a virtual environment. In the very near future, teaching won't just be about whether you know your subject matter, but also how well you develop and build skills in your students to understand it, take it to the next level, and instill a desire to go above and beyond THAT level--on their own! Even virtual environments need good, no--extraordinary teachers. 

This quote also gives a sense of validation to our chosen profession. Not all people have the skills to teach 5 to 18 year olds effectively. It's hard!! We have to build exciting lessons which use various hands-on, technology-rich resources, while at the same time adhere to the state and district mandated objectives, a specific 9-month time-frame, and also prepare them for standardized tests such as the PSAT, the SAT, and the TAKS--soon to be STARR. Not to mention keeping and holding their attention for 90 minutes at a time, while we can't even keep from grading papers in a faculty meeting! Teachers are the worst students--look around at the next faculty meeting and see who is focused only on the speaker--you will be surprised. And we expect our students to do this--five days a week for 8 hours a day! I could go on and on...but, I digress.... 

Hopefully, in the very near future, good teachers will start to earn the respect and admiration we so deserve, and prove to be an invaluable resource to our struggling nation.

Cavanaugh, C., Gillan, K., Kromrey, J., Hess, M., & Blomeyer, R. (nd). The effects of distance education on k-12 student outcomes: A meta-analysis. //North Central Educational Regional Laboratory//. Retrieved on November 17, 2009, from http://education.ufl.edu/faculty/cathycavanaugh/docs/EffectsDLonK-12Students1.pdf