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Why Wait for an Pandemic? Online Tools and Learning Management Systems for Educators
Despite (or as many argue, due to) a rampant lack of funding in school districts across the country, more and more schools are finding ways to incorporate online tools like learning management systems into the classroom. They are doing so in innovative ways that tap into many different resources, technological and otherwise. The blended learning strategy requires just that--a blend of both face-to-face and virtual instruction, a smart blend of new and traditional teaching techniques, and simple resourcefulness.
The implementation of online tools should never be haphazard, forced without educators' understanding and/or desire for it, or done for novelty's sake, as a shiny new toy for a school. Nor should it be, in my opinion, a last resort.
Which is why I admit to feeling a little dismayed when last week, Anthony Salcito, the vice president of Worldwide Public Sector Education at Microsoft, wrote a blog post entitled: H1N1 Virus Forces Academic Institutions to Think More Aggressively About Online Learning.
"The H1N1 pandemic highlights the need for institutions to think more holistically about blended learning environments," Salcito wrote, "…that these online and distance learning solutions are valuable not only when you have to respond to classroom outages or school closures, but also creates an opportunity to connect and share information between a student and teacher beyond the classroom all the time."
While this is all well and good, when did online learning become a last-resort method, something provoked by tragedy and absolute necessity? Honestly, does it take a massive flu outbreak for online tools like learning management systems to be embraced by educators who haven't begun to use them yet? And if so, in what ways are these tools being deployed--as a last resort, or in a comprehensive way that honors the principles behind blended learning?
Develop and deliver interactive training courses with Coggno's Learning Management System (LMS) Online. Simple user interface, potent and cost-effective.
The implementation of online tools should never be haphazard, forced without educators' understanding and/or desire for it, or done for novelty's sake, as a shiny new toy for a school. Nor should it be, in my opinion, a last resort.
Which is why I admit to feeling a little dismayed when last week, Anthony Salcito, the vice president of Worldwide Public Sector Education at Microsoft, wrote a blog post entitled: H1N1 Virus Forces Academic Institutions to Think More Aggressively About Online Learning.
"The H1N1 pandemic highlights the need for institutions to think more holistically about blended learning environments," Salcito wrote, "…that these online and distance learning solutions are valuable not only when you have to respond to classroom outages or school closures, but also creates an opportunity to connect and share information between a student and teacher beyond the classroom all the time."
While this is all well and good, when did online learning become a last-resort method, something provoked by tragedy and absolute necessity? Honestly, does it take a massive flu outbreak for online tools like learning management systems to be embraced by educators who haven't begun to use them yet? And if so, in what ways are these tools being deployed--as a last resort, or in a comprehensive way that honors the principles behind blended learning?
Develop and deliver interactive training courses with Coggno's Learning Management System (LMS) Online. Simple user interface, potent and cost-effective.
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Latest page update: made by coggnolms
, Sep 24 2009, 1:42 PM EDT
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Keyword tags:
cost-effective training
interactive training
Learning Management Systems
LMS
online learning
online tools
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