Blended Virtual Education: Permanent Entity or Transition Point

Greetings-
One of the ongoing debates in virtual education is whether or not blended virtual education is here to stay or whether it is just a transition point to where we are really going, that being students totally integrated into online education. Depending who you speak to, there are a number of objections to the idea of students being totally integrated into online education. Like most hot topics, you need to carefully examine the motives behind the positions that people subscribe to in the education establishment. Here are some potential objections to the total online education integration and a translation what they are really saying:

1. Students need the social contact with other students that they can only get in a brick and mortar school. This objection has been around for awhile and is often raised in many developed countries. This objection flies in the face of the reality that exists in 21st century teen relationships. If you were to add up the number of hours that students spend playing online games, using Facebook, using IM, Twitter, and other social media, you would come to the conclusion that students have re-defined the type of contact they seek with their peers. So, why do people keep bringing up this objection? Part may be due to a lingering nostalgia parents and the general public still have for their own school days. Part of the reason is political. The truth is that as enrollment figures for students in brick and mortar schools continue to decrease in many countries, money allotted to these institutions is starting to dry up, resulting in the closure of low enrolment schools in order to preserve a dwindling tax base. This has a domino effect within the education systems. What is interesting is that as enrolment figures have been falling in the brick and mortar schools, the enrolment figures for online schools have been more than doubling each year. What does that tell us?
2. Students do not have the self-discipline or maturity to handle online learning. This depends upon what age groups we are talking about. It is true that in the primary and junior grades that students are not mature enough but their level of technological competence is advancing at these levels every year. The skills that they need to be independent learners must be modelled and taught to the same degree in the online school as it would be in the brick and mortar school. An interesting development in some online schools is that they are now offering online education to students as low as grade 4. It is still in the refining stage but it is progressing.
3. Students get involved in online education because they can receive higher evaluations of their work that they would never get in the brick and mortar schools. In other words it is easier to get an A in an online system than in the regular schools. Ignoring for the moment how insulting this statement is to the professionalism of online teachers, it should be pointed out that ministries of education that oversee education both in the online environment and the brick and mortar schools are more demanding and stringent in regards to standards for online schools than brick and mortar schools. Teachers in online schools need to have command of not only the environment that they work in but also the checking of the integrity of the assignments that are submitted to them. Given the nature of the Internet, this is an absolute necessity! The motive behind this objection is political because it affects very powerful teacher organizations and education administrators who have a vested interest in protecting their turf.

So what about it? Is blending learning a lasting viable alternative to the total integrated online education experience and total brick and mortar school experience or is blended learning a transition point that will disappear as technology advances in the virtual education environment.

Next----Some examples and videos of virtual education schools that are successfully engaging the imaginations of students, teachers and parents. If you have some suggestions, you know where I live;)

Global Virtual Education: A Challenge to Google, Apple, Microsoft & Cisco: Part II

Greetings-
In my last post, I issued a challenge to the technology sector to step up and broaden their vision in regards to online education. Instead of using generalities, in this post I would like to get down to specifics on what the technology sector could do if given the right incentives.
My first suggestion is that these companies need to change their mission statements to include:"to re-invest in human capital". The rationale behind using this statement is this: if we are to inspire students to be architects of the future that we are all compelled to live in, they need to aspire to something that they value as integral to their future. A number of years ago if you asked students what they would like to do in the future, you would hear statements like I would like to be a doctor or I would like to be a lawyer or a scientist and a number of other esteemed professions. When we ask students the same question today you hear fewer responses like the above and more responses such as I don't know. We are starting to hear responses from students such as I don't care because I don't see anything worth aspiring to that hasn't been compromised or corrupted by human failings so what's the use! So what does this mean other than an indictment of our societies?

What we see more and more is a disengagement of students from the norms of our societies because they are not engaged as active stakeholders in the unfolding future. This situation can only change if we establish things in our society that are future oriented to re-engage our students. When students would rather spend a majority of their time engrossed in keeping up their Facebook page or keeping up with the tweets on Twitter than engaging in furthering and enriching their education, we are losing great intellectual potential that could have great benefits for our societies.

This brings me back to the technology giants. The relationship that they have with global education needs to change, especially as more and more students join the virtual education systems. The technology companies have the means and power to create future oriented structures that will inspire students. We already know that the present offerings of technology companies have influenced students as young as five years old by introducing them to hardware and software tools that would have been unheard of years ago. What they need to do in a new relationship is to be come partners in furthering "real world project based learning" with online educators. This type of enhanced learning would allow students to experience that their efforts have real effects that are valued by our societies. Ask yourself this question: "Why do students enjoy playing virtual world games so much?" Besides the fact that such games stimulate all the senses, students also experience immediate feedback that because of their actions the future is changing.
When I was an educator in the brick and mortar school I involved students in collaborative projects involving NASA and also projects involving robotics. The goal of such projects and understanding was that student actions had a real effect on what was happening in the real world.
Here are some specific suggestions for the technology companies to think about:

1. The creation of virtual online worlds tied to online education is something that the technology companies could support and have the means to do so. These virtual online worlds could be made available to students as a means of exploring new concepts in the courses that they are involved in. These virtual online worlds could be integrated into mentoring matrices where students enter the world and are able to interact with people on the leading edge of the disciplines related to their course and indulge in what if.. scenarios that would help them clarify their thinking.
2. Due to the extensive world contacts that the technology companies have, they could identify real world projects that would match up students with the project hosts to tackle the envisioned project. Much along the same line as I was able to do with matching students up with NASA projects. The experience for the student would be inspirational and exciting. The possibilities could touch on everything from Nanotechnology to medical robotics.
3. Technology companies could host conferences devoted to students much in the same way as they host conferences for educators. The one difference would be that such conferences for students should not only serve to introduce them to new technology but should also involve them in real world project based learning as demonstrations at the conference.
4. Another possibility is for the technology companies to establish higher learning institutes to foster the develop of new paths for student learning. This has been started in Japan with institutions established to promote online gaming development.
5. Another idea is to fully develop accessibility to the online world. In remote areas such as in villages in India, some satellite Internet access has been developed in remote villages for the purposes of education. This idea needs to be pursued on a global scale.

One of the problems with doing such things in the past has been national borders and national loyalties. In the past, technology companies have offered special offerings to students within their national borders to the exclusion of those outside national borders. Given the nature of the Internet, this is an archaic concept and needs to change. In the past when I spoke to conferences, there was a continuum of reactions from the audience that progressed from shock to curiosity and excitement.

So, this is my challenge to the technology sector. YOU NEED TO CHANGE!  As for the return on the investment for your investors, fully engaging our students in the creation of the future will have benefits for all. Remember! The future belongs to those who have the courage to build it.
Tweet this message to the tech companies! 
More later...

Global Virtual Education: A Challenge to Google, Apple, Microsoft & Cisco :Part I

Greetings-
In an earlier post I suggested that global online education is in need of a revolution on many fronts. Students need to be able to be part of something greater than themselves and it is in the best interests of all global societies that students see that they are valuable and have a relevant role in the formation of the future. If we have any hope for the future development of global societies, it will rest on how well we inspire our students to aspire to a goal greater than themselves. The alternative is to continue to have students use social media in which they lose themselves in daily self-absorption and never really become stakeholders in the formation of a viable and exciting future.

This brings me to make this challenge. I would like to throw down the gauntlet before Google, Apple, Microsoft, Cisco and other technology giants to have a greater vision of what virtual education could be if they could truly commit to a greater vision. I know what these companies will say. They will say that we already do a great deal for education. Google will say that we have created Google Apps for Education, Apple & Microsoft will say that they have provided their hardware and software to education institutions at great reductions and Cisco will say that they have provided the networking technology to connect education institutions with the rest of the world. This is all very true! The questions that need to be asked are:

1. What is there guiding vision with regards to their products and services?
2. What are their motives in dealing with education sector?
3. Do they subscribe to the "industrial model" of education or do they subscribe to a model that is more fitting for the 21st century and beyond? In other words, do they see students as consumers or as creators of new knowledge and skills?
4. Are they willing to step up and offer something radical that will inspire students to see themselves as architects of the future?

The question that you might be wondering about is why would we expect the technology sector to take on a greater role in virtual education. I would suggest to you that if the technology sector focuses on self-serving goals then our students who subscribe to the technology will never see beyond the present. The technology sector has woven its products into the very fabric of life for us and our students and if our students are to become inspired explorers, creators and devoted to a better future for society, the technology sector needs to have a greater vision of the future of education.

So, what are some of the things that these great technology leaders could be doing to inspire students to greater achievements?

More in the next post

Virtual Education: Security Issues or Just Paranoia?: Part II

Greetings-
It should be obvious to educators who spend a great deal of time online that they need to be constantly up to date when it comes to online protection. Just recently Adobe was hacked and at risk were all of their customer records. We should not take too much solace in that we have security software installed to protect our technology. The real problem is not the software but human nature. Some questions for introspection would be the following:

1. Do I keep my security software up to date? This should be a "no brainer" but the frightening stats tell a different story. There many people online who do not have a clue whether their protection is up to date or not. They just assume that the software they purchased a couple of years ago is keeping everything in check.
2. Is the security software provider keeping up to date with the growing malware threats everyday? Surprisingly enough, some very big name providers of security software are not as adept as their advertising would have you believe. It is important to check out what "security experts" have to say about the security software companies. Be sure to also check their affiliations to make sure that you don't have a cheer-leader for a company that has a vested interest in promoting that company. I know that sounds a little cynical but it is wise not to underestimate what lengths these companies will go to in order to hold onto market share.
3. The use of passwords are a real problem because people have a dilemma that many have not resolved. That is they make up passwords that are easy to remember but are also easy to decipher using the right utility. Again as I have mentioned before, it would be worth your while to start to investigate the the advances made in biometric access. When people hear the word biometric they think of fingerprint readers but biometrics have advanced beyond that. One program you might want to investigate as a preliminary step is called:"Fast Access Anywhere" which have versions for tablets as well.
4. The last thing to consider is the use of 256 DES encryption software for any documents you consider to be personal or sensitive. These programs convert documents into a form that looks like gibberish before they are sent over the Internet so that if anyone was to intercept the document before it reached the person you are sending it to, it would not make sense and it would take a lot of computing power to try to decipher what you had sent. However, nothing dealing with technology stands still and at the writing of this post, the 256 DES software may not be safe enough.

So, what does all this have to do with online education?? More than you realize! If you are going to have students from all over the world logging in to your virtual school, you have a legal obligation to protect their identities, their work and their official scholastic records from tampering or destruction. A great deal of careful, critical thinking needs to go into the design of a LMS with security as an important priority.

Next---- A Challenge to Google, Apple, Microsoft, Cisco!

Virtual Education: Security Issues or Just Paranoia?-Part I

Greetings-
In the last post, I hinted that if we are to proceed fully into an immersive, online education environment, we need to consider the question of security because when dealing with the personal records and lives of our students, we have an obligation to protect them not only from themselves but also from those who live on the Internet to cause chaos in the lives of others. The Internet has a been called "the wild west" in the past because any attempts to control it or regulate it in any way has been strongly resisted by those who feel that all information should be free and that personal expression should not have limits on it. This is an understandable point of view when you consider how regulated every hour and minute of our lives are in the real world. However, it does present us with a paradox that needs to be resolved. The Internet is great for the vast amount of information and useful contacts that it provides for those in education. However, it is also a dangerous place because of its very nature. The perceived anonymous nature of our presence on the Internet is really a mirage for those who do not have the skill to keep their identity and the details of their lives known only to those they choose to share with. A simple analogy is if you are in high school and you tell a few friends that you are going to have a small party, what are the chances that through social media the news of that party is going to bring many more people to your house than you expected?
Unfortunately, there are those who live on the Internet who have virtually made their identities unknown or invisible but they do so because they wish to prey on naive people who populate the Internet for their own gain and purposes.

So, how does this have anything to do with online education? Don't online schools have computer people who are network savvy who know how to construct VPN's, firewalls and other security measures? Let me answer that with a story. " A number of years ago I had the task of being a computer site administrator for an education institution. All of our computers were connected to a central server with the appropriate firewalls and even a proxy server in place. We had just designed and posted our first home page for our institution complete with the principal's opening message and a picture of him. Over a weekend a student who attended the school downloaded the necessary code from the Internet to defeat the firewall, delete the picture of the principal and replace that picture with a picture of "Chucky the Killer Doll". He then proceeded to obtain information from the server. He left a message on the start up screen:"Catch us if you can, ha,ha". Although this student knew where to find information for the task that he wanted to do, he really did not know all the details on how networks operate. He didn't realize that a service provider for the school might have backups of activity to the server and the recorded ip addresses of the activity. On the Monday morning, we went into the students class, went up to his desk and said we got your message. He was escorted to the principal and the police were called. As the site administrator I had all the necessary protocols in place that should have made the server secure. Everybody received an education that day! The point is this: If this can happen in a brick and mortar school, would an online school be any more secure?

So what are some possible suggestions for an online environment?

1. First, any online education institution should take a close look at the security of the LMS that they are using. Are there holes that could be exploited through the use of DoS exploits, bots or even social engineering? In my dealing with students, I have come across brilliant students who understand programming languages, network protocols and forensic computer testing. these students were students who were what we might term "ethical hackers". These are the types that an online education system should hire to keep their systems secure.
2. Secondly, it would be interesting to take a look at the developing science of Biometrics. The use of the term "private passwords" really is an oxymoron. Passwords are rarely private or kept private because of the advance of password sniffer utilities and other stealth apps that are available on the Internet. What is needed is a single sign-on access that is unique to the biometrics of the person using the online education system. Either the online institution or the student should provide the necessary technology and no access should be granted unless there is biometric verification. One school in California, U.S.A. uses biometrics to enable students to login and write exams. The biometric chosen should be as unique as possible to the individual.

I know this has been a little technical but we all need to truly comprehend how intricately woven our lives have become with the technology we use and its advance. A useful question to consider is: Does technology serve us or do we serve technology? You can see the answer every time a cell phone tower goes down or when we receive a text from someone..

More later ....

Administrator Skills in a Virtual Education Environment: Part II

Greetings-
One of the everyday tasks of the brick and mortar school administrator is that he or she must set the moral tone for the school. He or she must also make sure that they have developed strategies for dealing with lapses in moral judgement that occur in the relationships among students, relationships among staff and relationships between staff and students. This, of course, assumes that the administrator has sound moral judgment himself/herself. In 21st century societies, given the vast continuum of moral action or inaction, this is not something that can be taken for granted. Creeping moral relativism has clouded how we measure right from wrong behaviour.

What about the virtual education realm? We know from research on the environment of the brick and mortar school that the Internet has provided students with great potential for doing great things but it has also given us a window into the dark side of  how the Internet can be used to manipulate and even destroy the reputations of others. The use of IM, Facebook, Twitter has shown how these can be used to hurt others in many ways people in the past had never thought possible. Bullying, slander and discrimination now takes on global proportions and has had such tragic results as students taking their own lives. How can an online administrator get a handle on such things? The first thing to recognize is the nature of what students can do on an online environment without supervision. Students have never known a day when they weren't connected to the Internet while many adults, parents and teachers, are still playing catch up. Students know a great deal about the Internet but they don't know everything. One of the areas that does not appeal to a majority of them is networks and how they function. For many, the first introduction they have had to networks was through online gaming systems. It is in this area that an administrator needs to demonstrate his or her strength and when dealing with online students there needs to be a demonstration of that power. Use of such powerful network software such as "Net Support" gives teachers or administrators a tool that they can use to demonstrate "who is in control". There are a minority of student "crackers" often referred to as "script kiddies" who do have the power to thwart such a plan but not for long. Online administrators need to be security aware and have solutions to demonstrate their power.
Much of this depends on the LMS platform and what is built into it to maintain and keep power from the dark side.

More later on security.......

Administrator Skills in an Virtual Education Environment--Part I

Greetings-
Over many years as a student and as an educator I have had the privilege of working under the leadership of truly gifted administrators in education. At the present time I have the privilege of working with some very gifted administrators, in an advisory capacity, who are excited about the potential that online education has for students now and in the future.
Reflecting on the qualities that online administrators should have has led me to suggest the following assessment:

1. Online administrators should be totally in synch with the vision of where virtual education should be taking us. If they are in synch, then they should be totally comfortable working within such an environment. There is a caveat here in the realization that the skill set that administrators possess in the brick and mortar school may not be totally transferable or even relevant to the online environment. What this means is that the online administrator must be prepared to step out of his or her comfort zone and adapt to a new set of skill requirements. Just as virtual education is not for all students, it is not for all administrators. The determination for this rests on a number of factors such as level of adaptability to changing technology, personal career ambitions and leadership style. It requires administrators to be brutally honest with themselves.
2. Online administrators should be online leaders. They should be willing to help co- develop professional online communities that will serve as vital link for their staff to other professional teachers on a global level. They should encourage their staff to participate in collaborative projects as hosts or to participate with hosts based in other countries. They should demonstrate how to channel the use of social media into productive areas that enhance education for staff and students.
3. Online administrators, like teachers, should be explorers. They should be willing to explore developing technologies, such as the creating of immersive virtual worlds , that can be embedded into various curriculum courses.
4. Online administrators should be aware of standards of assessment. With online education that is global in nature, there is a great opportunity of being able to measure your assessment standards with those in other countries around the world and ask the question:"How do we measure up?" Is it possible to come up with hybrid assessment standards that are more closely synched to international standards? Is it possible to incorporate the use of professionals on the leading edge of the world disciplines as co-assessors on student projects across the curriculum?
5. Are online administrators able to "kick the habit"? Are they willing and able to divest the online education system of the "industrial model" of education and work towards developing a model of online education that will focus on students producing new knowledge and skills that will enrich societies? Are they willing to help put "life-long learning" into perspective by promoting the mentoring of communities in online forums? Are they willing to help spearhead accessibility to online education as partners with other agencies in parts of the world where this is a problem?

Yes, I know. These are big questions but the truth is, based upon my experience with administrators, I believe that there are collaborative administrator groups out there that need to engage in discussion of these very questions. They will most certainly be the kernel of administrators who will help pave the way forward in online education.

Just as a side note, I am still upgrading this blog and yes, I am adaptable;)

Teacher Skills in a Virtual Education Environment: Part II

Greetings-
Following up from the last post, the skills that teachers must possess are similar to those found in the brick and mortar schools except for one difference that is peculiar to the online education  environment. In the brick and mortar school teachers must work within the constraints of the school's time and organization. Within the online education environment, time is not crushed into the dutiful eight hour segments in order to fulfill the teaching mandate that you have been given. I do know that educators often put in more hours daily than what is required but even within those extra hours the constraints exist. Teachers in the online environment have a greater freedom in organizing how they use their time than that possessed by the brick and mortar school teacher.
As a result of this freedom, teachers need to have refined the skill of time management as it applies on a global scale.
Here is a question for teachers in the brick and mortar environment: How much time do you spend daily on innovation and refinement of the lessons you teach? How much time daily do you devote to upgrading your skills? Teachers in an online environment must have the skills to pursue these two goals daily because of the changing nature of the online environment.
To that end, teachers in online education should belong to "online communities". Google makes available such communities to educators. Discerning which of the myriad communities you should belong to the real test of your skills. Belonging to such communities enables you to daily share ideas and receive ideas from educators all over the world. One of the important points that should be made concerning such communities is that you should always be wary of how much time such communities are devoted to the social aspects of dealing with people that you have things in common with.
Teachers in an online education environment should be able to develop networks with other groups of interest. 

More later....

Teacher Skills in a Virtual Education Environment: Part I

Greetings-
The first thing I would like to state is that I am by no means a perfect teacher. I am a teacher who is constantly humbled by the skills and wisdom of others and my sincerest desire is that I will continue to be inspired by others and continue to learn so that I can innovate and design lessons that are powerful and meaningful to students. Students today are desperately in need of adults who can inspire them. Too often what they face are adults in positions of power who are not willing to give the effort needed to truly inspire students to do great things. Students need to feel and experience hope for their future; that they have a chance to be the architects of that future. What many students experience when dealing with adults is cold cynicism about the political system they live under, the demands of daily life and the morality of how people relate to others. These are damning statements that some may take issue with and they are within their rights to do so. However, if they agree they are then in position where they have a moral imperative to do something about the issue for the sake of all young people who are being educated.

The teacher is the one person who is in the position to truly make a difference in the life of a student. The skills and experience that he or she brings to the art of teaching have an impact if used in a way with the vision of where we want education to take us in the future. An important fact that we need to keep in mind is that the student's future is also our future. If students grow to be citizens who have a cynical point of view of life and do not feel a connection to the adults who came before, then we are setting ourselves up for a future of despair.
Given the online environment, there are certain skills and attitudes that a teacher should have in order to help students succeed:

1. Innovator and Co-Learner: Given the nature of the environment, a teacher should be an innovator of new teaching practices and should be able to adapt quickly to the changes that technology brings to the art of teaching. He or she needs to put his or her ego away and admit that like students, they are constantly learning. It is o.k. to admit to your students that you do not know everything there is to know about this new environment; that you with the student are willing to learn.
2. Explorer: Teachers need to be explorers. Exploration always involves risks. Therefore, teachers need to be able to be risk takers if in doing so the education of their students is enriched.
3. Inter-Disciplinary Collaborators: Teachers need to be strong enough to go beyond their area of expertise and rely on the expertise of those in other disciplines. One of the most effective tools used in early online education was a volunteer program called:"Ask the Expert". This was a program where people on the forefront of various disciplines offered their time to interact with students to engage them to think about life from the point of view of their discipline. Students NEED to be exposed to an interdisciplinary approach to solving problems. I know that the education systems give "lip service" suggesting that they provide this but I am sorry but from my experience, it isn't good enough.
4. Challengers: Students need teachers who are not afraid to challenge students and their thinking. Too many teachers are willing to allow students to back away from statements that they have made without forcing them to confront the flaws in their reasoning. The intent is not to depress the student or cause them to lose hope. The intent is to get them to examine their thinking critically from more than one point of view. They need to be able to clarify and refine if necessary. They need to be taught that when they take a position on an issue that they defend that position using verifiable evidence. The beauty of online education is that if this approach is taken, students from countries all over the world now see an issue from many points of view. these points of view allow them to see cultural, regional and in fact global biases that they couldn't experience in a brick and mortar school. A course in logical reasoning should be a mandatory first course in an online education system for teachers and students.
5. Eclectic: In order for a teacher to be an innovator, he or she should be able to draw on thinking from many levels. This requires a  mind that can free itself from the mundane things of life.

If you wish to offer comments on these posts, please feel free....
More later....

Student Skills in a Virtual Education Environment: Part II

Greetings-
In regards to student skills in a virtual education environment, we come to one that is problematic but essential to getting the most out of what a virtual education environment has to offer.

Collaboration and leadership among students all focused on a specific task has been seen in varying degrees of effectiveness in the brick and mortar schools. However, in an online environment where students may be spread across the globe, the asynchronous nature of the environment presents a problem when you want to have students gather to be involved in a moderated debate or discussion. So what is a possible solution or "work around" to this problem?

One possibility is that when a student registers, a notice is presented on their desktop environment that on a certain date, at a certain time, they are expected to login to the discussion area and be prepared to contribute in a collaborative and leadership capacity. To make this possible, we take some guidance from gaming theory and what is observed. In large open online game environments, young people login and take on specific roles or characters who then interact with each other and the environment that they are a part of. Their decisions affect how the story progresses and also the potential outcome. In interacting with other young people who also have roles to play, they learn how to collaborate and problem solve on a level that is above what normally happens in the classroom. The potential of gaming theory as it applies to online education is exciting. Given the great advances in HD graphics and the sophistication of gaming engines, we have the tools to change online education in tangible and motivating ways.
Consider this scenario: You login to the online education interface and specifically your world history course. You are studying the race to develop the atomic bomb during World War II. You enter a virtual world portal where you have a choice: become a Nazi scientist who has been asked to develop an atomic weapon to further the goals of the Third Reich or become an American scientist assigned to work on the Manhattan Project in the U.S. Which ever character you choose, you will make decisions individually and in collaboration with others that determine the outcome of the project. In preparation, you access biographies, scientific reports, ..etc. As a result of the decisions of others, events happen that cause you to re-think your approach and plans. The central concept of History, "cause and effect", is played out throughout the project. This just a simple rendition of the potential of gaming theory for online education. You can probably think of many other possibilities that apply to other courses.
The point is that collaborative and leadership skills are honed in virtual simulations. Consider the popularity of an online world such as "Second Life". I have not accessed this simulation in awhile so I don't know if it is still popular but it does demonstrate some of the possibilities.
Imagination is the key to developing online education to where it should be and it does spell the demise of the idea of taking exactly what you do in the classroom and transferring it to an online environment. Learning should not only enrich the student's education experience but it should also be exciting to the student.

More later....