Thing 3

Education blogs: Are they useful or just more information overload? That is the real question for me. In my limited experience in reading blogs, I have mixed reactions. While it is true that I have found some thought provoking nuggets in my early reading, I have also glanced at many other blogs which may be very good for specific purposes and audiences but did not resonate as very useful to me at the moment.
I do see the benefit of blogs and I think over time I will discover which blogs are most relevant to the work that I do. However, I have much more to learn about searching for appropriate blogs and organizing these blogs for maximum benefit. My journey is this regard is only beginning.
As a result of the assignment for Thing 3, I did discover a blog posting that is most relevant to an area of my work that is getting a lot of attention at the current time. Jeff Utrecht, in his blog Preparing for the Worst = Opportunity, describes three circumstances in his career in which making preparation for continuing education in the face of possible school closures forced schools to move to an education delivery model that utilizes technology to a greater extent than they previously thought they would be able to do. The worst case scenario planning created an opportunity that accelerated the integration of technology in learning. I think this is a good thing. Crises do create opportunities.
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a table top exercise to test H1N1 plans. During this exercise participants discussed whether or not we would be able to continue providing education in the event of long-term school closures. The honest answer from most of us was that we are not prepared to continue delivering high quality education if students are unable to come to school. This got my attention. Mr. Utecht’s solution, as stated in his blog, would be to implement online learning full-time in instances where schools were closed because of some natural event. I agree this would seem to be a natural response to write in a plan. However, under current circumstances there would be several barriers to overcome.
First of all, in my county there is a significant percentage of the population that does not have access to the web and in some cases these students do not have access to computers outside the school. Computers are available in public libraries and youth serving agencies such as the Boys and Girls Club but if schools close due to H1N1 so will other programs in which people gather in groups. Second, the current state of the economy has caused many families who may have otherwise had access to the Internet to discontinue their service. Online learning is simply not an option, or at least not one that will meet all needs, when access to technology is not available. Finally, we are simply not yet prepared with the resources or experience to deliver online learning as a primary means of instruction.
These are barriers that we must overcome not only to be prepared for a worst case scenario but because this is the future. While we may not have direct control over students’ access to technology in their homes, we do have control over our own ability to deliver online instruction. I agree with Mr. Utecht’s assertion that online learning is not simply a solution that can be switched on when it is needed in a crisis. To be effective it needs to be practiced. Now is the time to practice before a crisis forces our hand.