Class+7+-+March+1st

Synthesis of Class 7

Summary of Reading Acceptable Use Policies for Internet Use

· Were implemented as a response to growing internet use in schools · Meant to keep school internet environment safe and sound · Essentially a writing contract between teachers, students, administrators and parents. The contract outlines behaviour that is expected as well as consequences for inappropriate internet use · Can also be viewed as a legal document · If implemented properly should convey a sense of agreement between student and school rather than a sense of being watched

Reflection Although the article was very brief, it made AUPs sound very helpful. I like that they involve students and parents in addition to the school.

So how does the Ottawa Catholic District School Board do it? E-learning We talked about the increasing popularity of e-learning. Personally, as a student I would much rather take courses online. As a teacher, I enjoy the in-person interaction with students, but I would be open to teaching online also. In terms of universities, it is well worth noting Athabasca University, Canada’s first exclusively online university. [] Pretty much anyone can take courses from the accredited university. The cost of a course includes all books. You can also complete courses and assignments as you see fit.
 * All members of the school community are bound by the same policy
 * Interestingly, this particular policy came out some time ago (in 2001)
 * Essentially the board supports the ethical use of technology to enhance learning
 * Staff are expected to know and uphold this policy

There is a huge advantage to taking courses online. Traditional schooling involves not only tuition, but also a huge loss in potential earnings since instead of being at work people are forced to go to class.

I am not a big fan of hybrid e-learning since it generally requires that students be somewhere (online) at a certain time. What is the point of e-learning if you’re still chained to a schedule?

If you are interested in hybrid e-learning, than you can consider the use of various Learning Management Systems such as: My personal experience with LMSs is that they can be a bit touchy to use. As a result, I would prefer to just operate my own web site or wiki.
 * 1) Desire2Learn
 * 2) WebCT (used by U of Ottawa)
 * 3) Moodle
 * 4) Blackboard (popular with the highschools)

Ways to communicate with students online include:
 * 1) video conferencing
 * 2) good old email
 * 3) Google sites
 * 4) LMS (as mentioned above)
 * 5) various tools such as: Adobe Connect, Elluminate and Skype

Presentations Some excellent resources came out of the presentations. Here are a few highlights. 1. Celestia: Covers and gives a visual showing of Earth and Space, the known universe 2. For information on gospel values (for those who are teaching in Catholic schools) go to biblegateway.com