Will online learning be a thing of the past?

As one of the questions posted this week for the students in the "Blogs: New Independent Media" class that I'm taking is about what technology will be like in the future, I thought this blog entry I found to be particularly interesting. So, I thought I'd share it with you. About five years ago it's author published a list about the future of online learning. He's reviewed that list in this blog so we can judge for ourselves just how accurate he was. It's kind of interesting. But if he can be right, then we students have a good chance of seeing our predictions come true as well.

Here's the link to the Technlearning Blog of Feb. 21, 2006: http://www.techlearning.com/blog/main/archives/2006/02/classroom_of_th.html;jsessionid=P13S2OHO1XMN2QSNDBCCKHSCJUMEKJVN

No Child Left Behind

The "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) Act was designed to help all students do better in public schools. It was passed by Congress in 2001, and has had its share of controversy ever since.

If you aren't familiar with the details of the NCLB Act, you can read the Act at: http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html.) Many support the Act but oppose what they see as insufficient funding. And people are beginning to share their opinions online via blogs.

The NSBA (National School Boards Association) is one of those who has put up a blog to talk about the NCLB Act, and share its opinion with others. You can read their blog at: http://boardbuzz.nsba.org/.

The American Federation of Teachers has its own NCLB-related blog as well. You can read it at: http://www.letsgetitright.org/

So, what's your opinion of what is going on with the NCLB Act? Want to share it and see what others think as well? Then...

Please take this "No Child Left Behind" related poll and share your opinion! Just click the link below.

Do you think that the "No Child Left Behind" Act has improved education in our state (Oklahoma?)
	Yes
	No
	Undecided
Free polls from Pollhost.com

The Teacher's Role as an Educator

Dr. Kurt Hochenauer posts a blog called OkieFunk. In his posting titled, "Kern’s Deceitful Bill Makes It Through Committee," I was inspired to consider what I believed to be the teacher's role as an educator. The bottom line for me turned out to be that teachers should be "guides to the gathering and dissemination of knowledge--not the dictators of it." Does this picture of a teacher fit what you think and believe? Or how does your idea of a teacher differ?

So, you've heard one of the important roles that I think teachers fulfill. Do you have others? Please share them.