A few months ago, one of my team and I took the time to research some of the different Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN) providers. Here’s the table we developed:
The table isn’t perfect* but it reflects our understanding of the TxVSN Online Instructors Training opportunities. When looking at the chart, my eyes are drawn to the third column where the prices are listed. But it’s what you don’t see in the chart that helps you make a decision about which provider of online services to get–their web site.
*Corrections/Amendments to Table:
- Thanks for including our TxVSN training program (University of Houston Clear Lake) on your graph in Around the Corner. I have one little addition for your graph. While UHCL students earn 3 graduate hours for their course work, they also receive 45 CPE hours.
Source: Email less than hour after publishing this blog entry
After reviewing the chart and web sites, I decided the provider that would be best for us included the Harris Dept County of Education. Total price is $480 per person, which includes 3 online courses. I’m VERY excited about participating in these 3 courses!
So, imagine my excitement when, today, I received an email from someone there:
Welcome to Online Instructor’s Training, Part I! We are looking forward to having you in the course soon.
As part of your enrollment, we provide you with a copy of What Works in K-12 Online Learning by Robert Blomeyer and Cathy Cavanaugh. Please send your preferred shipping address for the book.
We’ll “see” you in the course on September 21. Please email me if you have any questions.
The book looks interesting…
A new form of distance learning, online learning is education in which instruction and content comprising a formal course of study are delivered primarily via the Internet. K–12 enrollments in online courses continue to grow, and while there is great potential in the virtual schools movement, there are many challenges inherent in this relatively new method of education delivery.
What Works in K–12 Online Learning provides a comprehensive overview of effective online teaching and learning practices. Based on extensive experience and research, chapters cover a full spectrum of topics including virtual course development, online learning in elementary classrooms, instructional assessment and differentiating online instruction, professional development for teachers of virtual courses, and the challenges that virtual schools will face in the future.
Anyone read it or gone through this program of study? For now, I’ll be blogging my reflections on the course when it starts on September 21.
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I will be interested in your view. Bob Blomeyer was part of NCREL. Good work and solid – but as part of NCREL and research, sometimes just seemed to be towards the top of the pack, but not leading or finding new things – just putting what was in a better communication. Several WI participants went through the pilots and it does stress good foundations and good effective practice. Seems to be a solid program and fills a need. If you are looking for a next generation and innovation – this is only the building block.Still can't figure out why a single individual needs to go through each one of these – proficiency based and some sort of agreed upon level is needed with assessment. So many of these tend to require the same thing over and over again.
I will be interested in your view. Bob Blomeyer was part of NCREL. Good work and solid – but as part of NCREL and research, sometimes just seemed to be towards the top of the pack, but not leading or finding new things – just putting what was in a better communication. Several WI participants went through the pilots and it does stress good foundations and good effective practice. Seems to be a solid program and fills a need. If you are looking for a next generation and innovation – this is only the building block.Still can't figure out why a single individual needs to go through each one of these – proficiency based and some sort of agreed upon level is needed with assessment. So many of these tend to require the same thing over and over again.
@K, I'm sure you're right that many of these courses have common building blocks. However, in my experience, each course is different because of the people and the resulting conversations. At this point, I'm eager to have chats with folks about how this TxVSN is being implemented or tried out…the facilitator will be a small part of that, the participants and even greater one!Thanks for the feedback,Miguel
@K, I'm sure you're right that many of these courses have common building blocks. However, in my experience, each course is different because of the people and the resulting conversations. At this point, I'm eager to have chats with folks about how this TxVSN is being implemented or tried out…the facilitator will be a small part of that, the participants and even greater one!Thanks for the feedback,Miguel