This past Thursday we had the opportunity to listen to Howard Griffith from Manitoba Education speak about Web Based Courses in Manitoba. I was aware that there were web based courses in Manitoba but I had never really given it much thought.
I found a couple of things quite interesting about Mr. Griffith's presentation. I never thought about the idea of teachers using web based courses as a resource to help teach their class. I also never thought about teachers using the web based courses as a supplement to their class. These are great resources that can be used by teachers that are just beginning their careers or a little uncomfortable with a certain subject. This resource is also available to student teachers as well, which can be a big help for those students who are trying to plan lessons during student teaching.
Mr. Griffith stated that a blended learning system has been found to work the best over a face-to-face classroom setting or the web based learning format. I can totally understand this. I have taken web based courses and they can allow a student to procrastinate till the cows come home. Using blended learning will allow the students to get their feet wet using a web based approach, but still provide them the structure of a classroom.
I will definitely be looking more into web based courses and if I ever teach high school in the future I will consider using a WBC.
Feel free to check out the site: http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/wbc/wbcdevsched.html
Nice looking blog you have here.
ReplyDeleteHoward Griffith did provide some excellent information about web based courses. I agree that web based courses are an excellent resource for teachers. I also was not aware of how helpful they can be to teachers especially if they need some support information about certain courses. I also think that the blended learning system can be very valuable to students. A combination of face time and web based learning definately has its advantages as the students will stay on track. Web based courses are something I will most certainly look into as a resource being new to the profession.