September 17, 2015
I still remember the days when I would leave school with fingers caked with chalk dust. I celebrated when the old filmstrip projectors gave way to VCRs and Betamax video cassettes. Yes, I’m that old.
Technology in support of learning has changed a great deal in the last 30 years since I first started teaching. It has helped educators push boundaries to deepen student learning and provide opportunities to broaden our student’s experiences. Our new virtual classroom, funded by donors at the Best of MPA, is an excellent example.
Our new virtual classroom enables Mounds Park Academy to significantly broaden the academic experience of our students by providing access to challenging, college-level classes not typically offered in high schools. Through a membership in the Malone Schools Online Network (MSON), MPA students are offered an array of advanced online courses that are taught by experts in their fields who share a commitment to excellence, small class size, and meaningful student/teacher relationships. 10 students are taking classes that range from Medical Bioethics to Philosophy: The Nature of Evil and Arabic as we pilot the new system.
MPA/MSON courses take a blended approach to teaching, combining real-time (synchronous) video conferencing seminars with asynchronous recorded lectures and exercises for students to master outside of class. Class sizes range from a minimum of six to a maximum of 16 students. The result: virtual, robust discussion seminars, delivered in a specifically designed, high-definition classroom.
Cutting edge technological tools enable instructors to push the boundaries of education as they teach in real time with students across the country in virtual seminar-style classes. These tools include dual high-definition screens – one shows all participating students, creating the sense of a virtual classroom. The second screen enables the instructor to present materials via a virtual whiteboard, through which the teacher and the students have the ability to share presentations, videos, and student projects. Guest speakers can join the classes by teleconference, further enhancing the learning experience.
The virtual classroom and the MSON also benefit students by preparing them for success in college and in the workplace. According to the National Center for Education Statistics.
• More than 5 million students or 25% of all college and university students are enrolled in distance education courses according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
• Eleven percent of students are enrolled exclusively in distance education courses while 14% are enrolled in some traditional and some distance education courses.
The new virtual classroom allows MPA students to work and learn collaboratively with students across the country. It provides students with yet another learning experience that encourages students to be architects of their own learning by utilizing innovative tools to demonstrate their knowledge across and between disciplines.
According to MPA junior William, “The MSON course is amazing in so many ways. I get to take a class in a topic that I really love and the teacher is knowledgeable and qualified. This program helps to enrich Mounds Park Academy and will give our students more opportunities to find challenging courses in fields that they are interested in.”
At MPA, we have a long history of embracing new medias and technology like the virtual classroom and the digital fabrication and design studio. We know that the best education occurs when critical thinking and deep content knowledge are used as the base for growing flexible and essential skills in collaboration, problem solving, perseverance, and creativity. The knowledge, skills, and competencies learned at MPA enable our students to successfully live, learn, and thrive in today’s 21st century globalized society.
