Sunday, April 24, 2011

Blog Post 13



Alabama Learning Exchange (aka ALEX) is a website for teachers that contains a plethora of resources. A project of the Alabama Department of Education, ALEX is designed to share educational materials among teachers, parents, and administrators. The website has everything from web links to a virtual storehouse of podcast, and all the traditional subjects are represented, as well as some you might not expect like physical education and drive/traffic safety. With the diversity of material available, ALEX is an invaluable resource to all educators, even those that do not traditionally use technological approaches.
While i found the podcast area to be interesting, especially since that seems like a great resource for both students and teachers, it was the Lessons Plans section that really caught my attention. Each subject has its own set of lesson plans, completely searchable lists based on grade level, and those sections contain an abundance of lessons geared toward a specific grade range. But what makes the site so amazing, at least to me, is the opportunity it creates for collaboration; teachers can submit lessons as well as alter existing materials. It reminded me of the smart exchange website, but better geared to the Alabama Learning Standards that each subject should meet.

ACCESS Distant Learning (Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide) is the first thing we have discussed in this class aimed at equality. The initiative is admirable, seeking to grant access to a variety of opportunities for students with the greatest need, but seems to be missing the idea of "equality" that they so admirably declare in their mission statement. The areas they are attempting to address, which are vaguely laid out, are not addressing so many of the institutional practices that are aimed at excluding students of color.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Barry,

    I think this is a great idea. I think there are alot of students who know how to use the internet and technology but still do not know how to do quality research. And research is a very important first step in most assignments.

    I also agree with you about online education. There are definitely good aspects to it that often get overlooked. Maybe in time an online education will be as respected as a traditional education. I think people just need to catch up.

    Keep up the good work!

    Molly Dekin

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