This week I learned about many things. I attended a few online workshops, the the http://k12onlineconference.org website. Some of the videos I really liked, and some, not so much. I find that videos that give specifics, like what programs are used, are much more useful to me than videos that push the general ideas, like "learning via play." I realize these are great ideas, I just don't need 15 minutes to get the idea. My favorite workshop, "Computer Based Math" did a great job of questioning our school math curriculum's focus on computation, with many students not knowing (or being required) to know why certain formulas apply to certain problems. I found the "When learning Becomes an Event" video to have some valuable ideas. I like his idea of involving community members, and using the money they donated to motivate the students, as they knew that people would be viewing their work.
I also spent quite a bit of the day listening to the Isafe modules. To be honest, I didn't think I would learn much, but I found the opposite to be true. I never thought about the steps an online predator would take to engender trust with a victim. Also, many of the reminders about how to keep personal information personal, were appreciated as well. The frustrating part about trying to identify a victim is that almost all teens have declining grades, become withdrawn, and get irritable easily. I guess we have our work cut out for us.
