Standard 3.

3 Online and Blended Learning

Candidates develop, model, and facilitate the use of online and blended learning tool, digital
content, and learning networks to support and extend student learning and expand opportunities
and choices for professional learning for teachers and administrators.

The Artifact that shows mastery of Standard 3.3 is the Online Course Syllabus developed for
ITEC 7480. This class introduced me to the world of virtual schooling. Prior to this course, I had
very little prior knowledge of the diverse opportunities available for alternative forms of school
for students today. This course introduced me to Florida Virtual Schools; the learning model that
FVS employs allows for instruction to be individualized to the student. There are a wide variety
of choices for students of learning paths, which helps students to take ownership of their own
learning process.
The development of the syllabus gave me the opportunity to consider areas of concern for
insuring that authentic learning opportunities were developed while still adhering to content
standards. In order to gain a full perspective of components needed to design a successful
blended learning opportunity, I also researched Cobb Virtual Schools. The discussions that
developed among cohort members brought up the point that in order for students to be successful
with this type of learning experience, they must have some intrinsic level of self-motivation.
Another point that discussions among cohort members led to was how to insure that it was the
student enrolled in the class completing the assignments, and not a parent or friend. This project
gave me the opportunity to look at the higher level thinking skills that blended learning
opportunities provided while addressing the drawbacks that are also associated with this type of
learning.
This project also led to discussions with my peers and the opportunity to look at where a
modified version of an online course could be incorporated with classroom instruction. The
future implications for my students and my school is the development of online learning modules
that students can complete at their own pace. The impact on teachers is the acquisition of new
learning ideas and different schools of thought being explore that look at teaching out of the
box.