ODYSSEYWARE

Pardon the sarcasm, but in one of the more obvious studies to be released recently, MIT researchers have concluded that educational games engage students and lead them to take a more active interest in their education. OdysseyWare, along with online curriculum advocates, has long claimed that switching to an online curriculum that provides large multimedia resources will drive students to want to learn because, from their technology-inclined backgrounds, students naturally seek mediums that comport with their high-paced, technology-driven lives. From ESchoolNews:

According to a recent paper by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), games, when developed correctly and used appropriately, can engage players in learning that is specifically applicable to school curriculum—and teachers can leverage the learning in these games without disrupting the worlds of either “play” or school.

For this obvious and very simple reason, OdysseyWare has incorporated over 30,000 multimedia files into our curriculum that include educational games and simulated activities, such as our vocabulary drill Vocabulocity, which requires students to save the universe by correctly entering the definitions to key vocabulary words. Time and again we hear from our students that our curriculum engages them and makes them want to continue their lesson plans because they are interesting and resemble many of the games they play on PS3 or Xbox360. Although the MIT study is welcome news, it’s old news in ours and our students books!

The economic downturn and the ever-evolving needs of today’s classroom has set the collision course between Microsoft and Google, with both vying against each other for a stronghold in the future of classrooms. In the past few years the two have already faced off with Google’s search engine vying against the rising Bing. Now, as Silicon Valley’s Mercury News reports, the two are facing off again to provide classrooms with an incentive to use their products in the future by donating large quantities of goods.

The battle has already reshaped classroom technology. Just a year ago, Martino’s sixth-graders would have generated reams of paper as they researched mummies, Cleopatra and King Tut. This fall, the students’ work exists on the “cloud” — bits of data flowing across Google’s network, accessible from any computer with a Web browser and a password.

Indeed, Microsoft is providing, free of charge, its Live@edu for free, and Google is sharing its Google Apps for Education, yet another educational resource for free. The battle royal provides students with an excellent opportunity for free education technology programs. How schools are able to maintain this level of resources after the philanthropic efforts of these two titans ends is another question.

 There’s an interesting David Thornburg quotation that goes like this,

 “Any teacher that can be replaced by a computer needs to be.” 

Unfortunately, ineffective teachers cannot be replaced by computers any more than good teachers can be replaced by computers. If it were that simple, all of the problems of the educational system would be instantly solved and academic success would be a given. Teachers belong in classrooms, traditional and virtual. As the world changes, they must also change, adopting not only technology-driven learning tools, but applying innovative ways of thinking about education to proven practices. 

We talk about student-directed learning. What this phrase doesn’t take into consideration is the inspiration and guidance that encourages students, and the dedicated people that make it their business not only to instruct, but to nurture young minds, build confidence, and move roadblocks to learning for today’s digital generation. Effective teachers do not lose sight of the student. Teachers guide. Teachers direct. Teachers inspire.

 YouTube Video – Vision of k12 Teachers Today 

Now more than ever, learning does not take place in a vacuum. We cannot keep kids tucked away from the influences of the world around them. Instead, we must use this world to connect with them and to support their education 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Through creation, collaboration, and sharing information, they not only “learn stuff” but prepare for their own futures.

 YouTube Video – A Vision of K-12 Students Today

Through the use of the Internet as the primary delivery system, ODYSSEYWARE is a fully online curriculum adapted to meet the needs of today’s self-directed learner. By incorporating primary online sources, and by offering features that encourage teachers to customize curriculum, teachers can adapt to student needs, providing differentiated learning opportunities. 

Teachers cannot be replaced by computers. But through the use of technology, teachers enrich the learning environment, engage their students, and change lives.

With the burgeoning use of blogs, wikis, and online educational content in the classroom, concerns for the safety and protection of minors continues to grow. While these concerns are valid, blocking and filtering may be sending mixed messages while limiting educational content that is not only acceptable, but beneficial. 

While students are aware that these activities are put in place to keep them safe, denying access may make them just a bit more curious and challenges them to beat the system. And while filters are useful inside the safety of schools, what will these minors do when faced with the freedom of unlimited web use outside the classroom. 

A recent article posted at edweek.org entitled, “District leaders make changes to offer greater online access to students,” Shawn Nutting, the technology director for the Trussville, Alabama school district suggests that instead of overscreening, we prepare students for responsible unfiltered use of the Internet. 

“We are known in our district for technology, so I don’t see how you can teach kids 21st-century values if you’re not teaching them digital citizenship and appropriate ways of sharing and using everything that’s available on the Web. How can you, in 2009, not use the Internet for everything? It blows me away that all these schools block things out” that are valuable.”

Safe, responsible, productive use of the Internet as a life resource is just one more 21^st-century skill that needs to be taught in our schools. It is the job of educators and parents to be sure children know that when we tap into the Web for information, communication, and learning tools, we must also give them the knowledge and the skills to build their own safety net and make the Internet a truly valuable resource. 

The Department of Education recently released a free guidebook designed to help parents and other adults when talking with children about safety and the Internet. Topics include safe use of social networking web sites, “cyberbullying,” and protecting computers from viruses and other malicious software. It is available at http://www.onguardonline.gov/topics/net-cetera.aspx.

At ODYSSEYWARE the safety and security of students is important to us. Our curriculum features built in communication tools and resources to help teachers and parents keep kids safe. Meanwhile, as an advocate of the use of technology, we encourage educators and parents to teach minors how to be responsible – and safe – digital citizens.

What are you doing in your academic setting to help encourage online values?

From all of us at ODYSSEYWARE, best wishes for a happy, healthy, and innovative 2010.

The crumbling smell of old paper that hangs in the air at the public library is one of my favorite, memory-inspiring scents. Yet I must admit I’ve made the switch. I own an eReader. As it turns out, so do many others. According to a post-Christmas news release at Amazon.com:

“On Christmas day, for the first time ever, customers purchased more Kindle books than physical books.”

 While I’m stunned, proponents of technology can’t say enough good about this development. 

Ideal for the education environment, the eBook is convenient, allowing today’s students to carry any number of titles, or even extracted chapters, in one handy little chargeable device. They provide equality of access for anyone that wants to learn, despite their means. 

Dictionary plug-ins and automated text-to-speech technology make eBooks an effective tool for students whose primary language is not English. 

Did I mention finances? Electronic readers allow academic textbook publishers to provide schools and students with content that is more current, of higher value in some cases, and is potentially less expensive – and possibly greener.

 As to the question of content, digital content, for education and for pleasure, is becoming more readily available in real time via standard download. And further, eBooks open the door to many precious and rare documents that are currently under lock and key in collections around the world. Soon these gems will become readily available to any student anywhere in the world. This popular medium may help restore some balance between best-sellers and midlist authors and between fiction and textbooks.

 But there are some who question whether or not the eBook is innovative, or a throwback to the past. An article posted on Planet eBook makes the following argument:

 “eBooks, on the other hand, are a throwback to the days of the papyrus. The text cannot be opened at any point in a series of connected pages and the content is carried only on one side of the (electronic) ‘leaf.’ Parchment, by comparison, was multi-paged, easily browseable, and printed on both sides of the leaf. It led to a revolution in publishing and to the print book. All these advances are now being reversed by the eBook.” 

No matter which side of the table you sit on, educators and students now have more choices when it comes to content delivery. As for me, I’m off to the library where I can read my eBook in peace. 

ODYSSEYWARE’s online curriculum provides many of the same benefits as the eReader. Anytime access, fully online content, and course customization play a vital part in this interactive learning environment. How can these tools work together for academic success?

Students in Hesperia Unified School District’s GED program have a new option this year, according to an article in The Hesperia Star. For the first time, roadblocks that had prevented students from getting their GED were removed by offering flexibility through the use of ODYSSEYWARE’s online curriculum. 

“I am a mother of six children with a baby on the way,” said one online student. “Making time to sit in a classroom and find a sitter is next to impossible. With the online GED program I am able to study whenever it is convenient for me. While my children are at home playing or after I put them to bed, I choose my own schedule. 

As the makeup of the nuclear family continues to change, providers and caregivers look much different than they may have in the past. And some are students looking for a way to complete the coursework to get their GED or a high school diploma. Family and work commitments, childcare and transportation challenges, and other physical, intellectual, and emotional barriers can keep them from academic success. 

Not so with online curriculum like ODYSSEYWARE.  

The access to lessons any time and theoretically anywhere is the big appeal of the program, according to Dede Smith and Kim Walker, teachers at HUSD who created this online GED program after seeing so many of their students challenged by transportation problems, financial issues, and lack of childcare.

ODYSSEYWARE was created for 21^st-century students with 21^st-century challenges. This innovative and flexible learning environment, allows students to learn anywhere, anytime, at a pace that meets their needs and fits into their “real lives.” 

How have the “real lives” of your students been changed through the use of technology-driven tools like ODYSSEYWARE?

All over the world people are talking about alternative education. But with the passage of time, the meaning of these words continues to change.

Many historians of public education believe that the American model of public schooling was first organized in the 1800s as a way to educate children while suppressing individualism and cultural diversity. The supposed aim of this system was to support the emerging corporate economy with a politically and socially homogenized workforce. This was social efficiency, a term often used by educational leaders. 

Although this narrowly defined model became more deeply embedded in the culture, from its origins it faced resistance for a number of reasons. Diverse forms of schooling emerged, championed by a wide rage of social reformers and individualists, religious believers and romantics. During the 1960s, interest in alternative educational options became a widespread movement. 

For years there have been alternative education options for students who were challenged within the traditional educational system and included students with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, or behavioral problems. Many of the students served by alternative education programs were labeled at-risk.

Today there is a resurgence of interest in student-centered learning. In post-modern society, the philosophy of social efficiency is falling from grace. Parents and progressive educators are looking at new and innovative models of learning — new alternatives for teaching and learning.

With the infusion of technology and access to information from sources around the globe, the options for alternative education seem virtually endless. While the classrooms of today look much the same as those of yesterday, we can barely imagine the classrooms of tomorrow or the communication skills and expansive knowledge of its students.

 As the classrooms and students evolve, so does the meaning of the words alternative education. And with the rapid pace of innovation, there seems to be no limit to the possibilities.

How do you define alternative education?

According to 2009 Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning, recently released by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), providing district level online courses is becoming increasingly popular in the K-12 arena. 

Not only are students asking for more digital options, but districts across the country find themselves competing with statewide virtual charter schools for students and the funding that accompanies them to class everyday.

 The report suggests that “the popularity of statewide virtual charter schools, increasing acceptance of online learning for all populations of students, and its cost effectiveness during tough economic times” are three factors driving districts to provide online courses to their local students.

Where students (and their parents) once had few options in public education, they can now choose how, where, and when they learn. They have become sophisticated consumers in an ever-expanding market, and are demanding more from local education agencies (LEAs). They are making their choices based on philosophy, methodology, quality, cost, convenience, and other factors.

While 45 of the 50 states have a state virtual school or online initiative, full-time online schools, or both, an emerging growth area for online programs is evident on the district level, as schools adapt and modify their offerings for these tech-savvy consumers.

Where does your school fit into this emerging landscape? What technological and curricular approach will you implement to attract new students and retain those currently enrolled in your district?

As one of today’s most innovative online curriculum providers, ODYSSEYWARE is committed to providing schools core and elective courses that can be used in fully-online programs, hybrid learning environments, or as supplements to traditional curriculum. We can help implement a program that makes sense for you and your students.

Many students across rural America are falling through the academic cracks, and dropping out of school before getting diplomas. But Peach County High School students have been given a second chance to graduate with their class due in part to their use of ODYSSEYWARE to recover credits. 

According to Bruce Mackey, principal of Peach High School, the success of these and other students proves,

“Yes you can do something with your life and make something out of yourself, regardless of your circumstances.”