PA Cyber Charter School

The PA Cyber Charter school is an alternative education program that allows students to work at their own personal pace in their own environment. Students get to work one-on-one with a teacher who can develop their own curriculum for them that meets their needs, and it can be a great resource for giving kids a different education than public or private school.

The advantages for a student in the cyber school would be the can work at their own pace and in the comfort of their own home. Students would be able to have a curriculum that is built for them and it makes it easier for them to understand the information and enjoy what they are learning. Also, the families get the technology needed for their student to learn better, so it is a great resource for them. Larger families who adopt may like cyber schooling, because they as the parents can have more of a control of what their kids are learning, and they may not know what is best for their newly adopted child if they are 9 or 10. There are some disadvantages to cyber school. Students do not get to interact socially with their peers as often, and this can cause social problems down the road for some students. They also don't learn how to work with others in a group because a lot of the work is done independently, so they would have difficulty working in groups in their future. Also, they would not be able to physically see the teacher who is teaching them, and for some people that may be a problem.

There are advantages for teachers who teach in cyber school systems. They too can teach from the comfort of their home, and therefore do not have to travel to school to teach to their students. They also can get to know the needs of each of their students, and with technology can receive instant results on how well the students are doing that a normal teacher may have trouble seeing. They also can dictate their schedule a lot easier, and it can be more flexible than if they were in a school setting. There are also some disadvantages to teaching in cyber-schooling. The teacher does not get to develop personal relationships with their students. They do not get to interact with the students face to face, and this could cause issues for some teachers. They do not receive the satisfaction of getting to know their students and physically seeing the growth in them over the course of the year.

The PA Cyber Charter School is a great idea for parents who really want to be involved in their children's academic careers, and is a good option for some, but not for all. It depends on the family style and personality to see if a school like this would be good for you. It is a fantastic alternative that more and more people are beginning to take advantage of as technology increases.

Author: Tyler Webb
James Mountatin
Group 2
COMP 204A

How to Use Social Networking in the Classroom

Our society today is becoming more and more technology savvy. Kids today are becoming more familiar with technology at younger ages. The most common way they are using technology is social networking. The most common age group for social networking is middle, high school, and college students. Most of these students have either a Facebook, Twitter, or another form of networking. They usually use these networks to share personal things, chat with friends, and more, however, there are some applications of the social networks that can be beneficial for educators to use to have educational purposes.


One social networking site a teacher can use in their classroom is Edmodo. Edmodo is a network that is very similar to Facebook, but stricter. The website monitors what the students and teacher posts on the website. Both the teachers and students can post, comment, and share documents over this site. The educator can set up a group that is private and has its own place to post. The teacher can also post assignments and due dates, notes, and other important information on the site for the students to view.

Another form of social networking that is popular is Twitter. There is a network very similar to twitter that can be used for educational purposes as well. This network is called TweetDeck. TweetDeck allows students and teachers to communicate by asking and answering questions. By using TweetDeck, it saves the teacher and students' email inboxes to be much less cluttered. Using this network would be much easier for students to communicate. Also, the teacher can tweet the students due dates and other events.


These are only a few of the networks and applications of these networks educators can use in their classrooms. With more and more students joining social networks, it can be really effective to incorporate them in the classroom.

Integrating Technology in the History Classroom

History can be a tough subject to incorporate technology into. Teachers don't want to just show videos, and students do not always want to watch boring videos on history that happened long ago. So how can we as future educators of history use technology to make it fun and exciting for our students? The National History Education Clearinghouse has many articles on different ways you can use whiteboards to get your students engaged. Real America History is run through Leigh University, and they have a list of movies that teachers can use to incorporate their learning.

Blogs can also be a great tool for students to use. It can help them connect the past to the present, and can make for a really interesting article! Whether it's blogging or watching exciting videos that can grasp your students attention, technology can be very useful in teaching history at any level! Click on the links below to visit some of the place the article recommends you to visit.

http://chnm.gmu.edu/episodes/
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/virtual/

Author: Tyler Webb
James Mountain
Group 2

12 Easy Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom

This article gives teachers 12 easy ways that they can implament technology into the classroom. As classrooms begin to become more tech savy, so then do the teachers. Whether it's using email, making a podcast,  using a creative powerpoint, or even a fun review game, technology is crucial in today's world. Click this link below to find the 12 ways you can make learning easy and fun for your students with the help of techology!





http://www.teachhub.com/12-easy-ways-use-technology-your-classroom-even-technophobic-teachers

In a history or math setting, these tips can really come in handy and be quite interactive and fun. Teaching kids the events of the civil war is a lot more fun with a timeline, and it can be online filled with lots of cool pictures and place that will help the kids remember what they are learning. In the math realm, it can be really helpful to use a smartboard to show students how to solve problems, and even have them come up and show their classmates they can solve the problem too. These are just a few ways that as future educators of math and history, we can use the helpful tips to help are students have success in the classroom.


Author: Tyler Webb
James Mountain
Group #2