Sunday, April 24, 2011

Blog Assignment 13

ALEX website



This week I explored a website called Alex- Alabama Learning Exchange. This website is connected with the Alabama State Department of Education. This website is a great resource for teachers. The goal of this website is to help teacher find materials for lesson plans. Alex is organized and easy to use. The lessons plans are arranged by subject and grade level. These materials are compiled by board certified educators who have tested them and found them to be effective. There are many more resources than just lesson plans, as well. The website offers podcasts and professional development opportunities. There is also a search engine which allows a person to find lesson plans on specific subjects. ALEX makes it easy for teachers to find the help they need.
This website offers users to create a Personal Workspace which is a personal account. This account allows users to save lessons that they find using Alex. If an educator creates their own account, they can also submit lesson plans which they find useful. This is a great feature because it allows teachers to share their own experiences with one another. I can see myself using this website a lot in the future. If I'm unsure about how I should teach a certain topic in my classroom, I can come to this website to find several ideas. If I happen to change the grade that I am teaching, I can come here to compile new lesson plans for the year.

Access website



Another website that I researched this week is Access- Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators & Students Statewide.This website is also supported by the Alabama State Department of Education. This website was created to facilitate access distance learning. So, what is access distance learning? Distance learning is an online learning opportunity for high schools across the state. This involves video conferencing between teachers and students and web based courses. The purpose of the ACCESS program is to make more courses available for students. This includes Advanced Placement courses and dual enrollment courses. I think that this is a great initiative because it expands the educational opportunities for students in Alabama.
ACCESS also offers job opportunities for educators who are interested in teaching these online courses. These educators would have all of the responsibilities of a traditional classroom teacher. There are also resources for teachers who are interested in learning how to effectively teach an online course. This is a great website because it has a lot to offer for both teachers and students!

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