ALEX and ACCESS

ALEX

ALEX is Alabama's Learning Exchange, in which teachers can look at different courses of study, lesson plans, podcasts, grow in professional learning, and have a personal workspace. Under lesson plans, teachers can create their own or they view other ideas. There are numerous podcasts that they can listened to, and the ideas are endless. Teachers can expand their knowledge in leadership and evaluation, library media, english language learners, special education, and distance learning. To further enrich professional growth and communication, teachers can view other educators resources, such as ALEX/thinkfinity training, listservs, professional organizations, grant opportunities, professional development, and tips and tricks. The personal workspace is useful for creating and sharing lesson plans and teacher web pages. All of these tools can greatly benefit any teacher.

I think ALEX can definitely improve any classroom and is an excellent way to keep in touch with other teachers and what is taking place in the state of Alabama. I personally love communicating with other people and getting feedback on my ideas. WIth the personal workspace, I can create lesson plans and websites and share them with other teachers. We can collaborate about different ideas and strategies to use in the classroom, and we can help each other with interesting approaches and assignments. I also think the podcasts are great, and I love keeping up with what is taking place in the Educational World. I think the lesson plan tool is extremely beneficial. As a teacher, you can view examples and get great ideas. It also provides organization and structure for a new teacher. I know this website will help me in the future, and not only do I get to share websites and lesson plans, but I also can attend workshops and learn more about different subjects.


ALEX

ACCESS

ACCESS is Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide, and it is a distance learning environment that provides classroom courses and teachers via technology. The State of Alabama's vision is to provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning. ACCESS is available to all high school students living in Alabama. Similar to a typical high school, ACCESS offers three semesters: Fall, Spring, and Summer. The components of ACCESS is to blend web-based and interactive videoconferencing courses taught by Alabama certified and highly qualified teachers. The goal is to provide access to advanced diploma courses, additional course offerings, Advanced Placement, and Dual Enrollment to all students. It also provides teachers with multimedia and tools to enhance instruction. Some of the technology used includes cameras, monitors and/or projectors, interactive whiteboards, 25 tablet computers, and wireless internet. ACCESS hopes to one day have 45,000 enrollments.

I do agree that ACCESS is creating a great environment for many students. The use of technology is definitely enhancing learning and creating more opportunities for students. As a future English teacher, however, I think that distance learning is beneficial but can also eliminate valuable discussion. I will always prefer the traditional classroom with the incorporation of technology. I think that many students will benefit from distance learning, and it appears to prepare the students quite well for the collegiate level. If my students have this opportunity, I will definitely encourage them to pursue this direction in learning because everyone learns differently. I am quite impressed with the opportunities and goals that ACCESS provides. It is encouraging knowing that the State of Alabama is using technology and offer a new way of learning to high school students. I am excited to see what the future holds, but I will always wish to remain in a classroom engaging in discussion with my students.



ACCESS

Comments for Kids

This week I watched Mr. Tyson's students' science videos. I watched a video on Halogens, and I thought it was quite informative. They did a fantastic job creating the video, and I thought the sock puppets they used were a creative idea. I greatly enjoyed it. I think it is great that the students are learning and then teaching what they have learned through videos. I love how technology is changing the classroom.

To view more videos