Journal 5

Starkman, N (2008, July). Teachers & technology: june weston. T.H.E. Journal, Retrieved October 5, 2008, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/23000

This article shows a special education teacher, June Weston, and how she used technology to make it possible to teach all subjects to a group of students at all grade levels. She used the A+nywhere Learning System created by The American Education Corporation. This accesses all student levels in all subjects, with tests before and after certain sections that allow for monitoring of progression for each student. This takes the pressure off of the students of having to keep up with all the other students and allows them to progress at their own levels. June mentions that one of the hardships in implementing this program was learning to teach without textbooks, and being able to jump from basic addition to algebra between the students.

1. Do you think this type of system could be used in classrooms other than Special Ed? Why or why not?

I believe this type of system would benefit any type of classroom. As a future English teacher for high school students, I would love to be able to let my students take tests to assess their abilities in each of the different areas of the English subject. Then they could work on exercises and lessons to progress in all the different areas. This would also allow them to assess their strengths and weaknesses, and to build upon those. This would also allow for a much more individualized education, which should be the goal of all educators.

2. What problems might come from relying on this type of system?

There are a few problems that may come from such a system. The first is health issues. If students are sitting in front of a computer screen all day, their eyes may weaken, and they may have arthritic or carpal tunnel issues from all the typing. Also, the sole use of computers takes away the personal relationship between the students and the teachers, and the comradery between the class as a whole. We want education to be individualized within a community atmosphere, which is very tricky.