SPLS

Potential:  I think the system has potential in terms of allowing educators to post lessons or activities that could be shared and assigned by any other teacher from around the state for their particular students.  Or if teachers could tweak or amend lessons that others have posted to fit learners in their classes.  I think it would be difficult for any teacher to make up specific lessons for 100 students everyday, it is certainly a challenge to come up with one lesson a day at times, and the ability to collaborate with other educators in your content area would be really helpful.  This system would certainly allow students to be taught by any teacher in the state, if that is how the system truly works.

Challenges:  As stated before, I think it would be challenging to write lessons, quizzes, and activities for all of your students on an individual basis.  This system may work for those students who truly crave an online experience and do not fit into the traditional mold of the classroom, but I also wonder if some students would get bored of too much technology and online assignments.  This system might not be best for students who are more artistic and prefer to show their understanding through physically creating something.  It may be too impersonal for some, as many students thrive on group discussion and interaction with their teacher and peers.

Additional Features:  I think adding more categories of study would be really beneficial.  For example, in social studies it would great to break down lessons and material by larger topics such as world history and American history.  It would also be nice to have categories as specific as one event, such as the French Revolution.  Breaking down the information by time period might help a lot of educators and students navigate the material as well.  Of course it will be important to link all lessons and material to specific standards that the students will be meeting, so perhaps that would be the best way to organize the material as well.

You've made some strong points in regards to challenges with using SPLS: too much technology could lead to burn out/loss of interest; creating/providing enough lessons, quizzes, and/or activities for each and everyone of your students, everyday!

I do like your points that this system would allow for learning from people all over the state and not just the teacher in the room; pulling resources from other experts holds a great deal of education power. I also appreciate the idea of organizing the material offered through a SPLS by standards.  This is like the program IXL.com which allows students to move at his/her own pace, making sure that they truly master each standard.

Thanks for sharing!

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