AndrewWentzel_3.1INF

=AndrewWentzel's 3.1INF rough draft page=

Andrew Wentzel Online Education

Education is defined as the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge. Education was once preformed in only traditional school settings. It has now branched out onto the Internet in order to keep pace with the advancing technological world. Online education has a variety of forms. It can be a resource where teachers gather information, lesson plans, activities, and collaborate with other teachers. It can be an online school, where students take online classes. It can also be in the form of websites that students excess for research, learning, and homework tools. Online education as a form of school has become widely used. It has made education more communal through social media resources. Your intro is really good! It definitely caught my attention right away! Almost every public and private university offers online programs for its resident, commuter and even non-resident students. Public and private universities offer limited online courses. Universities like DeVry, University of Phoenix, American Intercontinental University Online, Walden University, and Kaplan University offer full degree programs online. These Universities offer classes for Associate, Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees. The most common programs that online universities offer are business, technology, nursing, criminal justice, heath care, education and psychology. The University of Phoenix, Walden University and the University of Liverpool offer classes to non United States Residences. Online classes have allowed a variety of students to further their education. Traditional students (ages 18-23) may work while in school because of online courses, adults who did not attend college, or did not finish college are able to further their education through online classes, and people who are not able to attend a traditional college due to medical, social, or physical disabilities are able to receive a college education (directory of online schools). Silver State High is a high school located in Nevada. It has coined itself as the “first statewide virtual high school”. Silver State High has a traditional campus, but students are not required to attend. The only requirement is one day a week for a minimum of 4 hours. Silver State High administrators want their students to have a college type schedule, where they can play and manage their own days. This will cause them to acquire problem solving, and time management skills that are crucial as an adult. Students at Silver State High use interactive lessons, web camera lectures and real time experiences with other classmates. Online classes provide many opportunities to people seeking a college education. Apart from online classes, the Internet has allowed teachers to connect with their colleagues, access lesson plans and research materials, and further their own education. One Internet site, Education Connection, provides programs for school age children, college students, and adults. Education Connection provides on-site before and after school programs for students. They have summer programs and day-to-day educational activities. Education Connection has a program that can “design, implement, and evaluate before and after school programs”. They can “prepare a comprehensive needs assessment for your before and after school needs” (Education Connection). The Teacher’s Network is an online site that provides a teacher chat room where teachers can discuss ideas, problems, and strategies. The Teacher’s Network also provides a library of lessons and projects for Kindergarten classrooms, up to adult education courses. This website has a classifieds section for teacher positions. The website has a hot topics sections which discusses current events and politics section that relate to the education field. There is also a section for teachers abroad to communicate and collaborate. The Teacher’s network is a place for teachers to expand and receive aid, but there are many sites devoted to helping students. The Discovery Network funds one such site, it is called Homework Help. Homework help offers aid in math, science, English, social studies, language, visual and performing arts, research, reference, health, and technology. Each category has subcategories, which are specific to grade level. There are topics such as adding dollars and cents for grade school children, and the differences between acids and bases for high school students. Homework spot is another online homework helper that provides a wider range of help topics based on grade level. There are other sites that do not aid students in education, but rather facilitate education. Blackboard in an online site that provides resources for students at home. Teachers can set up blackboard sites for homework or even test purposes. Since blackboard is an online site, students are able to access it from at home. Blackboard comes equip with a chat room in which students and the teacher can discuss assignments and problems. Blackboard also has grade book features, which allow students to keep track of their assignments due, as well as the grades they received. Blackboard allows parents to be engaged in their child’s schoolwork. Because blackboard is accessible from home, parents are able to keep track of their child’s assignments and grades. Parents are also able to chat with the teacher outside of once a semester parent-teacher conferences. The Internet is an important resource for education, but it can also serve as an alternative to traditional education. Now, because of the Internet, textbooks are being provided freely online. Students are able to access the textbook from anywhere, and they are not required to purchase books. Another alternative to education that the Internet has established is the use of online software. Online software is being used to teach students through interactive lessons. One online program that uses interactive lessons is Subject Area Interactive Lessons On-line (SAIL On). SAIL On has interactive lessons for elementary, intermediate, and high school levels. Teachers are able to grade the lessons completed on SAIL On, and the students learn through hands on lessons. FunBrain is another interactive educational site. It has a vast library of educational games that teach math, reading, and problem solving lessons. FunBrain is different than SAIL On because it uses interactive games to teach. Teachers can use sites like FunBrain as rewards, and free time activities that are still educational. Online education has proved to be a successful form of education whether it be in the form of classes online, resources for teachers online, or lessons and help for students online. These forms of education all encourage communication between others using the online resource. Teachers looking for lesson plans can communicate with other teachers, students taking online classes use discussion boards and chat rooms to communicate, and students use online interactive tools to communicate with their teachers, parents and classmates. The Internet has made education communal through social media resources.

Caitlin Shahbazi's feedback for Andrew Wentzel's 3.1INF:
 * **What is the thesis?** I believe the thesis is “It has made education more communal through social media resources.” Meaning that online education has made it easier to acquire an education.
 * **How is the essay organized?** I would say the essay is organized well. He starts off with discussing what online education is. Then he goes on to discuss which and how colleges (even high schools) offer a full online education. Then he goes on about how the internet made it easier to get homework help and stay connected to teachers and classmates.
 * **Was the organization logical?** I think it’s logical. The only thing that’s really missing in transitions between paragraphs.
 * **Were any parts not relevant to the thesis?** The body of the paper is good. I think that the thesis is only talking about receiving online education but Andrew goes on to talk about how the internet helps with the education.
 * **What examples and types of evidence were most convincing?** I can’t say I was fully interested in this paper. The information was convincing but Andrew needs to give credit because it feels like the information is coming straight from him which makes it less convincing.
 * **What two places could use more development?** I think the thesis really needs working on. I think instead of saying how online education is easy, make it so that it’s saying how the internet has made attaining an education easily.
 * **Did the introduction catch your attention?** Not really. I think maybe Andrew should give an example of some sort to make the reader interested. Maybe add in statistics of how many people use online classes to receive a diploma or how many people never finished college because it wasn’t easy to access.

Laura Zavresa's feedback for Andrew Wentzel's 3.1INF What is the thesis? Online education, through student's classes, teacher resources, and student resources.

How is the essay organized? It talks about online classes and college type schools. It then goes on to talk about an online high school, after that it says about online student resources.

Was the organization logical? Very much so. It does need transitions though.

Were any parts not relevant to the thesis? No, everything that was in the thesis, was in the paper.

What examples and types of evidence were most convincing? He used direct examples and names throughout the paper, those examples made it convincing.

What two places could use more development? I think the thesis could be a little more clear.

Did the introduction catch your attention? Yes, I thought it was well written.

Andrew, I thought you paper was really well written. I think it may need some more details about your specific examples, like the schools and website, if you have any. Other then that, you need transitions, and maybe make the thesis a little more clear? Good Job! - Laura

.Ryan Albright's feedback for Andrew Wentzel's 3.1INF
 * **What is the thesis?** Well I am not sure but i would say the thesis is "It has made education more communal through social media resources."
 * **How is the essay organized?** The introductions starts off with some background information on education in general and then education expanding to the internet, the body paragraph goes into how online education is provided almost every where now including high schools and college. Then a conclusion.
 * **Was the organization logical?** Was this the best way the writer could present their information? yes, very well organized.
 * **Were any parts not relevant to the thesis?** If i have the thesis right then you might want to change some things up to try and answer the question a little bit better.
 * **What examples and types of evidence were most convincing?** Needs to give credit to the user he got information from but other than that i felt that the paper was very good with examples.
 * **What two places could use more development?** The thesis and maybe try and say different things about education instead of just explaining one things. Maybe you could say how online education might not always be the best thing for someone because of no one on one with the professor or teacher.
 * **Did the introduction catch your attention?** Yes, very good introduction
 * **What is the thesis?** I believe his thesis is about how the internet has/can improve communications between student and teacher..
 * **How is the essay organized?** The essay starts off with a nice intro.Then it goes into what online education is and how it's implemented. It ends with a good conclusion.
 * **Was the organization logical? In my opinion it was.**
 * **Were any parts not relevant to the thesis?** No.
 * **What examples and types of evidence were most convincing?** I found this essay as a whole to be convincng in regards to the benefits of online courses.
 * **What two places could use more development?** I felt that this essay was really good. Reading this essay, I felt that the writer was trying to convey upon the reader the benefits of online education. Perhaps adding some negative examples would be good?
 * **Did the introduction catch your attention?** Yeah.