ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange)
ALEX or The Alabama Learning Exchange (http://alex.state.al.us/index.php) provides a wonderful electronic database for educators. The website has received awards for achievement in digital education in 2008 and 2009. The thing I like the most about the website is that it is an open collaboration for teachers, administrators, and students state wide. I spent some time looking around the site, and found a ridiculous amount of information about virtually every subject that is being taught in schools. The ALEX website is something that I knew literally nothing about, but now that I have seen it I definitely think I could use it one day in my own classroom.
ALEX offers information on courses of study, lesson plans, a personal workspace, a search feature, links to other websites with pertinent information, and even a "treasury" of Pod Casts. All of these resources have information about any subject from science to health education. I took a more detailed look at some of the English language arts courses of study and lesson plans. I found that information and suggestions were available for every grade level K-12. The lesson plans were really amazing because they are created by actual teachers in the state of Alabama. I look at one in particular from Bibb County High School created by John Simmer. The lesson plan was designed for 11th grade students and dealt with Puritan writers and their views of God and the Devil. This lesson plan can be found here. I also listened to a Pod Cast interview of Alabamian Rick Bragg (found here). It was an exciting experience to realize that a database like this exists in our state. I can definitely see myself going back to it, if nothing else for all of the lesson plans, but somehow I think I will use it for many other things, including hopefully, the pod casts.
ACCESS (Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and
Students Statewide)
Students Statewide)
ACCESS distance learning (Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide) can be found online here. The website claims that their vision is that: "The State of Alabama will provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning." The website is similar to ALEX in that it provides a vast array of resources for students and educators. The ACCESS website is available to all public high school students in the state of Alabama. It provides links for test preps, Advanced Placement Courses, and various video conferencing instruction courses.
This website is also an exciting discovery similar to ALEX because I did not know it existed previous to this. I like it because it makes it obvious that because of technology no teacher has to feel alone in their classrooms. Resources like the ACCESS website allow teachers to connect and collaborate with other teachers. I am impressed that our state is making moves like this to try and improve our education system. Hopefully, it will continue to grow and accumulate information that will improve the quality of education for all students in the state of Alabama. Technology is definitely going to be part of the classrooms of tomorrow, and its refreshing to know that Alabama is making the necessary steps to include it in the education of its citizens.
This website is also an exciting discovery similar to ALEX because I did not know it existed previous to this. I like it because it makes it obvious that because of technology no teacher has to feel alone in their classrooms. Resources like the ACCESS website allow teachers to connect and collaborate with other teachers. I am impressed that our state is making moves like this to try and improve our education system. Hopefully, it will continue to grow and accumulate information that will improve the quality of education for all students in the state of Alabama. Technology is definitely going to be part of the classrooms of tomorrow, and its refreshing to know that Alabama is making the necessary steps to include it in the education of its citizens.
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