ALEX and ACCESS

This website, ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange) has numerous resources available for the educator. It was developed by the Alabama State Department of Education. On the home page, there are six main categories listed; Courses of Study, Web Links, Lesson Plans, Personal Workspace, Professional Learning and Podcast Treasury. When you click on Courses of Study, it is divided into several subjects. Since I will be teaching history, I clicked on Social Studies. Within that menu, there are several topics pertaining to history. I chose “World History: 1500 to Present,” it lists each area that will be covered, and the grade in which it is taught. Each of these areas either has a lesson plan for you to view, or a web link pertaining to that particular lesson, or both. The Web Links menu has links available for teachers, administrators and students.

The Lesson Plan page allows you to create your own lesson plan by selecting the subject and grade you teach. Or you may search for one by title, author or school. This is a valuable tool in the education field. On the Personal Workspace page, you create an ALEX account, where you can store and submit teacher web pages and lesson plans. The Professional Learning page lists sites that provide educators with professional development opportunities, the latest news, the best practices as well as teaching and learning tools. There are also a few sites that enhance professional growth and communication. I believe ALEX will be extremely useful when I begin teaching. There is so much technology and information available and you can build your curriculum by using this site.

ACCESS is a long distance educational tool. It provides quality learning opportunities for students in ALL of the Alabama public high schools. The goal is to improve student achievement through distance learning opportunities by providing quality learning for all high school students. It consists of online courses using current technology such as interactive video conferencing and distance learning. The courses are free to students in grades 9-12 and they register for them through their high school counselor. They are held during normal school hours and follow the academic school calendar. Schools must provide each student with a school-based, reliable, internet-connected computer. Students are expected to participate in daily learning activities such as discussions, projects, labs, group work, writing workshops, and assessments.

The students work individually in a computer lab during their regular school day, and complete their assignments and send them to the teacher to be graded. The instructor, called an “e-teacher”, grades the assignments, checks emails and sends correspondence to students via the technology provided. The available core courses include reading, language, math, science and social studies or extensions of those like U.S. Government or Biology. It also offers electives such as ACT preparation, Creative Writing, Business Technology, Web Design, Health Education and Art History. The plan also provides a professional learning site called CAST (which stands for Connecting ACCESS Staff and Teachers). CAST enables the teachers and staff to work together and share their and ideas. It has learning tips, chat room for teacher and staff only, content specific blogs, teacher profiles, outside online training opportunities, and teacher-to-teacher sharing. I look forward to using ACCESS when I start teaching. It uses technology to enhance the students’ learning and gives teachers experience in their field.