Using Technology in Alternative Education


Another way that we help our students connect to people outside of their classroom walls is through the use of backchannel chats. A backchannel chat is a chat room set up by a teacher where students go to discuss a particular topic. For example, I have set up a backchannel chat during videos. During the video, I facilitate the discussion and ask questions that will help get a discussion going. My role is to make sure the discussion does not end and that the students are focused on the topic.


Technology has brought many great opportunities to my students, but it has


presented some challenges for both students and staff. While many of our students have the latest cell phones and mp3 players they rarely have anything beyond the most basic computer skills. We have discovered that we must teach skills such as working in multiple windows, creating folders, attaching files to emails. I know in many places students are called on to teach teachers how to use web tools, but that is definitely not the case with my alternative education students. Most of my students enjoy using technology, but it takes them a long time to get to the point where they are comfortable using it.


One of my favorite quotes is from Chris Lehmann, principal of the Science


Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. He said, “Technology should be like oxygen: ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible.” My alternative school is on the right path to achieving this goal.


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