Blog Post 13

Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX)
Okay what is ALEX?  It is a library of lesson plans and other materials (such as web links).  Teachers can collaborate material, and I really like that the lesson plans were detailed and outlined to cover content standards (based on Alabama curriculum).  The search engine made finding useful material easy and most of the science lessons looked very interesting.  The lessons I looked at used methods of teaching that incorporated a lot of hands on experience!  I like that!  Yes, I definitely think this is a useful source to find lesson material. 

ACCESS
It is Alabama's distant learning initiative that is targeted at Alabama public high schools to bring them high quality instruction.  They offer two type of courses: Video Conferencing Instruction and Web Based Instruction.  I think it is a great idea to certify e-teachers.  Actually, I would like to be able to teach (more like mentoring and guiding) using only 21st century technology.  It seems like much more is possible than what this ACCESS program is offering, but it is great what they are offering.

As a side note...
I hated having to use the AVL (Alabama Virtual Library).  It was like pulling beaver teeth trying to find a reliable source.  When students are use to using wikipedia where topic specific information is very easy to find, it makes using AVL very frustrating.